1965 Ford GT40 Shelby American Show Demonstrator P1018
Specified by Carroll Shelby himself, P1018 was built as a race car to show specification and kept by Shelby and Ford as their star demonstrator throughout the GT40’s heyday. Housed side by side with the recently retired Daytona Coupes in Shelby’s LAX premises, P1018 helped herald in a new era of racing. Shelby, Ford, and the GT40 would get their first Le Mans victory less than a year later in the summer of 1966.
One of two built as a race car to show specification, P1018 was the first car built with the three-hole chassis panel which would become a mainstay in later production. Finished in maroon over black and shipped directly to Shelby American in LA via New York. Suffering minor front end damage in transit, and by no means the only car to befall that fate, records show a claim was later made against TWA for compensation.
Upon arrival on the 9th of November 1965, P1018 was ushered just down the runway to Shelby’s New LAX premises and starred in a promotional photoshoot with Carroll Shelby. After repairs for the transport damage, P1018 made her first Auto Show appearance of many at the Seattle Auto Show from the 17th-21st of November. Next came San Francisco and Portland in quick succession. P1018’s press tour continued as a crowd gathered at the opening of the Santa Monica Freeway on January 6th, 1966. Carroll himself was behind the wheel and a grinning Miss Santa Monica held on tight in the passenger seat. This appearance makes P1018 one of just two GT40s that Shelby drove, as noted by historian Ronnie Spain.
In 1966, legendary racing driver Bob Bondurant piloted P/1018 when leased by film producers MGM for use in camera testing at Riverside in preparation for the motor-racing film Grand Prix. Fascinating colour photographs document the tests, with Panavision cameras ingeniously rigged fore and aft to capture on-track action. The day was overseen by Maurice Jarré the music director and composer for “Grand Prix,” master rigger Bill Frick, and the film’s director John Michael Frankenheimer. After filming, P1018 was painted blue and embarked on a two year showroom tour in earnest, making appearances at the Shelby open house, Galpin Ford, the New York Auto Show, Houston, Indio and more. A television appearance followed in 1967, with a cameo in the NBC spy fiction series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – in an episode titled “The THRUSH Roulette Affair,” charming agent Napoleon Solo uncovers the secrets of a private life-or-death roulette game.
Sold into private hands to Ervin Conciatu on 20 November 1968, she led a relatively quiet early post-Shelby life, spared the fate of many racers. With the complete ownership history detailed in the Ronnie Spain dossier, she was notably owned by privateer David Piper from 1971, who refinished her in Gulf livery, then went to Australia in 1973 for more than ten years with enthusiast Laurie O’Neil. She went to Japan with Yojiro Nakamura and Saguro Kato, before returning to United States ownership for a decade or so from 1989.
From 2001, P/1018’s historic racing career truly launched – acquired by well-known racer Ray Bellm (a three-time Group C2 endurance racing World Champion), she was prepared by Lanzante and campaigned successfully all over Europe for the next seven years. With multiple appearances in the Goodwood Revival’s legendary Whitsun Trophy including a 2007 win, and 11 wins from 13 starts at Le Mans Classic under Bellm’s ownership, she became one of the fastest and most well-known GT40s in historic racing, even seen in a Top Gear episode besting a modern Noble piloted by The Stig.
Under current ownership since 2009, and still maintained by Lanzante, P/1018’s racing traditions continued, with a programme of yearly appearances at the Members Meeting and Goodwood Revival, Le Mans Classic, Tour Auto events, Daytona Classic 24 Hours and more. She was demonstrated by five-time Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro in 2012, and piloted by Sam Hancock to a 3rd in the Whitsun Trophy at the 75th Members’ Meeting. Still immaculately presented, she was displayed in the 2022 Heveningham Concours, and participated in the Carroll Shelby Parade at the 2023 Goodwood Revival.
P/1018 is offered freshly restored to her period maroon livery, returned to her original colour specification as delivered new to Shelby American – a truly magnificent and entirely appropriate revival.
