Ford GT40 Race History

The GT40 history began in the early sixties, and extended for almost a decade. During this time, it developed from an initially unreliable vehicle to one which swept all before it in endurance races across the world. Along the way, it was associated with some of the biggest names of twentieth century motorsport on both sides of the Atlantic: Carroll Shelby, AJ Foyt, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren, Jackie Ickx, Phil Hill, and Mike Hailwood. In June 1962, Henry Ford II withdrew his company from the 1957 Automobile Manufacturers Association ban on racing, signalling the beginning of a Ford commitment to international motorsport. Ford Motor Company had joined a 1957 Automobile Manufacturers Association agreement prohibiting direct involvement in racing, and the ban quickly took its toll on Ford's image and its ability to engineer performance. Thus in 1962 Henry Ford II decided to withdraw from the already-dissolving pact, and the company launched a massive racing campaign that would take the 1960s by storm. A key component of "Ford Total Performance," as the effort was called, was the quest to win the famed 24-hour Grand Prix d'Endurance at Le Mans. Perhaps the world's most significant – and glamorous – motorsport contest, Le Mans in the early 1960s was showing signs of becoming a Ferrari showcase, as the Italians had become the leaders in a number of endurance classes and events.

Le Mans, France is the quiet capital of the agricultural region West of Paris – for 51 weeks of the year, anyway. Each June, the motoring world descends on the city for the annual 24-hour competition. The race has been a tradition since 1923, when Andre Lagache and Rene Leonard managed 1373 miles in their 3-liter Chenard & Walker, averaging 57 mph. The Dan Gurney/A.J. Foyt team in winning the 1967 Le Mans in their 7-liter GT40, covered nearly 3252 miles at an average speed of over 135 mph. Impressive as these figures are, Le Mans has always been more than a speed contest in the traditional sense. Victory there, at least in the sixties, was regarded as the ultimate proof of reliability and performance, and a public testimony of engineering excellence.

In the ensuing 12 months, Ford attempted to buy Ferrari to run its international racing program, but negotiations between Ford and Enzo Ferrari broke down in May 1963.

To compete seriously at Le Mans, Ford needed a 200-mph mid-engined car that could maintain a 120-mph average lap speed after 24 hours, and it needed one quickly, so Ford boldly vied to buy Ferrari outright. Things were going fairly well in the $18 million deal when Enzo Ferrari abruptly decided that his company was no longer for sale.

GT40 Beginnings

Ford had a backup plan. While the Ferrari negotiations were underway, Dearborn brass took steps to create their own racing program, ultimately forming the Britain-based Ford Advanced Vehicles division. Through the 1962 Mustang concept, Ford had already developed a relationship with Roy Lunn, an Englishman who started his career at Ford of Britain but came to the United States in 1958.

Because Lunn and his team would ultimately develop the GT40, one can think of Mustang I, a mid-engined sportscar that spawned the classic production vehicle, as a precursor to GT40 in a philosophical rather than technical sense. Aluminum-bodied and lightweight, the two-seater was equipped with a 1.7-liter V-4 and some running gear from period Ford Cortinas. Aside from the mid-engined layout, it bore little resemblance to the Le Mans racers that would soon make Ford proud, but Mustang I was still essential to the GT40 program; it proved to Ford management that an international collection of engineers could form a successful product development team.

After working on the Mustang I, Roy Lunn, along with Ray Geddes and Donald Frey, turned toward the racing effort. They found that the "Grand Touring" car Ford conceived to win at Le Mans had much in common with the new Lola GT, a low-slung coupe developed by Eric Broadley in Slough, England, not the least of which was the American V-8 mounted amidships – a rarity for European cars of the time.

Displayed in January 1963, at the London Racing Car Show, the Lola GT was hardly complete, but it formed an excellent foundation for the development of the Ford GT40. Essential elements like the monocoque center section, the broad side sills (they doubled as fuel tanks) and the aerodynamic profile, made their way to the GT40, and Broadley, short on funds, was eager to join the Ford team.

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