UT alum donates portion of vintage car collection to new engineering school named after him

AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Texas at Austin officially named its newest engineering building the Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building in honor of Thomas, alumnus and former president of EOG Resources.

Thomas has one of the largest private collections of Ford cars, including 50 Shelbys - at least one of every model- and seven Cobras and GTs. He is donating part of his collection to the university for the 184,000-square-foot facility's construction.

Thomas organized the on-campus car show to give students the opportunity to see up close a collection of vehicles that in his words "reflect the spirit of American engineering ingenuity."

Following the show, UT and 20th Century Fox are hosting an advance screening for students of the film FORD v FERRARI starring Academy Award winners Matt Damon and Christian Bale. The movie is based on the true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and the driver Ken Miles (Bale), who build a revolutionary race car for Ford and take on the dominating cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966. 

The cars on UT’s campus were not in the movie, but are from the Shelby era.