How Many Eleanor Mustangs Were Made?

11 Eleanor Mustangs were built for the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds. That original eleanor mustang count gets tossed around differently across the internet, so here is where it actually comes from and why it matters if you are shopping for one today.

The Real Number Behind the Eleanor Mustang

Cinema Vehicle Services (CVS) in North Hollywood built 11 Eleanor Mustangs for the film, working off Chip Foose's design for the widened fenders, the driving lights, and that unmistakable side exhaust. Every one of the eleanor mustangs built for the movie started life as a plain 1967 Mustang fastback before CVS reworked the body to give it that Shelby GT500 look, without actually being a GT500 underneath.

You will see 12 or even 13 quoted on some sites. That confusion usually comes from counting parts cars or early prototype builds that never made it in front of a camera. CVS and most credible automotive outlets land on 11, and that is the number worth remembering if someone asks you at a car show.

Not Every Car Was Built the Same

Here is the part most articles skip. Those 11 cars were not identical twins built for the same job.

• A handful were beauty cars, finished to a show quality standard for close up shots and promo photos

• Only three were actual working, drivable cars used for the chase and stunt sequences

• Two of those three were destroyed during the famous jump scene, leaving just one hero car intact once filming wrapped

So out of 11 total builds, only one came out the other side of production in one piece. That is the car most collectors talk about when they mention the "real" Eleanor.

How Many Original Eleanors Still Exist Today

Only three of the original 11 are confirmed to still be around. Two of those have changed hands at major auctions in the last decade, with one selling north of $850,000 and another crossing the block for $1 million. Prices like that tell you everything about how rare surviving movie cars actually are, and why most people looking for an Eleanor Mustang for sale today are not shopping for one of the original 11 at all.

Are Today's Eleanor Mustangs Part of That Original 11?

No, and this is where a lot of buyers get confused. The Eleanor Mustangs you see for sale today, including officially licensed builds, are new cars built to honor the movie car, not leftover units from the original production run. There are only three surviving originals, and none of them are on the open market on a regular basis.

What you can find are tribute builds and, less commonly, true officially licensed 1 of 1 builds that go through proper authentication and documentation. Ours falls into that second category, and everything from the licensing paperwork to the build history is laid out on our provenance and authenticity page for anyone who wants to verify it firsthand.

The other big difference is under the hood. The original movie cars ran modest V8 setups by today's standards, nowhere close to the 1007 horsepower supercharged engine built into this current Eleanor. Modern licensed builds are not trying to be museum replicas, they are built to actually perform.

If you are tracking this specific car, it is scheduled to cross the block at Mecum Auctions in January 2027, and full bidder details are already live for anyone planning to register.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was the Eleanor Mustang a real Shelby GT500?

No. It was a standard 1967 Mustang fastback with a custom widebody kit designed to look like a Shelby GT500. Ford and Shelby had no involvement in building the original movie cars.

How much horsepower did the original movie Eleanor have?

The film cars ran a fairly stock 351 or 302 cubic inch V8, producing somewhere around 300 to 400 horsepower depending on which car and which scene. That is a fraction of what modern high performance Eleanor builds put out today.

Can anyone legally build an Eleanor Mustang today?

Yes, within limits. A 2024 federal court ruling found that the Eleanor character itself was not distinctive enough to hold copyright protection, which opened the door for independent builders. Officially licensed builds still go through separate authentication and documentation, which is what sets them apart from unlicensed tribute cars.

How many Eleanor Mustangs were in the original 1974 film?

Just one. The first Gone in 60 Seconds from 1974 used a single yellow 1971 Mustang Sportsroof as its Eleanor, a completely different car from the gray 1967 fastback everyone associates with the name today.