Ford’s Greatest Sportscar: The GT40
The GT40 is an iconic car - winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans four consecutive times. From 1966 to 1969 it dominated in this prestigious race and it’s the only car built by an American company to win overall there.
Built as a serious competitor to Ferrari, and to stop their six-year domination in endurance sports car racing, the GT40 utilised large displacement Ford V8s as opposed to Ferrari’s V12 3-litre engines.
GT stands for Grand Touring, and the 40 is the number of inches tall measured at the windshield.
Henry Ford had desperately wanted a Ford at Le Mans since the early ‘60s and in the spring of 1963 received notice that Ferrari was up for sale. After Ford spent several million dollars on due diligence and legal negotiations, Ferrari called them off and told Ford they wanted to remain in control of the motor racing division. Ford was angry and directed his racing division to crush Ferrari in endurance sport car racing.
Ford negotiated with Lotus, Lola and Cooper, but eventually partnered with Lola. Despite Lotus already being a partner with Ford in the Indy 500 project, Ford executives doubted Lotus had the resources to handle the extra work. Two Lola Mk VI chassis were used as they had previously used mid-mounted Ford V8 engines. The car was predominantly designed and built by Lola in the UK using a mixture of Ford parts and custom developed parts.
It was first raced in May 1964 at the Nurburgring 1000km race and suffered a retirement after holding second place early on. Three weeks later, the three Le Mans entries unfortunately retired, though one car was in the lead for a while.
The trials and tribulations of the 1964-5 seasons gave the team the experience to dominate in the 1966 race with the 7-litre Mk II. Ford took the honours with a 1-2-3 placing, but it wasn't without controversy created by team orders and a staged finish. Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon - both drivers from New Zealand - took the chequered flag, giving a huge boost to Ford's racing legacy.
With the advent of Porsche's unbelievably advanced 917, the GT40's days were numbered, and it was obsolete by 1970. The GT40, though, is still one of the most beautiful and influential cars ever to have been driven in anger.
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