In 2000, Cinema Vehicle Services built 11 1967 Ford Mustangs for the remake of the 1974 “Gone in 60 Seconds” starring Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie. Nick-named “Eleanor”. However, only three of them were driveable – and with the two destroyed during filming, only one survives intact.
This sole example, number 7 of 11, is one of around 600 vehicles that go under the hammer by Mecum Auctions on its first-ever event in Austin, Texas, on December 12-13 and, naturally, it’s one of the show’s main attractions.
“Eleanor” features a host of changes over the standard Mustang, such as an opened up front grille filled with horizontal bars, twin driving lights in the lower valence, a sizeable hood bulge, upper and lower side scoops, an integrated rear spoiler and dual racing stripes adorning the two-tone silver and charcoal paint.
It’s powered by a Ford Racing 351 CI crate engine with Holley CFM 4-barrel carburetor and a high-volume fuel pump and it features a four-speed manual gearbox, disc brakes all around and air conditioning. It also comes with a letter of authenticity signed from CVS founder and president Ray Claridge. The exact same car, #7, was auctioned off, as far as we know, more than two years ago by Coys in the UK.
Another interesting car in the same auction is a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible in red with a red interior, an L71 big-block V8 good enough for 427hp that was originally owned by USAF pilot and NASA Project Mercury test pilot, mechanical engineer and astronaut Gus Grissom. He was the first US astronaut to fly in space twice but, unfortunately, was killed in a fire during a pre-launch test of the Apollo 1 mission along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee.
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