Cars - Ford GT40

	Cars - Ford GT40

The Ford GT40 was a notable sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969. It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari (who won at Le Mans six times in a row from 1960 to 1965).

The car was named the GT40 after the Grand Tourisme category it was intended to compete in (in fact regulations were changed the car was never homologated in GT) and its overall height of 40 inches (1.02 m, measured at the windscreen) as required by the rules. Large-capacity Ford V8 engines (4.7 L and 7 L) were used, compared with the Ferrari V12 which had 3.0 L or 4.0 L.

Early cars were simply named "Ford GT" the name GT40 was introduced with the production of the stock Mk. 1.

The contemporary Ford GT is a modern homage to the GT40.

History

Henry Ford II had wanted a Ford at Le Mans since the early 1960s.

Initially, Ford attempted to buy Ferrari. Much to the surprise of Ford who expected long negotiations, the proposal was welcomed by Enzo Ferrari. A deal had been all but agreed on when Ferrari called the merger off in 1963, after an agreement with Fiat that gave some financial backing to Ferrari, while preserving Ferrari's independence.

Ford had been manipuled to rise the bids with Ferrari and a frustrated Henry Ford II, decided to produce its own car instead. To this end Ford began negotiation with Lotus, Lola, and Cooper. Cooper had no experience in GT or prototype and its performances in Formula One were declining.

Lotus was already Ford partner for their Indy 500 project. While Ford executives had already doubt on the ability of Lotus to handle this new project. Colin Chapman had probably similar views as he asked a high price for his contribution and insisted that the car should be named Lotus and not Ford, an attitude that can be viewed as polite refusal.

The Lola proposal was chosen, since Lola had used a Ford V8 engine in their mid-engined Lola Mk 6 (also known as Lola GT) one of the most advanced racing car of the time that made a noted performance in Le Mans 1962, even if the car didn't finish. However Broadley agreed on a short-term personal contribution to the project without involving Lola cars.

The agreement with Lola cars manager Eric Broadley included a one year collaboration between Ford and Broadley and the sale of the two Lola Mk 6 chassis built to Ford. To form the developpement team Ford also hired the already ex-Aston Martin team manager John Wyer and Ford Motor Co. engineer Roy Lunn was sent to England. Lunn had designed the mid-engined Mustang 1 concept car povered by 1,7 L V4. Despite the small engine of the Mustang 1, Lunn was the only Dearborn's engineer to have some experience with a mid-engined car.

Broadley, Lunn and Wyer began working on the new car at Lola Factory in Bromley. At the end of 1963 the team moved at Slough, England near Heathrow airport. Ford established a new subsidiary under the direction of Wyer, Ford Advanced Vehicles Ltd to manage the project.

The first chassis built by Abbey Panels of Coventry was delivered on March 16 1963. The first "Ford GT" the GT/101 was unveiled in England on April first and soon after exhibited in New York.

The car was powered by the 4.2 L Fairline engine with a Colotti transaxle, the same power plant was used by the Lola GT and the single-seater Lotus 38 that would go on to become the first mid-engined car to ever win at the Indy 500 in 1965.

The Ford GT was first raced in May 1964 at the Nürburgring 1000 km race and later at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and was not very successful with all three cars retiring. The experience gained then and in 1965 allowed the Mk II to dominate the race in 1966 with a 1-2-3 finish. The Mk IV, a newer design with a Mk II engine but a different chassis and a different body, won the following year (when four Mark IVs, three Mark IIs and three Mark Is raced).

After a rules change for 1968 which limited the capacity of prototypes to 3.0 L (same as in Formula One), but allowed a maximum of 5.0 L capacity for the Sports category (where at least 50 cars had been built), a revised 4.7 L Mk I won the 24 hours of Le Mans race in 1968 against the fragile smaller prototypes. In 1969, facing more experienced prototypes and the new yet still unreliable 4.5 L flat-12 powered Porsche 917s, the winners Ickx/Oliver managed to beat the remaining 3.0 L Porsche 908 by just a few seconds with the already outdated GT40. Apart from brake wear in the Porsche and the decision not to change pads so close to the race end, the winning combination was relaxed driving by both GT40 drivers and heroic efforts at the right time by (at that time Le Mans' rookie) Jacky Ickx, who would win Le Mans 5 times more in later years. In 1970, the revised Porsche 917 dominated and the GT40 became obsolete.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ford GT40 ]

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Cars - Ford GT40

History

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