Ford GT40: what a great car this was

[Joe Fan]

I recently finished doing some research on the the Ford GT40 and I am truly surprised at what a great car this was, especially the All-American Mark IV version. The Mark IV had very little in common with the earlier Marks and was designed and built by Ford and Kar-Kraft (a Ford acquisition) which was four miles from the Dearborn plant. Shelby American and Holman and Moody tested, developed and helped prepare the cars. The Mark IV broke the lap record at Le Mans in 1967 that was orginally set in 1963 and also produced another Le Mans record of most distance covered 5,232KM(3251Mi) when Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt brought the U.S. its first All-American Le Mans victory.

Although the GT40 was its own car, it took a few things from two cars through its evolution--a 1962 Mustang I prototype designed by Roy Lunn and Eric Broadley's Lola GT. Both of these men ended up working together at Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) at Slough, England on the GT40 project under John Wyer using Broadley's Lola shop in the interim until the FAV shop could be built.

The original GT40 had greater successes later with modifications as a Gulf sponsored Mirage. Ford wound up FAV in 1966 but encouraged John Wyer and John Willment to take over the Slough plant. Thus JW Automotive Engineering was created, Ford provided a modest subsidy and John Wyer ran the racing program as he envisioned for the GT40. In 1967 Gulf Oil came on board and underwrote JWA's whole operation. The highlight of their work was building a car that won two Le Mans 24 Hour races in a row. Car/chassis (GT40P 1075) was the same car to win both the 1968 and 1969 Le Mans 24Hr races plus this car also won six other races to boot.

The Mark II that won the first Le Mans race in 1966 was completed as a Mark II by Shelby American.



[This message has been edited by Joe Fan (edited 18 March 2000).]

[Graham De Looze]

A few years ago,maybe 10 I saw a GT 40 on show at Silverstone at a Historic race meet. This car had an all Alloy riveted tub and was new. Does any one know who made the tub, it was very well made.
graham

[Joe Fan]

Do you know if it was suppose to be a Mark IV, II or just a GT40? Due to the popularity of the car, there coincidently have been quite a few replicas and lookalikes produced over the years.

[Graham De Looze]

No the body wasnt on it but the windsreen frame, center section of the roof and the engine bay to cockpit bulkhead were all alloy as well very nice job.This was no kit car it was a professional magabuck job. The guy that made it was a master of his profession and was probably 60 and called Albert.I would like to know who it was as I am interested in tub design myself

[KC]

The Ford GT40 was a result of Ford pulling out all of the stops to beat Ferrari in the Wordl Sportscar Championships. There is a British company called ERA that build exact duplicates of the Mark II and Mark IV GT40s. I think the man that owns ERA originally worked on the GT40 project. I don't think you can find very many Ford 427 CobraJet side oiler motors anymore, but there are a few still out there. A high output 302 cu in block would fit the Mark II as it originally ran a 289 cu in small block.

In its day I don't think that anyone built a car capable of catching the Mark IV on the Mulsanne. Its hard to oversome 427 cu in pushing a light weight car. Rules changes finally spelled the end of the project after Ford quit. I have a framed picture of an ERA GT40 hanging on the wall at home painted up like a John Wyer Gulf car. Magnificent lines.

[Graham De Looze]

Have you got a contact no for ERA. Do you think they built the alloy car.

[Jeff OTMG]

Graham, the car you saw may have been an ERA. I believe that they are in Bridgeport, Ct. Another high quality (EXPENSIVE, I think approaching $400,000) copy is done in England and I believe they use an aluminum body and the Boeing windshield wiper motor, I do not remember the name nor do I have contact information available here. The version that I like for street use is done by Lone Star Cars in Ft Worth, Tx, formerly Keller, Tx. The car they make is about 4 inches longer, 2 inches wider, and is a bit taller for more headroom. I have been to the plant and was impressed with the frame designs and particularly the suspension. It is completely adjustable and was designed by an SCCA race champion. If you contact Lone Star the may have more info, area code in Ft. Worth is 817. Good luck and let me know what you find out.

[This message has been edited by Jeff OTMG (edited 19 March 2000).]

[Joe Fan]

KC, I think historically the situation with the Mk IV's success impacted our acceptance of sportscar racing(and probably F1 racing as well) over the years. When we built a great car, what was the response from FIA? A rule change shortly after our All-American Le Mans 24 Hours win in 1967 which restricted engine capacity--3 liters for Group 6 Prototypes and 5 liters for Group 4 Production Sports Cars.

The European perspective at the time was that 7 liter engines were too extravagent for 2 seaters. It was also felt that a limitless budget as Ford had would inevitably lead to success. There also was concern about rising speeds at Le Mans, not so much as the 220mph speeds reached on the Mulsanne straight as it was for the 180mph speeds reached before the drivers lifted for the right-hand bend after the pits. Ford even agreed and even underwrote the construction of the Virage Ford chicane to solve this problem.

I think Ford had reached its initial goal of producing an American car that beat Ferrari (which they tried to buy in the early 1960's) and winning the most historic Le Mans race so it was best step aside from the politics as the GT40 program was very costly anyway. However, if rules remained the same I am sure Ford would have hung in there a few more years and I am sure that there would have been more success for the Mark IV. I think this would have boded well and created more enthusiam for sportscar racing here in the U.S..

All in all, I think this example in history served as reason why we cultivated and developed our own motorsports series. Avoid FIA politics, spend the money at home and put it into more popular forms of motorsport.



[This message has been edited by Joe Fan (edited 18 March 2000).]

[torana]

In the early 1980's i was out at Amaroo pArk just outside sydney on the fridaybefore the historic races. Ther in rthe paddock was 2 GT40's one was candy apple red the other in Gulf racing colours. I understand that the car was built for le mans as a back up car but never actually raced. i have some before and after photos of the car. In the paddock before it went out on the track and after phoros of the car after it smacked into the rock wall going up Bitupave hill. boy was it a mess. the car was scattered allover the track Subsantially in tact but but the damage was to back, front and along one side. The back of the caqr was the worst with the engine and raer suspension splattered all over the track. I believe the car was being driven by Laurie O'Neil he was ok but the car?

IfI can work out how to put photos on these modern contraptions i will post them