VIN: the Ford USA Ford GT40 Promo Car chassis P/1059
History of chassis P/1059
Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough manufactured 31 Mk1 GT40 road cars and many were shipped out to the USA for promotional use.
A batch of seven were sent to Dearborn in December 1966, one of which was chassis P/1059.
Painted Opalescent Maroon, P/1059 was equipped with a black leather interior, 289 High Performance engine on Weber carburettors and Borrani wire wheels.
The other six cars in the group (P/1057, P/1058, P/1064, P/1065, P/1066 and P/1067) were finished to a similar specification, but with different exterior colours. They were pictured together in a series of photographs taken on 21st December 1966, prior to being flown out to the USA from Heathrow airport.
The tour of dealers and shows was to promote Ford’s victory in the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours.
P/1059 was allocated to Shelby American for display at their outlets up and down the country. To that end, it was re-painted white with blue centre stripes soon after arriving in the US.
In September 1967, P/1059 was sold for $8500 to Edward Schoenherr who owned Starck Hickey Ford in Royal Oak, Michigan. Schoenherr had the car registered to his company and kept it for the next six years.
Well known GT40 enthusiast, Herbert Wetanson, from Long Island, New York, purchased P/1059 in September 1973.
One of half a dozen GT40s Wetanson owned, the car was almost immediately advertised in Autoweek magazine. The description read: “2305 miles; flawless; never raced; complete ground-up restoration; custom pearl white paint by George Busti with blue stripes and red pinstripes”.
It was acquired that December by Dr. Jack Frost of St. Donatus, Iowa, who kept the car until his death in 2003. By this time, P/1059 had still only covered circa 4500 miles.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ford - https://www.ford.com
