A special Ford GT40 replica signed by Christian Bale, Matt Damon and James Mangold has been auctioned off to raise close to R400 000 that will be used to send an underprivileged student to study engineering.

While many may be familiar with the late 2019 movie Ford v Ferrari and those involved with its production, most may not know its connection to South Africa. The local company Hi-Tech Automotive is internationally famous for its GT40 and Shelby replicas, and they created the cars seen in the movie.

“In conjunction with 20th Century Fox, Shelby South Africa held a sealed bid auction for the one of a kind signed Ford GT40 in order to fund a bursary programme for an aspiring young South African automotive engineer. The auction resulted in a successful bidder, Mr Heine Heroldt, a Shelby car enthusiast and collector. The masterpiece GT40 will now be completed with a 427 cubic inch, 500 + hp Ford V8 and Quaiffe 5 speed transaxle,” a press release sent to us reads.

Last year we got a chance to look at the GT40 that would go on to be auctioned off. Aside from being an amazing piece of machinery, we got up close to the dash segment that was signed by the two main actors and director of Ford v Ferrari.

You can see the three men signing the dash insert and some scale models in the gallery below. A closer look at the insert as well as the finished car are also there. You may notice a fourth signature in the mix there, which is that of Aaron Shelby, the grandson of Carroll Shelby.

The details for applicants to the bursary fund will be made public later this month. It is intended to be used for a student beginning their studies in the first semester of 2021.