Listen, I know Justin Verlander has had this car since March. He waited six months for a replica to be built and paid a whole lot of money for it (nearly $200,00 if the reports are correct and possibly up to $284,350) and parked it next to his Ford GT and loves it a whole lot.
A reminder Justin Verlander owns a replica of Eleanor from ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’
This is very important to me.
But a great piece in Bleacher Report about Justin Verlander’s career and relationship with Kate Upton brought up his love of cars and that this one was in his collection again, so now’s as good as any a time to revisit this amazing purchase.
Justin Verlander, World Series champion and all-star pitcher, loves cars so much he had Ford make him a replica that, according to Automobile Magazine, has “a Fusion nitrous oxide tank in the trunk, and a ‘Go Baby Go’ button on the shifter” to match the one in the movie as closely as possible. It’s trademarked, it’s built to order, and Verlander owns one.
Look at it!
In the 2000 Gone in 60 Seconds remake, Eleanor was a Shelby Mustang GT500, while in the original film she was a 1971 Ford Mustang Sportsroof. The replicas are each made from a “donor 1967 or 1968 Mustang Fastback, which gets stripped and has its body bolted to a new frame.”
In the BR story, Verlander’s relationship with cars is described as follows:
“He parks Eleanor in the garage then makes for the clubhouse, wearing black loafers, light blue jeans, a white T-shirt and black trucker hat on backward. At his locker, he changes into shorts and a tight, sleeveless shirt, then settles into a leather chair so he can talk about what it means to build. Something happens between a man and a car when he has put it together himself. ‘I feel like you’re more connected to the car that way,’ he says.”
That feels like a line Nicolas Cage would have said in the movie, but it got cut at the last minute. You should definitely read the entire piece for yourself, it’s an interesting look at Verlander’s career and his journey, but the reminder that he has this car is worth the read all by itself.
He might be the greatest pitcher in the world, and this might be the coolest thing about him.
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