VIN: the 2-time Le Mans-winning Gulf Racing Ford GT40 chassis P/1075
History of chassis P/1075
After the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours, John Wyer Automotive Engineering (JWAE) acquired Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough (FAV).
John Wyer had originally managed FAV, the operation that designed, built and raced GT40s on Ford’s behalf. Ford wanted to exit to focus on the new all-American Mk4.
With backing from Gulf Oil, JWAE dedicated most of their 1967 programme to the Mirage M1 - a reworked super GT40.
The Mirage M1 had been conceived to run in the Group 4 class for Sports cars, but the FIA deemed it to have been sufficiently modified that it should run in the Group 6 Prototype category.
A few weeks later, the bitterly disappointed JWAE squad saw their fortunes turned around in an ironic twist of fate.
Immediately after the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA announced a three-litre engine limit would be imposed on Group 6 cars from 1968. The decision was made in an attempt to bring down speeds. It meant a whole raft of large displacement Prototypes like Ferrari’s P cars and Ford’s US-built Mk4 GT40 were made obsolete.
Although the Mirage M1 was another machine that would no longer be eligible from 1968, JWAE were in an ideal position to capitalise.
Cars of up to five-litres were still permitted in the Group 4 Sports class, a category for which the Mk1 GT40 had already met the 50 car homologation requirement.
Given the Mk1 GT40 would have a two-litre advantage over anything in the Group 6 Prototype class, John Wyer reasoned that the old bruiser would be in with a shout of victory at many of the high speed tracks visited by the World Championship.
Accordingly, JWAE built a small number of tricked out Mk1s for 1968 with all the latest bells and whistles.
P/1075 was one such car. It may have been constructed on a leftover Mirage M1 tub that had never been assembled into an operational machine.
1968 saw the Gulf-sponsored GT40s win at Brands Hatch, Monza, Spa, Watkins Glen and most famously of all, the Le Mans 24 Hours. The English team also beat Porsche’s Group 6 Prototypes to secure the World Championship by 45 points to 42.
Chassis P/1075 was the car that won at Monza, Watkins Glen and Le Mans where Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi finished five laps clear of the second place Porsche 907. For the rest of the season, it had been driven almost exclusively by Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman.
Almost unthinkable today, this Le Mans winning chassis was then wheeled out to play its part in the 1969 World Championship.
It won the Sebring 12 Hours and then took another victory at Le Mans, becoming only the second chassis to achieve the feat.
Like at Sebring, Jackie Oliver and Jacky Ickx were the winning drivers.
Ickx dedicated the ‘69 Le Mans victory to his ex-JWAE team-mate, Lucien Bianchi, who had died testing for Alfa Romeo in March.
After the race, Gulf Oil retained chassis P/1075 and it was used for promotional duty.
During the 1984 the firm sold P/1075 to Arizona dealer, Harley Cluxton, who retained it until the 1990s.
Notable History
John Wyer Automotive Engineering (Gulf Racing)
04/02/1968 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (J. Ickx / B. Redman) DNF (#8)
23/03/1968 WSC Sebring 12 Hours (J. Ickx / B. Redman) DNF (#28)
07/04/1968 WSC Brands Hatch 6 Hours (J. Ickx / B. Redman) 1st oa (#4)
25/04/1968 WSC Monza 1000km (J. Ickx / B. Redman) DNF (#39)
19/05/1968 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (J. Ickx / P. Hawkins) 3rd oa (#65)
26/05/1968 WSC Spa 1000km (J. Ickx / B. Redman) 1st oa (#33)
14/07/1968 WSC Watkins Glen 6 Hours (J. Ickx / L. Bianchi) 1st oa (#5)
29/09/1968 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (P. Rodriguez / L. Bianchi) 1st oa (#9)
02/02/1969 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (D. Hobbs / M. Hailwood) DNF (#2)
22/03/1969 WSC Sebring 12 Hours (J. Ickx / J. Oliver) 1st oa (#22)
15/06/1969 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (J. Ickx / J. Oliver) 1st oa (#6)
Retained by Gulf Oil
1976 loaned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
1984 sold to Harley Cluxton, Arizona
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ford - https://www.ford.com
