Guide: Ford GT40 Mk1 / 65
Background
For 1966, the FIA announced well in advance that new motor racing regulations would come into effect.
Qualifying machinery would be split into one of seven new groups.
Groups 1, 2 and 5 were for Touring cars. Group 3 was for Grand Touring cars and Group 7 was essentially an unlimited class for cars that were not eligible to race in the FIA World Sportscar Championship.
The big change concerned the category for prototype sports cars which were now split into two categories. Group 4 was for Sports cars. This category had a 50 car requirement and five-litre engine limit. Group 6 was for out-and-out Prototypes. It had no minimum production requirement and no engine limit.
As Le Mans was Ford’s main priority and for 1966, they decided to focus their works programme on the Group 6 Prototype category for which a batch of special seven-litre GT40s were assembled (the Mk2).
The new Group 4 class was also an attractive proposition as, with the proven 4.7-litre GT40 platform, Ford felt they could easily reach the 50 car production requirement for 1966.
Until 1966 though, these early 4.7-litre GT40 Mk1 production cars would still have to race in the Prototype category.
The first 4.7-litre Mk1 GT40 production car was delivered in May 1965. Road and racing versions were both offered and the aim was to produce two cars per week until the end of the year.
A new chassis numbering system was introduced to differentiate these production GT40s from the Mk1 prototypes that came before. The sequence started at GT40 P/1000 and ran to P/1084.
Chassis
The original steel semi monocoque chassis fabricated by Abbey Panels in Coventry was little changed although the Mk1’s longer, smoother nose cowling required a different subframe assembly ahead of the front bulkhead.
Once fitted with front and rear subframes, each unpainted chassis was sent to Harold Radford in London where the fibreglass doors and hinged single-piece front and rear clams were fitted.
On their return to Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough (FAV), the suspension, steering, wiring, engine and gearbox were installed.
Each GT40 then went back to Radford’s to be finished with an interior and glass.
Suspension was via double wishbones at the front with dual trailing links, transverse top arms and inverted lower wishbones at the rear. Coil springs with adjustable dampers were fitted all round along with anti-roll bars at either end.
The 11.5-inch disc brakes were supplied by Girling.
15-inch diameter wire wheels came from Borrani. These centre-lock rims measured 6.5-inches wide at the front, 8-inches wide at the back and were originally shod with Goodyear tyres.
Each sill housed a flexible bag-type fuel tank.
Engine / Gearbox
The 4.7-litre 90° V8 engines used in Mk1 GT40s were sent from the US as bare units and subsequently uprated to the same specification as Shelby’s competition Cobras.
They featured cast-iron for the block and pushrod heads. Displacement was 4736cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 101.6mm and 72.9mm respectively.
Two versions were available: one for street use and the other for competition.
FAV equipped the competition versions with four twin choke Weber 48 IDA downdraught carburettors. The valve covers and alternator were also modified and a racing exhaust system was fitted. With a compression ratio set at 10.0:1, peak output was 380bhp at 6500rpm and 330lb-ft at 5500rpm.
Importantly, the original Colotti four-speed gearbox was replaced with a five-speed DS25 all-synchromesh unit from ZF in Germany. A triple-plate Borg & Beck clutch was also fitted along with a limited-slip differential.
All Mk1 GT40s were right-hand drive with a right-hand gear change.
Bodywork
Aside from a handful of very early examples (which retained the pointier Mk1 Prototype nose), Mk1 GT40s came with a flatter nose profile than before. Developed at FAV, the new nose used a different subframe assembly that also allowed space for a full size spare wheel (as dictated by the Group 4 regulations).
Glass Fibre Engineering of Farnham, Surrey, fabricated the plastic doors and hinged front and rear bodywork sections which were then delivered unpainted to FAV in Slough.
Street Version
Mk1 GT40s equipped for road use had a variety of special features to include softer springs, less raucous 289 engines and more comfortable cockpits.
Engines were standard 4.7-litre Ford V8s as fitted to the Shelby GT350 Mustang. They came equipped with larger silencers, a heavier flywheel and a single Holley carburettor (although four downdraught Webers were optional).
Compression was dropped to 9.0:1.
With the four-choke Holley in place, output was 306bhp at 6000rpm. GT40s equipped with the Weber option developed 335bhp and ran to 6250rpm.
Another nicety for road use was a softer clutch.
Inside, these GT40 road cars normally came with nylon carpet, soundproofing, a padded dash, heated windscreen, tinted safety glass for the side and back windows, door pockets, a door-mounted radio and improved heating system.
Most also came with chrome Ford script on the nose.
Upholstery was black vinyl.
Options
Customers could request practically any combination of parts for their car. As a result, some road-going GT40s were fitted with competition engines and other race-type enhancements.
Weight / Performance
Competition-spec. Mk1 GT40s typically weighed in at 910kg.
Road versions were normally around 50kg heavier.
0-62mph usually took little more than four seconds for a competition GT40.
Maximum in-gear speeds were 71mph (first), 117mph (second), 159mph (third), 181mph (fourth) and 204mph (fifth).
Production Begins
Chassis P/1002 was the first Mk1 production car delivered.
It was supplied to the Fred English Ford dealership in Bournemouth owned by Colonel Ronnie Hoare of Maranello Concessionaires fame.
This light blue car cost £6500 and was registered FEL 1C.
1965 Silverstone International Trophy
P/1002 also made the Mk1 GT40s competition debut. It appeared for the 25 lap Silverstone International Trophy meeting on May 15th 1965 which was round four of the British Sportscar Championship.
The big Ford was predominantly up against cars that would be classified in Group 7 from 1966. Opposition included the Lola T70 Spider, McLaren M1A and Lotus 30.
Despite taking it gently in the brand new car, Richard Attwood qualified fifth. Pole went to the Lola of John Surtees.
Attwood had dropped to eighth at the end of lap one, but he later recovered a couple of positions and looked to be heading for a solid sixth place finish. However, the GT40 was promoted to fifth when Surtees dropped out from the lead late on.
1965 Nurburgring 1000km
The Mk1 GT40’s international debut came a week later at the Nurburgring 1000km on May 23rd (round nine of the World Sportscar Championship).
In addition to Mk1 Prototypes from Shelby and FAV, Ford France arrived with P/1003. P/1003 was painted white with blue and red stripes and ran a Mk1 Prototype nose. The car was owned by Guy Ligier who shared the it with Maurice Trintignant. They qualified ninth.
Uniquely powered by a 5.3-litre engine, the Shelby entry of Phil Hill / Bruce McLaren was best of the Fords and started fourth. Ahead were a trio of Ferraris to include the pole starting P2 of John Surtees / Ludovico Scarfiotti.
Like the FAV entry, the engine in Trintignant’s GT40 proved reluctant to fire. Both cars dropped well down the order after the Le Mans start.
Trintignant steadily made his way back up the order and, by lap 18 (when Ligier had taken over), P/1003 had recovered to eleventh position. The car lasted another four laps before it was retired with a broken engine mount.
All the other GT40s suffered problems and the only example that made it to the finish was a disappointing eighth. Surtees and Scarfiotti took the win for Ferrari.
1965 Guards Trophy, Mallory Park
Richard Attwood then drove the blue Fred English GT40 (P/1002) in the Guards Trophy at Mallory Park on June 6th.
The 50 lap race comprised two 25 lap heats and was round five of the British Sports Car Championship.
P/1002 was the only GT-style car in the race. It qualified fourth behind Graham Hill (McLaren Elva), David Hobbs (Lola T70) and Frank Gardner (Lotus 30).
Attwood finished third in heat one, fourth in heat two and was classified second overall as Hill and Gardner failed to finish.
Victory went to the Harold Young Lola T70 driven by David Hobbs.
1965 Whitsun Trophy, Goodwood
P/1002 was then trucked the 175 miles south to Goodwood for the Whitsun Trophy held the next day.
A 21 lap non-championship race for sports and GT cars, Roy Salvadori was selected to drive as Attwood was competing at Crystal Palace.
It looked as though the GT40 was set for a third place finish, but Salvadori was ultimately promoted to second behind John Coundley’s McLaren Elva as Roger Nathan retired his Oldsmobile-powered Brabham BT8 late on with a lack of oil pressure.
1965 Le Mans 24 Hours
Next up was the most important race of the year: the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Six brand new GT40s were on hand.
The line up included two Mk2 Prototypes for Shelby, both of which ran seven-litre engines and special bodywork. These white and blue works machines were entered for Bruce McLaren / Ken Miles and Chris Amon / Phil Hill.
Ford France also attended with a Mk1 Prototype Roadster on loan from FAV. Painted white with blue and red stripes, it was driven by Maurice Trintignant and Guy Ligier.
The other three GT40s were Mk1 production cars.
FAV attended with a pale green example for Innes Ireland / John Whitmore. This machine (P/1006) was the first to feature what became the standard flat face Mk1 nose.
P/1004 and P/1005 appeared as Rob Walker and Scuderia Filipinetti entries respectively. Both these cars still had the pointy Mk1 Prototype nose and were overseen by the Shelby team. The dark blue and white Rob Walker Mk1 GT40 was driven by Bob Bondurant / Umberto Maglioli. Ronnie Bucknum and Herbert Muller were in Filipinetti’s red and white example.
Qualifying saw Amon / Hill take pole. Their seven-litre Mk2 Prototype went 3.1 seconds faster than the Ferrari 330 P2 of John Surtees / Ludovico Scarfiotti. Third was the Shelby Rob Walker Mk1 of Bondurant / Maglioli with McLaren / Miles fourth in the other seven-litre machine. The Shelby Filipinetti Mk1 driven by Bucknum / Muller started fifth. FAV’s Mk1 qualified tenth fastest and the Ford France Mk1 Prototype Roadster was 13th.
In the race, Amon took an early lead in the seven-litre car and was initially chased by Bondurant in the blue Mk1. McLaren was next in the second Mk2 with Jo Siffert’s Maserati 151 and Ireland’s green FAV Mk1 close behind.
John Surtees then stormed up the order in his Ferrari P2 and, at the end of lap one, the top three was McLaren, Amon, Surtees. As for the Mk1s, Bondurant lay fifth and Ireland was ninth. Meanwhile, Bucknum was well down in the Filipinetti entry because he had to call into the pits to address a door that wouldn’t close.
With one hour gone, Ford still held the top two positions. McLaren led from Amon with Surtees’ Ferrari third. Bondurant had moved up to fourth in the Rob Walker Mk1. More Ferraris were fifth, sixth and seventh, Jo Bonnier’s Shelby Daytona Coupe was eighth and Ireland was ninth in the FAV Mk1.
First of the Fords to retire was the Ford France Mk1 Prototype Roadster which went out in the second hour with a broken gearbox having completed eleven laps.
As the second hour came up, Bondurant’s blue Rob Walker Mk1 began belching smoke and steam. Soon afterwards, the head gasket blew. It retired from the race having completed 29 laps.
Within moments, the Ford contingent was reduced to just three cars when the head gasket blew on the red Filipinetti Mk1. By this time, the car was looking very scruffy having been fitted with the right-hand door from the expired Ford France Roadster as the original had blown off.
McLaren / Miles were still out front in their Mk2 Prototype, but the sister car of Hill / Amon had dropped well down with gearbox issues. Surtees / Scarfiotti led the Ferrari contingent that occupied positions two to six. Whitmore / Ireland were seventh in the sole remaining Mk1.
Ford lost the lead three hours into the race. Soon afterwards, McLaren / Miles were forced to abandon with a broken gearbox.
Early evening saw the green Whitmore / Ireland FAV Mk1 start to show signs of overheating. Its lap times came progressively down until it too dropped out with a blown head gasket (the same problem that had accounted for the Mk1s of Rob Walker and Scuderia Filipinetti).
Phil Hill did manage to set a new lap record before the last Mk2 was retired from well down the order shortly afterwards.
None of the GT40s had made it passed midnight.
For the second year in succession, not a single GT40 finished at Le Mans.
Ferrari’s works cars also fell by the wayside, but their satellite squads swept the top three positions. Victory went to the NART 250 LM of Masten Gregory, Jochen Rindt and Ed Hugus.
1965 Magny Cours Cognac Trophy & French Hillclimb Championship
After a disappointing run in the Prototype Roadster at Le Mans, in the weeks that followed, Guy Ligier was back in his production Mk1 (P/1003) for a trio of French events.
He won the Cognac Trophy at Magny Cours (July 18th) and took class wins at Chamrousse (August 1st) and Mont Dore (August 15th), both of which were part of the 1965 French Hillclimb Championship.
1965 USRRC Mid-Ohio
The first Mk1 GT40 to race in the USA was chassis P/1010. This white car with black centre stripe was supplied to the Essex Wire Corporation of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
P/1010 made its debut with Skip Scott in the driving seat for the penultimate round of the 1965 US Road Racing Championship at Mid-Ohio on August 29th.
Pitted against lightweight roadsters from Chaparral, McLaren and Lola, Scott finished the 85 lap race a creditable fourth overall.
Victory went to Hap Sharp in the General Motors-backed Chaparral 2A Chevrolet.
1965 USRRC Road America 500 miles
The US Road Racing Championship season finale was the Road America 500 mile race on September 5th.
For this 125 lap event, Skip Scott was joined in P/1010 by Augie Pabst.
They qualified fifth, but retired on lap 76.
Chaparral 2As went on to take first and second. Third spot went to the Essex Wire Shelby Cobra 427 of Dick Thompson and Ed Lowther.
1965 Bridgehampton 500km
Two weeks later, Bridgehampton hosted the final race of the 1965 World Sportscar Championship.
P/1010 was present for the 500km event along with Essex Wire’s seven-litre Shelby Cobra.
Unfortunately, the Ford failed to start after suspension trouble in practice.
Scott and Thompson finished third in the Cobra, four laps behind the NART Ferrari 365 P2 of Pedro Rodriguez. Two laps further up the road was the winning Chaparral 2A of Hap Sharp.
1965 Albi GP
Back in Europe, Guy Ligier took another win in P/1003 at the non-championship Albi Grand Prix on September 26th.
Held over 40 laps, Ligier, along with second placed Vincent Palmaro (Lotus 23) and Mauro Bianchi (Alpine M65), all finished on the same lap in what was a close fought affair.
1965 Los Angeles Times GP, Riverside
On September 30th, the richest event in sports car racing took place at Riverside. The 200 mile Los Angeles Times Grand Prix offered a $15,000 prize for the winner and unsurprisingly attracted a stellar entry of predominantly super lightweight sports cars.
Two GT40s were on hand: P/1010 from Essex Wire and a works-backed seven-litre Mk2 Prototype with experimental roadster bodywork and aluminium chassis. Built on chassis 110 X1, this special-bodied derivative was assembled and campaigned on Ford’s behalf by Bruce McLaren Motor Racing.
Neither Chris Amon (110 X1) or Skip Scott (P/1010) qualified inside the top ten.
However, Amon came through to finish fifth and Scott placed eleventh (five laps behind Hap Sharp in the winning Chaparral 2A).
1965 Kyalami 9 Hours
On November 6th, another Mk1 production GT40 made its competition debut.
Chassis P/1009 was delivered to British textile manufacturer and amateur racing driver, Peter Sutcliffe.
The dark green Ford had its maiden race at the Kyalami 9 Hours which was the opening round of the South African Springbok Trophy. Sutcliffe was co-driven by Innes Ireland.
Despite having gear ratios that were not ideal for the circuit, Sutcliffe and Ireland came very close to winning this prestigious event. However, with signs of falling oil pressure and wheel bearing trouble, the Ford’s pace dropped considerably in the closing stages.
With just three laps to go, it was overtaken by the privateer Ferrari 365 P2 owned by David Piper and co-driven by Richard Attwood. Nevertheless, with five laps in hand over the Ferrari 250 LM of Paul Hawkins and Jackie Epstein, the GT40 was able to claim second overall.
1965 Rhodesian GP, Kumalo
Sutcliffe followed his second place finish at Kayalami with a win in the non-championship Rhodesian Grand Prix at Kumalo on November 28th. Paul Hawkins was second in his Lola T70 Spider and Jackie Epstein took third in his 250 LM.
1965 SASCC Kyalami & Pietermaritzburg 3 Hours
Sutcliffe then posted a DNF in the South African Sports Car championship finale at Kyalami on December 4th. But he rounded out the year with a win in the Springbok 3 Hour race at Pietermaritzburg on December 27th.
1965 Las Vegas 200 miles, Stardust Raceway
Prior to this, on November 14th, the Essex Wire team had made the GT40’s final American appearance of 1965.
Skip Scott drove chassis P/1010 in the Las Vegas 200 mile race at Stardust Raceway.
Up against a field of mostly soon-to-be Group 7 cars, he qualified outside the top ten.
Undeterred, a strong performance in the 65 lap race saw Scott climb the order to finish sixth overall. Had there been a separate class for GT cars, the white and black Ford would have been clear winner.
Hap Sharp took the win for Chaparral.
1965 Bahamas Speed Week
From Las Vegas, P/1010 was shipped to Nassau for the annual Bahamas Speed Week.
Held from November 28th to December 5th, the annual end-of-season West Indian festival always attracted a fabulous entry thanks to its huge prize fund and party atmosphere.
P/1010 was not the only GT40 attendance; the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing X1 Roadster was also on hand.
Both cars contested the 25 lap Governor’s Trophy on December 3rd, but the race proved a disappointment. Chris Amon retired the X1 Roadster on lap 20 with a broken final drive while lying third. Skip Scott managed just four laps before retiring the Essex Wire Mk1 in the pits with a misfire.
Bruce McLaren won the race in his Oldsmobile-powered McLaren Elva Mk2. Hap Sharp was close behind in the Chaparral 2A.
The X1 Roadster was not seen again, but Scott and P/1010 did contest the five lap Nassau Classic on December 4th (finished third) and the 56 lap Nassau Trophy on December 5th (DNF).
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ford - https://www.ford.com
