This article is about the 1960s Le Mans-winning racing car. For the supercar inspired by it, see Ford GT. For the graphic computer terminal produced by Digital Equipment Corporation, see DEC GT40. For other uses, see Ford GT (disambiguation).
Motor vehicle
Ford GT40
Overview
Manufacturer
Ford Advanced Vehicles
John Wyer Automotive Engineering
Kar Kraft
Shelby American
Production
1964–1969[1] 105 produced[2]
Assembly
United Kingdom: Slough (Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III)
United States: Los Angeles (Mk I & Mk II Modifications) and Wixom, Michigan (Wixom Assembly Plant) (Mk IV)
Designer
Ron Bradshaw
Body and chassis
Class
Group 4 sports car Group 5 sports car Group 6 sports prototype
Ford P68 (racing heritage) Ford GT (street heritage)
The Ford GT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car designed and built by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring) project, an effort to compete in European long-distance sports car races, against Ferrari, who had won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race from 1960 to 1965. Ford succeeded with the GT40, winning the 1966 through 1969 races.
The effort began in the early 1960s when Ford Advanced Vehicles began to build the GT40 Mk I car, based upon the Lola Mk6, at their base in Slough, UK. After disappointing race results, the engineering team was moved in 1964 to Dearborn, Michigan, USA to design and build cars by Kar Kraft. All chassis versions were powered by a series of American-built Ford V8 engines modified for racing.
In 1966, Ford with the GT40 Mk II car broke Ferrari's winning streak at Le Mans, thus becoming the first American manufacturer to have won a major European race since Jimmy Murphy's triumph with Duesenberg at the 1921 French Grand Prix.[5][6][7] In 1967, the Mk IV car became the only car developed and assembled entirely (both chassis and engine) in the United States to achieve the overall win at Le Mans.[8]
The Mk I, the oldest of the cars, won in 1968 and 1969, the second chassis to win Le Mans more than once. (This Ford/Shelby chassis, #P-1075, was believed to have been the first until the Ferrari 275P chassis 0816 was revealed to have won the 1964 race after winning the 1963 race in 250P configuration and with a 0814 chassis plate[9]). Its American Ford V8 engine, originally of 4.7-liter displacement capacity (289 cubic inches), was enlarged to 4.9 litres (302 cubic inches), with custom alloy Gurney–Weslake cylinder heads.
The "40" represented its height of 40 inches (1.02 m), measured at the windscreen, the minimum allowed. The first 12 "prototype" vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 to GT-112. Once "production" began, the Mk I, Mk II, Mk III, and Mk IV were numbered GT40P/1000 through GT40P/1145, and thus officially "GT40s". The Mk IVs were numbered J1-J12.
The contemporary Ford GT is a modern homage to the GT40.
^Ford Chassis Numbers Retrieved on 27 January 2010
^"Debut for 'last' GT40" Retrieved on 2 February 2017
^Cardew, Basil (1966). Daily Express Review of the 1966 Motor Show. London: Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd.
^"GT40 Specifications". Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
^"Ford GT40 Mark II". Supercars.net. 1 March 2004. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
^"1965 - 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. 21 December 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
^"The ACO statistics of winners" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 June 2018.
^"The Collection". simeonemuseum.org. 23 August 2015.
^"RM Sotheby's - Private Sales - 1963 Ferrari 275 P". Retrieved 14 April 2020.
The FordGT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car designed and built by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring)...
The second generation Ford GT became available for the 2017 model year. The GT recalls Ford's historically significant GT40, a consecutive four-time...
of America. As an automotive engineer, he is known for developing the FordGT40 along with driver and designer Carroll Shelby, which won at Le Mans in...
and Ford arrive to inspect the program, Shelby locks Beebe in his office and gives Ford a ride in the GT40. Shelby makes an agreement with Ford: if Miles...
the FordGT40, taking from it some styling cues, such as doors that cut into the roofline, but little else. In regard to angles and glass, the Ford GT90...
Championship season. This was the first overall win at Le Mans for the FordGT40 as well as the first win for an American constructor in a major European...
bested only by the prototype Ferrari 275 P and 330 P. The Ford Motor Company's new prototype, the GT40, fared poorly; none of the three cars entered into the...
in 427 and 428 cu in high-performance versions, and famously powered FordGT40 MkIIs to endurance racing domination in the 24 hours of Le Mans during...
Ferrari racing division. The collapse of the deal led him to launch the FordGT40 project, intended to end Ferrari's dominance at Le Mans (the Italian marque...
prestigious event. Ford also won four titles at the World Sportscar Championship with the GT40. Swiss team Matech GT Racing, in collaboration with Ford Racing, opened...
AMC Javelin, AMC Matador, Chevrolet Camaro, Eagle-Offy, Elva Courier, FordGT40 MK IV, Ferrari 250LM, Ferrari 512, Lola T70, Lola T330, Lotus 20, McLaren...
purposes between 1964 and 1965, as Carroll Shelby was reassigned to the FordGT40 project to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, again to beat Ferrari in...
Scarab Mark II. As an automotive designer, he is known for developing the FordGT40 along with racing legend Ken Miles, which won at Le Mans in 1966, 1967...
motorsports history. Ford had just come off a 1-2-3 triumph at the first 24 Hours of Daytona in February, with two of their seven-liter engined GT40 Mk.II's being...
engine 302 Cleveland was produced by Ford Australia for the Australian market. By 1967, the FordGT40 MKII and GT40 MKIV had dominated the Le Mans 24-Hour...
participated in the Le Mans Legend races for a few years. He destroyed a FordGT40 while competing in 2006, but escaped with only a cut finger. He later...
(1987) Ford GloCar (2003) Ford Granada Altair (1980) Ford GTK (1979) Ford GT-P (1966) FordGT40 (2002) Ford GT70 (1971) Ford GT80 (1978) Ford GT90 (1995)...
Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse non-stop. In the end, the FordGT40 – the same chassis that had won the previous year – took the chequered...
champions Ford, along with Porsche, had the biggest representation with ten cars. The new FordGT40 Mark IV was an updated version of the Ford J-Car, which...
rear-wheel-drive. Len Bailey, who had been the chief engineer on the FordGT40 project, was enlisted to help design the bodywork and chassis. The GT70...
credited as being the "father of the modern SUV" and "the godfather of the FordGT40". Roy Lunn was educated in England with degrees in mechanical and aeronautical...
The "spaghetti" styled exhaust system similar to the one used in the FordGT40 was used. The engine had a claimed power output of 507 PS (373 kW; 500 hp)...
once they were open, an idea that was kept on the car's successor, the FordGT40. The prototype car (chassis LGT-P, steel monocoque) was shown to the public...
public relations at Ford, to get support for the project. Hayes had earlier been the driving force behind the development of the FordGT40 that won Le Mans...
failure. In 1966, McLaren and co-driver Chris Amon won the race in a FordGT40, in a Ford 1-2-3 finish. The Ken Miles-Denny Hulme entry crossed the line first...
years, mainly dealing with reliability due to mechanical failure, the FordGT40 programme was handed over to Holman Moody and Carroll Shelby to compete...
of Bruce McLaren/Mike Spence in the new Ford, but none finished. It was the updated John Wyer-entered FordGT40 of Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman which won ahead...
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