VIN: the Ford France / Un Homme et Une Femme Ford GT40 chassis P/1007
History of chassis P/1007
Completed on August 28th 1965 and UK registered LBH 416C, chassis P/1007 was the second GT40 delivered to Ford France. The first was chassis P/1003, which most notably won the 1965 Albi GP with its owner, Guy Ligier, at the wheel.
Chassis P/1007 was painted the Ford France livery of white with a wide blue centre stripe flanked by additional red pinstripes. Once delivered, it spent the remainder of 1965 on display duty, first heading out to the Monza Racing Car Show and then to the Paris Salon as part of the Ford France team exhibition.
During late 1965, P/1007 appeared in the highly rated Claude Lelouch movie Un Homme et Une Femme driven by lead man, Jean-Louis Trintignant (the nephew of Ford France veteran, Maurice Trintignant).
For 1966, chassis P/1007 went racing and had several strong performances. They included a sixth overall at the Monza 1000km and two wins at Montlhery. P/1007 also scored a class win at the Targa Florio, despite having dropped from fourth to twelfth on the last lap. However, the Targa victory was primarily down to a lack of competition in the GT40’s class.
Following its Coupe de Paris and Coupe du Salon wins at Montlhery, chassis P/1007 was entered at the same track for the 1966 season-ending Paris 1000km.
During the warm-up lap, another driver had unwittingly dropped a prodigious quantity of oil and fuel at Virage de la Ferme which went unnoticed by the marshals.
The lead cars stormed into the hazard with no warning flags displayed and many cars span or crashed. Jo Schlesser was particularly unlucky and P/1007 slammed into the retaining wall.
The damaged car was sent back to Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough and completely rebuilt over the winter of 1966-67. It was uprated to the latest specification with a new 4.7-litre engine and lightweight bodywork.
In this guise, P/1007 contested three rounds of the 1967 World Sportscar Championship. It most notably secured a class win and sixth overall at the Monza 1000km prior to being replaced by chassis P/1020.
Chassis P/1007 was sold to esteemed French collector, Pierre Bardinon, in Saint-Avit-de-Tardes.
After three years, and with Bardinon’s collection becoming ever more Ferrari focused, the car was sold in 1970 to its second private owner who retained it for another 30 years.
Notable History
Ford France
Displayed at the 1965 Monza Racing Car show and 1965 Paris Salon.
Featured in the Claude Lelouch movie “Un Homme et Une Femme”.
03/04/1966 IND Le Mans Test (G. Ligier / H. Greder / J.M. Giorgi) 6th oa, 1st S2.0+ class (#14)
25/04/1966 WSC Monza 1000km (G. Ligier / H. Greder) 6th oa, 3rd S3.0+ class (#6)
08/05/1966 WSC Targa Florio (G. Ligier / H. Greder) 12th oa, 1st S2.0+ class (#176)
18-19/06/1966 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (G. Ligier / B. Grossman) DNF (#15)
26/06/1966 EMC Mont Ventoux Hillclimb (G. Ligier) 6th oa, 2nd Gr.4 class (#??)
25/09/1966 IND Montlhery Coupes de Paris (I. Ireland) 1st oa, 1st S2.0+ class (#52)
09/10/1966 IND Montlhery Coupes du Salon (J. Schlesser) DNF (#??)
16/10/1966 IND Paris 1000km, Montlhery (J. Schlesser / R. Attwood) DNF (#34)
Rebuilt to 1967 specification.
25/04/1967 WSC Monza 1000km (J. Schlesser / G. Ligier) 6th oa, 1st S2.0+ class (#33)
14/05/1967 WSC Targa Florio (J. Schlesser / G. Ligier) DNF (#126)
28/05/1967 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (J. Schlesser / G. Ligier) 10th oa, 3rd S3.0+ class (#60)
Sold to Pierre Bardinon, France
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ford - https://www.ford.com
