Petersen Museum Drag Races Its 1967 GT40 Mk III Against Doug DeMuro’s Ford GT
Watch an incredibly rare and valuable GT40 Mk III take on its spiritual successor in perhaps the coolest drag race ever.
It isn’t every day we get to lay eyes on a 1967 Ford GT40 Mk III, save for special places like the Petersen Automotive Museum, as just seven were produced. This is particularly true with ultra-rare left-hand-drive versions of the iconic road-going version of the sports car, as just four were delivered in that configuration. Regardless, this was a car that was obviously built to be driven (and dominate the competition), so why not drive it?
Not only do the folks at the Petersen Automotive Museum do just that in this awesome video, but they also brought out this slice of Americana for a proper drag race against mega-popular YouTuber Doug DeMuro and his own personal 2005 Ford GT. This is the first in a series of drag races hosted by the Petersen designed to stretch the legs of its incredible collection, and what a way to kick things off.
This particular GT40 Mk III was originally delivered to Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, who rarely drove the car and babied it from day one. The street-legal version of Ford’s legendary race car came with a few more creature comforts and gets down the road courtesy of a 289 V8 that’s rated to produce 306 horsepower, which it sends to the rear wheels via a ZF five-speed manual transmission.
On the other side, we have the GT40’s modern-day revival and spiritual successor in the form of a first-gen GT, which is powered by a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 that lays down 550 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque via a six-speed manual transmission.
Prior to the race, DeMuro admits that the prospect of lining up these two cars “sounds absolutely terrifying” considering the fact that the GT40 Mk III is worth a cool $2.5 million. Thus, he admits that he’s going to “take it easy” on the first run. Regardless, both cars struggle to find traction and the vintage ride takes an early lead before the far more powerful GT pulls ahead for good.
“I’m gonna have to try a little bit better next time to modular the start,” DeMuro says. “And then even if I get a little squirrely to stay in it once it straightens out and just start going. But that’s easier said than done when you have an original Ford GT40 next to you.”
Despite his fear of becoming even more famous by causing perhaps the most expensive accident in history, DeMuro manages a clean launch in the second drag race and wins handily. This result is by no means surprising to anyone, but simply having the privilege of watching these two iconic machines go at it in a straight line is a special and unique experience that you just don’t get to see every day. Or ever, for that matter.
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