The Eleanor Mustang in the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds isn’t hard to find, but acquiring it is a different kettle of fish. From its capabilities as depicted in the movie, the specially created Mustang is the stuff of legends, jumping across the Los Angeles River and flying over traffic on Long Beach’s Vincent Thomas Bridge, in California, in a no holds barred manner.
The movie itself was widely criticized for its action sequence, among other things – however, after grossing over $230 million, Walt Disney would beg to differ. Of course, the Eleanor Mustang played a major role in the movie’s success and performance shops have started cranking out its replicas of the famous Ford. Nonetheless, the original Eleanor remains sacred.
10 It’s A 1967 Ford Mustang
Eleanor was cast as a Ford Shelby GT500, however, it was built from a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback. The car is finished in a Dupont Pepper Grey color giving it a cool, attractive screen and real-life demeanor.
For its wide significance and admiration, the 1967 Ford Mustang joins a host of other movie cars such as the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle in Herbie, 1968 Mustang GT Fastback in Bullitt, and the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger to become one of the most iconic movie cars of all time.
9 Wasn’t A Single Car
The Eleanor was a single car in the finished movie. However, twelve 1967 Ford Mustangs were built (including the prototype) and used for the movie shoot. The reason was to have a seamless shoot with as few breaks as possible due to the little time the producers had to shoot the movie.
The team searched through Southern California ads in search of 1967 Mustang Fastbacks. In no time, all sorts of the required clapped-out Mustangs suitable for the build were assembled.
8 The Build Team
Jeff Mann, the Gone in 60 seconds art director had just seven weeks to build the required cars for the movie. Hence, he called on American automobile designer and hot rod builder, Chip Foose, to be a part of the project. Foose came up with his own clay model of what was indeed Steve Stanford’s sketched design.
His clay model got the nod ahead of Ray Claridge’s – president, Cinema Vehicle Services. Therefore, Foose teamed up with Claridge and his company to deliver the project.
7 Functionally Different
Although they all look alike on the outside, all the twelve Eleanors were functionally different. They were all lowered, giving the car its cool stance, but some had engine bay bracing and Total Control rack and pinion steering system.
Lincoln Versailles rear end was adopted in some of the Eleanors while at least one of the cars was adapted for high-speed chase such as the one through the concrete canals of the L.A. River in the movie. Also, some were built to be crushed in the junkyard while some got built for jumping.
6 Damage & Dent Replication
While shooting the movie, a very important and yet quite interesting decision was agreed upon in the management of damages and dents on Eleanor.
During the movie’s big chase scenes, the Eleanor Mustangs used for the chase were lined up at the shoot location so that whenever the car currently being filmed gets damaged, all the other replicas are damaged to look exactly like it, revealed Chip Foose. This strategy saved time and made switching of cars when necessary a seamless process.
5 Hero Cars
During the shoot, only three of the twelve Eleanors could be driven. Called the “hero cars,” they were the only cars that were fitted with actual engines and got driven during the movie’s speed chase scenes.
The other nine cars were mere shells modified to look like Eleanor. The hero cars like other Eleanor Mustangs use racing-style hood pins to secure the hood which hid the 5.8-liter eight-cylinder Ford crate engine powering them. The engine produces a massive 400 horsepower, and it’s mated to a four-speed manual transmission.
4 Redundant Features
Eleanor looks so cool aesthetically, no doubt. However, even on the three functional builds, some incredibly nice parts featured on the car are for mere aesthetics enhancement and have no real functional capacities. An example of this is the side-exit exhausts built on the car, which looks so cool and totally functional in the movie but isn’t outside the movie.
Also, the C-pillar-mounted fuel filler isn’t connected to the fuel tank. These parts were left so because the team didn’t need them to be functional and would be difficult to execute, anyway.
3 Sold For $1 Million
In 2013, while at the Dana Mecum 26th Original Spring Classic Auction in Indianapolis, one of the Eleanors – specifically, the “beauty car” – was sold for a staggering sum of $1 million. The car is regarded as the most functional and complete of the Eleanors.
Actor Nicolas Cage drove it during the shoot, and it was also used for promotional footage and close-up shots. At the time of sale, the car still had the same powertrain built into it for the movie by the Cinema Vehicle Services team.
2 Copyrights
Building a replica of the Eleanor Mustang without proper authorization could lead to a lawsuit. Denice Halicki, the wife of the late filmmaker, H.B. Halicki, currently owns the copyrights to the Eleanor body style. In the past, she’s filed a lawsuit to prevent the production of Eleanor look-a-likes without her consent.
However, Classic Recreations had the license to produce Eleanor Mustangs between 2007 and 2009 after which the automotive company terminated the agreement. Notably, Fusion Motor Company of Chatsworth, California, currently holds the reproduction license for Eleanor.
1 The 13th Eleanor Mustang
Ray Claridge’s Cinema Vehicle Services (CVS) built a total of twelve Eleanor Mustangs for the movie including the prototype. However, there was a thirteenth version that never made it to the shoot and therefore has no movie significance. It was built by the CVS team for the “Gone in 60 Seconds” movie producer, Jerry Bruckheimer.
Also, this make was more realistic and functional than the other twelve and was the only bonafide Shelby. Except for the LeCarra wheels, AutoMeter tachometer, and the fire extinguisher, all other interior components of the 13th Eleanor are stock Shelby.