Some cars are considered celebrities. Some even have their own fan base such as the Duke of Hazzard General Lee or the Initial D Hachi-Roku. And of course there's Eleanor – the featured car passed as a 1967 Ford Shelby GT500 in the 2000 re-make of the hit film Gone In 60 Seconds. In turns out that one of the genuine Ford Mustang Eleanors used in the film is currently being sold by Chrome Cars in Germany.
Original Movie 1967 Ford Mustang Eleanor For Sale
For some reason, Chrome Cars is parting ways with this genuine Eleanor. It’s likely to fetch a high price since replicas are already selling at around mid-low six digits. Another genuine Eleanor was sold for $1 million at a Mecum auction, which means the No. 7 Eleanor could fetch as much.
Three Eleanors Are Fully Functional 1967 Mustangs
Providing some background, Eleanor isn't really a 1967 Ford Shelby GT500, but rather a Dupont Pepper Grey 1967 Mustang Fastback depicted as one. The design of the Eleanor was sketched by hot rod designer Steve Stanford, and was further refined by Chip Foose. Cinema Vehicle Services was tapped to produce not just one, but 11 Eleanors for the film.
Of these 11 Eleanors, only three were genuine or fully functional, while the rest were just shells. These three were hero cars, as driven by the main character and boost-master Randall "Memphis" Raines (played by Nicolas Cage). Each of these hero cars are powered by a 400-hp 351-cid high-performance engine from Ford Racing.
Eleanor No. 7: A Genuine Heroine Car
The rest of the Eleanors were employed in different phases of the production, all probably now destroyed. There's a 12th Eleanor, but it wasn't built for the film. Rather, No. 12 was commissioned by Gone In 60 Seconds film producer Jerry Bruckheimer for his personal use. The three hero cars still live to this day and one of them is Eleanor No. 7 with VIN 7R02C173895.
When Kai Nieklauson founded Chrome Cars in 2015, the inspiration was actually an Eleanor replica he and Oliver Schneider bought the same year. Since then, Chrome Cars has been collecting movie cars – both genuine and replicas. Two years later, the company acquired a real Eleanor, as verified by its VIN.
Source: Chrome Cars