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 had won at Le Mans four times in a row 1958–62). The modern successor to the GT40 is the Ford GT.

Related Topics:
Ford - Sports car - 24 hours of Le Mans - 1966 - 1969 - Sports car races - Ferrari - Ford GT

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Henry Ford II had wanted a Ford at Le Mans since the early 1960s. Initially, Ford attempted to buy Ferrari, but after negotiations broke down in 1963 over ownership and control of the racing program, Ford decided to produce its own car instead. To this end, Ford established a small subsidiary, Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough, England and began negotiation with Lotus, Lola, and Cooper. Cooper had no experience in GT or prototype and its performances in Formula One were declining. The Lotus Europa was the design put forth by Lotus, who had won in Indianapolis with the 4.2 L Fairline engine. But the Lola proposal was chosen, since Lola had used a Ford engine in their Lola GT that made a noted performance in Le Mans 1962.

Related Topics:
Henry Ford II - 1960s - 1963 - Slough - England - Lotus - Lola - Cooper - Formula One - Lotus Europa - Lola GT

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Thus Ford began working closely with the Lola company, the resulting car was named GT40 after the Gran Turismo category it was intended to compete in (in fact the car was never homologated in GT) and its overall height of 40 inches (1.02 m) measured at the windscreen. Big Ford V8 engines (4.7 L and 7 L) were used, compared to the V12 of Ferrari which had 3 or 4 litres.

Related Topics:
Lola - Gran Turismo

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The original GT40 first raced in May 1964 at the Nurburgring 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 Mark II to dominate the race in 1966 with a 1-2-3 finish. The Mark IV, a newer design with a narrower roof and hence more compact cockpit, won the following year (when four Mark IVs, three Mark IIs and three Mark Is raced).

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After a rules change for 1968 which limited the capacity of Prototypes to 3 litres (same as in Formula One), but allowed a maximum of 5 litre capacity for the Sports (where at least 50 had been built), a revised Mark I won the 24 hours of Le Mans race in 1968 and 1969 against the fragile smaller prototypes. In 1969, the winners Ickx/Oliver managed to beat the Porsche 908 by just a few seconds, mainly due to the heroic efforts of Jacky Ickx, who managed to win Le Mans 5 times more in later years. In 1970, the new Porsche 917 dominated the Sportscars with its 5 litre flat V12 engine, and the outdated GT40 was obsolete.

Related Topics:
Formula One - 24 hours of Le Mans - Jacky Ickx - Porsche 917

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