What Happened to the Original Eleanor Mustang from 'Gone in 60 Seconds'?
The original Eleanor Mustang was sold at auction in 2020 for a surprising amount.
Written by Alexandra Maloney
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Known for its main part in Gone in 60 Seconds, the
Ford
Eleanor Mustang is an iconic movie car. When the film debuted in 1974, movie lovers across the world watched the Mustang partake in death-defying stunts including leaping across rivers, flying over bridges, and speeding away in high speed chases.Now, years after the movie’s premiere, and one remake later, movie lovers and gearheads alike are left wondering what exactly happened to the original Eleanor Mustang.
What is the original Eleanor Mustang?
The original Eleanor Mustang was the iconic car used in the 1974 film Gone in 60 Seconds. The movie follows the story of a successful car thief who’s lured out of retirement to complete one final job—stealing 48 cars for a payment of $400,000.
A bright yellow Mustang, codenamed Eleanor, is the star of the show throughout the plot, because it proves to be the most difficult car to steal. As
CJ Pony Parts
reports, the main character finds four separate Eleanors that he can’t steal, before finally getting away with it on his fourth try. The movie ending shows him driving away with the coveted Eleanor. Let Jerry find your price in only 45 seconds
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What was the real Eleanor?
Car Buzz
reports the original Eleanor, used in the 1974 film, was based on a 1967 Ford Mustang GT Fastback with a custom body kit to look like a Mustang Shelby GT500. According to Hot Cars
, all models feature a 5-liter supercharged engine, which supports up to 550 hp, plus a five-speed manual transmission.Believe it or not, there were actually 11 “original” Eleanor Mustangs built with the intended purpose for shooting Gone in 60 Seconds. Five actually made it to screen, but only three are known to exist today. To perform the stunts in the movie, the cars had to undergo modifications like installing deadbolt safety locks, cameras, shoulder harnesses, electric kill switches, and more.
For the 2000 remake of the movie, 12 Dupont Pepper Gray 1967 Shelby GT500s were produced. Of these, only three were fully functional vehicles, equipped with modifications like headlight bezels, rocker panels, side exhaust, and more, now that the film had a bigger budget.
Where is it today?
According to
Driving
, the original Eleanor Mustang was sold at the Mecum Auctions for $1 million, which was actually the total budget for the 1974 version of Gone in 60 Seconds, a few years ago.The original Eleanor Mustang was up for auction again in 2020. The event was again hosted by Mecum Auctions, this time in Kissimmee, Florida. This time, the car went for just $852,500 which was significantly less than the first time the car went to auction.
Perhaps interest in the movie has died down since the early 2000s, or maybe the car collectors just weren’t interested in the original Eleanor Mustang. Regardless, it seems like the buyer got away with a steal, too, just like our protagonist in Gone in 60 Seconds.
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