VIN: the Peter Sutcliffe / Ed Nelson / Malcolm Guthrie Ford GT40 chassis P/1009
History of chassis P/1009
Chassis P/1009 was a competition-spec. Mk1 GT40 that was purchased by privateer racing driver, Peter Sutcliffe.
Sutcliffe’s family hailed from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and owned a successful textile manufacturing business. 20 year old Peter Sutcliffe began racing in 1956 with a second-hand MG TD that his parents had bought for him to get to and from university.
A year later, Sutcliffe part-exchanged the MG for a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica which in turn was replaced with a Frazer Nash Sebring for the 1959 season.
Sutcliffe then had a couple of years away from the tracks between 1960 and 1961 to carry out his National Service. Upon completion, he acquired an ex-Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar D-type which was campaigned throughout 1962. The D-type was then replaced with a brand new Lightweight E-type for 1963 and 1964. Mid-way through 1965, Sutcliffe purchased one of David Piper’s Ferrari 250 GTOs.
Chassis P/1009 was delivered in time for Sutcliffe to contest the 1965-1966 Springbok winter series in Africa. The metallic green machine was dispatched from Ford Advanced Vehicles on 18th August 1965 and made its competition debut at the Kyalami 9 Hours on November 6th.
Sutcliffe was co-driven by Innes Ireland at Kyalami. They finished second overall, after which Sutcliffe single-handedly picked up another second at the East London GP and a trio of wins at Cape Town, the Rhodesian GP and Pietermarizburg 3 Hours.
After P/1009’s return to Europe, Sutcliffe successfully raced the car at national and international level. Notable results during 1966 included fourth overall at the Spa 1000km (co-driven by Brian Redman) and sixth overall at the Nurburgring 1000km (co-driven by John Taylor).
Sutcliffe’s last race with P/1009 was at the 1966 Surfers Paradise 12 Hours in Australia where he and Frank Matich finished second overall.
Prior to his departure to the southern hemisphere, Sutcliffe had paid a visit to Ford Advanced Vehicles where he saw one of the open-topped GT40 Prototypes abandoned in the workshop (chassis GT/112). Sutcliffe concluded a deal to buy the Roadster and had FAV prepare it for him.
Around the same time, Sutcliffe agreed to sell chassis P/1009 to fellow amateur driver, Ed Nelson from London.
Nelson was a Director of the Daily Mirror Group and a couple of years earlier had acquired Peter Sutcliffe’s Lightweight E-type.
Because P/1009 was delayed coming back from Australia, Nelson jointly purchased another GT40 to contest the 1966-1967 Springbok winter series with Colin Crabbe (P/1021). After the Springbok series, Crabbe bought P/1021 outright and Nelson began to race P/1009 which he road registered EN 1000.
Ed Nelson raced P/1009 extensively throughout the 1967 and 1968 seasons. In 1967 he picked up a fifth place finish at the Zeltweg 500km, won the Hockenheim Preis der Nationen and took a trio of third place finishes at the Kyalami 9 Hours, the Lourenco Marques 3 Hours and the Pietermaritzburg 3 Hours. At Kyalami and Pietermaritzburg, Nelson was co-driven by Mike Hailwood.
In 1968, Nelson and David Piper picked up a class win at the Sebring 12 Hours, after which Nelson single-handedly finished third at the Silverstone Martini Trophy and second at the Nurburgring Eifelpokalrennen.
After 36 outings over the course of two seasons, Ed Nelson sold P/1009 in late 1968 to Malcolm Guthrie from Bicester, Oxfordshire.
Guthrie was the grandson of financier, Sir Connop Guthrie, and the son of Sir Giles Guthrie, an aviator and merchant banker.
In 1968, Guthrie had taken up Formula 3 motor racing with a Frank Williams-run Brabham. That year, he also purchased a Lamborghini Miura which was followed by P/1009 a few months later.
In anticipation of Guthrie’s first outing with his GT40 (at the 1968 Kyalami 9 Hours), P/1009 was repainted grey with a maroon stripe. It was entered for the Kyalami race by Frank Williams Racing Cars, but two laps after Guthrie took over from Mike Hailwood, he crashed and P/1009 was embedded in a bank at Leeukop bend.
Having sustained heavy front and nearside damage (which could not be repaired locally), Guthrie struck a deal with John Wyer to purchase the Mirage M1 that Jacky Ickx / David Hobbs had driven to victory at Kyalami.
P/1009 was sent back to the UK, but rather than having it rebuilt, Guthrie elected to purchase a new tub from John Wyer which he sent to Alan Mann Racing for assembly. The new tub was numbered P/1009A.
The original tub that had been crashed at Kyalami was sold to Brian Wingfield. Over the next year or so, Wingfield successfully rebuilt the car and subsequently had it renumbered P/1009B.
In 1976, Wingfield sold the now yellow GT40 to Wayne Skiles in Oakland, California. Later that year, Skiles sold the car to fellow California resident, Walter Cantrell, who part exchanged the wrecked remains of chassis P/1012.
Notable History
Sold to Peter Sutcliffe, Huddersfield
06/11/1965 SBK Kyalami 9 Hours (P. Sutcliffe / I. Ireland) 2nd oa, 2nd S2.0+ class (#6)
28/11/1965 IND Rhodesian GP (P. Sutcliffe) 1st oa (#52)
04/12/1965 SAS Kyalami GP (P. Sutcliffe) DNF (#86)
27/12/1965 SBK Pietermaritzburg 3 Hours (P. Sutcliffe) 1st oa (#5)
01/01/1966 SBK East London GP (P. Sutcliffe) 2nd oa, 2nd C class (#86)
08/01/1966 SBK Cape Town (P. Sutcliffe) 1st oa, 1st C class (#86)
30/04/1966 BSC Oulton Park Tourist Trophy (P. Sutcliffe) 3rd oa (#48)
14/05/1966 BSC Silverstone International (P. Sutcliffe) DNF (#26)
22/05/1966 WSC Spa 1000km (P. Sutcliffe / B. Redman) 4th oa, 2nd S2.0+ class (#40)
29/05/1966 BSC Mallory Park Grovewood Trophy (P. Sutcliffe) 2nd oa (#12)
05/06/1966 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (P. Sutcliffe / J. Taylor) 6th oa, 2nd S3.0+ class (#50)
02/07/1966 IND Crystal Palace (P. Sutcliffe) 1st oa (#60)
09/07/1966 BSC Silverstone Martini Trophy (P. Sutcliffe) 6th oa (#26)
21/08/1966 IND Surfers Paradise 12 Hours (P. Sutcliffe / F. Matich) 2nd oa, 2nd SR2.0+ class (#2)
Sold to Ed Nelson, London
23/03/1967 BSC Snetterton Autosport Trophy (E. Nelson) 7th oa, 6th S2.0+ class (#58)
27/03/1967 BSC Silverstone Wills Trophy (E. Nelson) 10th oa, 8th S2.5+ class (#7)
25/04/1967 WSC Monza 1000km (E. Nelson / E. Liddell) 11th oa, 2nd S2.0+ class (#36)
01/05/1967 WSC Spa 1000km (E. Nelson / R. Widdows) DNF (#45)
20/05/1967 BSC Silverstone Martini Trophy (E. Nelson) 10th oa, 8th S2.0+ class (#38)
28/05/1967 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (E. Nelson / P. de Klerk) DNF (#62)
25/06/1967 IND Reims 12 Hours (E. Nelson / E. Liddell) 12th oa, 3rd S2.0+ class (#16)
15/07/1967 IND British GP Support Race, Silverstone (E. Nelson) 18th oa (#42)
23/07/1967 WSC Mugello GP (E. Nelson) 13th oa, 3rd S2.0+ class (#49)
13/08/1967 IND Swedish GP, Karlskoga (E. Nelson) 8th oa, 6th SP2.0+ class (#9)
20/08/1967 WSC Zeltweg 500km (E. Nelson) 5th oa, 4th S2.0+ class (#8)
28/08/1967 BSC Brands Hatch Evening News (E. Nelson) DNF (#56)
01/10/1967 IND Hockenheim Preis der Nationen (E. Nelson) 1st oa, 1st S class (#249)
08/10/1967 IND Montlhery Coupes du Salon (E. Nelson) 5th oa (#??)
04/11/1967 SBK Kyalami 9 Hours (E. Nelson / M. Hailwood) 3rd oa, 1st F class (#9)
18/11/1967 SBK Cape Town 3 Hours (E. Nelson) 5th oa (#??)
03/12/1967 RSA Rhodesia (E. Nelson) DNF (#??)
16/12/1967 SBK Lourenco Marques 3 Hours (E. Nelson) 3rd oa (#??)
26/12/1967 SBK Pietermaritzburg 3 Hours (E. Nelson / M. Hailwood) 3rd oa (#6)
06/01/1968 RSA Cape Town (E. Nelson) DNF (#??)
04/02/1968 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (E. Nelson / M. Hailwood) DNF (#18)
23/03/1968 WSC Sebring 12 Hours (D. Piper / E. Nelson) 16th oa, 1st S5.0 class (#30)
25/04/1968 WSC Monza 1000km (E. Nelson / J. Epstein) DNF (#50)
12/05/1968 IND Zandvoort Dunes Trophy (E. Nelson) 12th oa, 8th S1.3+ class (#4)
19/05/1968 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (E. Nelson / R. Pierpoint) DNF (#64)
03/06/1968 BSC Oulton Park Tourist Trophy (E. Nelson) DNS (#??)
30/06/1968 IND Norisring 200 mile (E. Nelson) DNF (#10)
21/07/1968 IND Hockenheim Solituderennen (E. Nelson) DNF (#17)
27/07/1968 BSC Silverstone Martini Trophy (E. Nelson) 3rd oa, 3rd S2.0+ class (#24)
04/08/1968 IND Crystal Palace (E. Nelson) 1st oa (#??)
11/08/1968 IND Swedish GP, Karlskoga (E. Nelson) 5th oa (#17)
17/08/1968 BSC Oulton Park Gold Cup (E. Nelson) 4th oa, 4th S2.0+ class (#44)
25/08/1968 WSC Zeltweg 500km (E. Nelson) DNF (#22)
02/09/1968 BSC Brands Hatch Guards Trophy (E. Nelson) 7th oa, 4th S2.5+ class (#110)
15/09/1968 IND Hockenheim Preis der Nationen (E. Nelson) 7th oa, 2nd S2.0+ class (#20)
22/09/1968 IND Nurburgring Eifelpokal (E. Nelson) 2nd oa, 2nd S2.0+ class (#??)
Sold to Malcolm Guthrie, Bicester, Oxfordshire
Repainted Grey with Maroon stripe
09/11/1968 SPR Kyalami 9 Hours (M. Guthrie / M. Hailwood) DNF (#7)
Rebuilt by Alan Mann Racing with new lightweight tub numbered P/1009A
1969 wrecked original tub sold to Brian Wingfield
Rebuilt by Wingfield, repainted Mustard Yellow and renumbered P/1009B
Registered HVX 7H
1976 sold to Wayne Skiles, Oakland, California
1976 sold to Walter Cantrell, Napa, California
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
