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This is one of the three last surviving Mustang GT500 Eleanor hero cars from Gone in 60 Seconds starring Nicolas Cage.
Over the years, you’ve probably seen a few bad replicas of the iconic Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Eleanor from the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds. But this one that Shawn Davis from AutotopiaLA looks at in a recent video on his YouTube channel is the real deal. It is one of the three hero cars from the Nicolas Cage starrer flick and is currently owned by Kai Nieklauson from Chrome Cars, Germany.
A total of eleven GT500 Eleanors were produced for the film. And out of these, eight were empty shells that were used to film various stunt scenes. The remaining three are hero cars. They were used to get all the beauty shots in the film. However, what makes this particular Eleanor unique is the fact that it was used to capture many close-up shots of Nicolas Cage’s driving in the 2000 remake.
One of the other heroic GT500 Eleanors was recently sold at auction for $1.3 million. And, as Davis points out in the video, this one is probably hovering around the $2 million mark.
The Shelby GT500 Eleanor Is A Million-Dollar Masterpiece
As Chris from Chrome Cars points out in the video, all of the heroic GT500 Eleanors from Gone in 60 Seconds have different engines under their hoods. This one uses a 351 cu-in Windsor small block V8 motor from Ford’s crate line-up. No fancy after-market tinkering with the driveline; therefore, this engine probably produces close to 400 horsepower. This power is enough for a show car from the 60s.
While there are no serious performance upgrades under the hood, this GT500 gets all the fancy custom products from the 90s. For example, it rides on Total Control suspension, while stopping power comes from Wilwood brakes. It also uses an old-school rack and pinion steering setup. There is also a 9-inch rear axle from Ford and a Borla exhaust system.
Astute gearheads among you may notice that the tips of these side-mounted exhausts on this Mustang Eleanor don’t look like they do in the movie. And there’s a good reason for that: they don’t work. When filming for Gone in 60 Seconds ended, all the hero cars had to be sold to the public, and the team retrofitted them with what was available. And this particular Eleanor got the Borla exhaust.
This example of Eleanor has all the cool details you’ve seen in the movie, like the “Go Baby Go” button on the gear stick and the massive Nitrous bottle in the trunk. But as Chris mentioned, the NOS system was working on this Mustang before, but right now, the bottle isn’t attached to anything and is just sitting there for show. This makes sense, since nobody at Chrome Cars is likely to use this million dollar 1967 GT500 for high-speed runs on the autobahn.
The Controversy Behind the Iconic GT500 Eleanor
The 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds is one of the most iconic films of its time and to this day. It has a great cast and an amazing plot. But there’s no denying that one of the reasons this movie is so cool, at least for gearheads, is the Shelby GT500 Eleanor. However, as great as this car’s legacy is the controversy behind it.
There have been several imitations of the Eleanor Mustang over the years, and a bunch of them got into legal trouble with Halicki, the creator and director of the 1974 original Gone in 60 Seconds. Copyright law allows anyone to copy the Eleanor as long as they don’t use the car for commercial purposes. So if they want to make money from their build, they have to pay a license fee of $25,000 to Halicki. Unfortunately, some replica makers have not done that in the past, leading to lengthy legal battles.
The Shelby GT500 Eleanor Is A True Automotive Icon
Controversy aside, the Eleanor is easily one of the baddest versions of the 1967 Mustang GT500 ever made. For those who don’t know, its initial sketches were done by artist Steve Stanford while Chip Foose also had a large part in its design. Sadly, Davis doesn’t show intricate details of the car in the video, such as its engine bay and underside. That’s because Kai Nieklauson from Chrome Cars asked not to because he didn’t want people to copy some of its unique pieces.
Because this Eleanor is unregistered, Davis doesn’t run it as extensively as the other restomods he features on his YouTube channel. However, he was quite impressed with how this Mustang handles short runs around the block. He mentions that driving a car with so much pedigree is a privilege and an amazing experience, and you’ll surely agree.
Source: AutotopiaLA YouTube
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