Paul Newman’s Daytona-Winning Mustang, Dirt Included

The Ford Mustang race car Paul Newman drove at Daytona is heading to auction, and it still wears the dirt from the track. Following its class victory at the 1995 Rolex Daytona 24 Hours, the car was fitted with new body panels for display. The originals, caked in the grime of an endurance race, were set aside. They have since been re-fitted, returning the car to the exact state it was in when it finished the race 31 years ago.

A Speeding Billboard

The car was a Roush Racing Ford Mustang Cobra, finished in white and wearing the number 70. The number was chosen to celebrate Newman’s recent 70th birthday. Its entry into the race was sponsored by Paramount, using a leftover publicity budget for Newman’s film Nobody’s Fool, which had been released a little over a month prior. The movie’s logo is still visible on the livery.

The car, however, proved to be more than just a promotional tool. Shared by a team of drivers including Newman, Tommy Kendall, Mark Martin, and Michael Brockman, the Mustang performed. It won the GTS-1 class and secured a third-place finish overall in the grueling 24-hour event.

The Real Deal

Newman’s involvement was no celebrity cameo. His enthusiasm for auto racing was genuine, a passion he discovered while training for the 1969 film Winning and pursued for the rest of his life. He was an active participant in Sports Car Club of America events throughout the 1970s and finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978. At his last professional race in 2007, just a year before his death, he took the pole position.

The Daytona car was built for serious competition. It is equipped with a naturally aspirated 6.0-liter Roush-built V-8 connected to a five-speed manual transmission. When new, the engine produced around 750 horsepower. This was more than 500 horsepower in excess of the road-going Mustang Cobra available that year.

This piece of racing and Hollywood history will cross the block at Mecum’s Nashville 2026 sale. The auction is scheduled for Saturday, September 26. An estimate has not been published, but the car’s pedigree connects it to a specific moment for both motorsport and one of its most dedicated actors.

Read more about style here.