CVS ended up building 13 cars-11 for the movie, one that was turned into the primered '67 Mustang at the end of the movie, and one for Bruckheimer. Seven of the eleven used for filming survived and were returned to CVS. According to John Pearley-Huffman, who wrote a story about the cars for the November 2000 Mustang Monthly, "Up close, the Eleanors are a mix of sweet design work and expedient engineering. These cars weren't built to last a lifetime, win a car show, or go extremely fast; they were built to look good in a movie and do their particular task well."
Indeed, the movie cars were all built differently, depending on their intended use-high-speed, cornering, jumping, or crashing. Some received Lincoln Versailles rearends and Total Control suspensions. The side exhausts and C-pillar fuel fillers were nonfunctional. In fact, a real GT500, fitted with side exhausts, was used for the sound. All were '67 fastbacks, and at least one was a big-block 390. Contrary to popular belief, none of the Eleanors were real Shelbys.