An entire generation has passed since Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), but fans still keep the hype going. Perhaps it’s the charismatic role of Nicolas Cage playing auto thief and driver extraordinaire Memphis Raines.
Or perhaps it’s the 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Eleanor, which must be the coolest muscle car of the new millennium.
For the movie, Cinema Vehicle Services built three fully functioning cars to be used in the driving scenes and a bunch of other partially complete examples for interior and exterior shots.
One of these three wound up in Germany at Chrome Cars, which are fanatically obsessed with these cars. And you need experts like these to tell the original apart from a clone, because Eleanor is one of the most copied cars ever.
Cinema Vehicle Services offers body panels and conversion kits to build your own and even official certification for an Eleanor Tribute Edition.
Apart from that, dozens of enthusiasts have made their own copies, which look all the same from a distance, but closing in reveals a number of inconsistencies.
What makes an Eleanor original?
For starters, the car comes with its original VIN and official paperwork form CVS. But on the outside, there are two features that clones frequently get wrong.
One is the exact shape of the hood bulge, which is finely integrated and rounded off on the originals, but usually quite edgy and square on the duplicates.
The other is the fully functioning side exhaust. The side exhaust, as seen in Gone in 60 Seconds is completely fake. At the time, it was just a cosmetic detail, like the intake on top of the rear quarter panel.
After the movie, Cinema Vehicle Services retrofitted a functional side exhaust, which looks different.
When enthusiasts build their own Eleanor versions, they usually copy the one from the movie, thus you can tell it’s not the real deal.
It’s probably not worth $2 million
It’s true that these cars appreciate with time. Given that the vehicle is kept the same as CVS made it with only basic maintenance further raises the price. And yes, the main Eleanor did sell for $1 million in 2013.
However, last year, the third original Shelby GT500 Eleanor sold for under $400,000 at Barrett Jackson’s Scottsdale auction.
The only Shelby GT500 to sell for over $2 million is the Super Snake and that’s a 1 of 1 built by Carroll Shelby himself.
We’re no experts, but double the value is a long shot, even for a car as cool as Eleanor.