VIN: the works Shelby / Holman Moody / Alan Mann Racing Ford GT40 Mk2 chassis P/1012
History of chassis P/1012
Chassis P/1012 was one of eleven Mk2 GT40s campaigned in 1966.
It debuted at the Daytona 24 Hours in February, where five of the white and black seven-litre cars were entered.
P/1012 was part of the Shelby American squad and was allocated to Dan Gurney / Jerry Grant.
Problems in qualifying saw the car start from eleventh on the grid, but after an hours racing, Gurney had moved up to third. At mid-distance, P/1012 was lying second and it continued to run like clockwork until the end.
Gurney / Grant ultimately took the runners up spot behind Miles / Ruby in the sister car.
At the beginning of April, P/1012 was taken to France for the annual Le Mans Test weekend. It was used by Ford’s full contingent of drivers and posted second fastest time behind the experimental J-car.
Unfortunately, the event was marred by a horrific accident on Saturday morning for Walt Hansgen in the other Mk2 (P/1011). Hansgen died of his injuries five days later.
In order for the Alan Mann squad to get some running time with a Mk2 prior to Le Mans, P/1012 was loaned to the English squad for the 1000km race at Spa on May 22nd.
Entered for John Whitmore and Frank Gardner, the big Ford qualified second behind Scuderia Ferrari’s solitary P3.
Having initially dropped to third at the start, Whitmore was soon back up to second. Conscious that Ford could do without losing another Mk2 just before Le Mans, Whitmore and Gardner drove a steady race to place second overall behind the Parkes / Scarfiotti P3.
P/1012 served as the T-car at Le Mans, where Ford vanquished the opposition to finish first, second and third. Although P/1012 did not race, its front bodywork was used on one of the Alan Mann entries (XGT-2) following a crash in practice.
Afterwards, P/1012 was painted black with silver stripes to replicate the Le Mans winner. It was then used for publicity purposes.
P/1012 next emerged for the opening race of 1967 as the all new Mk4 GT40 wasn’t quite ready. Now painted yellow with black stripes, P/1012 was driven by Bruce McLaren and Lucien Bianchi. They qualified and finished in seventh position while the other six Mk2s all fell by the wayside.
Following this outing, P/1012 was crashed heavily while being tested by Peter Revson at Daytona.
The wreck was subsequently used to test the effectiveness of a new fire extinguishing system.
The fire-damaged parts were stored at Holman Moody until 1970, when they were acquired by Don Davis of California.
As the original tub was too badly damaged to be safely used, Davis sourced a leftover chassis from Ford Advanced Vehicles in England. The new car was completed in 1973.
Notable History
Shelby American
White & Black with Blue side stripes
06/02/1966 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (D. Gurney / J. Grant) 2nd oa, 2nd P2.0+ class (#97)
Holman Moody
03/04/1966 IND Le Mans Test (K. Miles / B. McLaren / C. Amon / L. Bianchi / G. Hill / J. Stewart) 2nd oa, 2nd P2.0+ class (#2)
Alan Mann Racing
22/05/1966 WSC Spa 1000km (J. Whitmore / F. Gardner) 2nd oa, 2nd P2.0+ class (#4)
19/06/1966 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (-) T-car (#6T)
Colour changed to Black & Silver as a replica of the Le Mans winner and used for publicity purposes
Yellow & Black
Shelby American
05/02/1967 WSC Daytona 24 Hours (B. McLaren / L. Bianchi) 7th oa, 4th P2.0+ class (#1)
Crashed at Daytona then used for fire system tests
Stored at Holman Moody
1970 remains purchased by Don Davis, California
New tub purchased from Ford Advanced Vehicles
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: The Henry Ford Museum - https://www.thehenryford.org/
