May 6

May 6 Guide: Ford GT40 Mk1 Prototype / 65

Ford - Ford GT40 Mk1 Prototype - 1960s Sports Prototypes - 1960s GT Racers - 1960s British Cars - 1960s American Cars - Shelby

Background

Undeterred by a 1964 campaign that failed to yield a single race finish, Ford decided to increase their investment for the 1965 season.

Importantly, a new American subsidiary was established: Kar Kraft.

Headed by chief GT40 designer, Roy Lunn, Kar Kraft would get things done quickly for the parent company’s various racing activities.

Shelby American was also contracted to help with development and to undertake much of the works racing programme.

Back in England, Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) would focus on production plus a limited racing programme and European logistics. Building and selling GT40s had become of vital importance because, for the season after next (1966), motor racing’s regularity framework was to undergo a major revamp.

Out and out Prototypes would be classified in Group 6 which had no engine limit nor any production requirement. Group 4 would be for Sports cars. This category had a production requirement of 50 units and a five-litre engine limit. Group 3 was for Grand Touring cars of which at least 1000 must have been completed. The other groups were for Touring cars.

Up until 1966, vehicles were broadly split into the GT class (with a 100-car production requirement) or the Sports / Prototype category for more specialised machinery.

Ford anticipated a ‘production’ GT40 would clean up in the Group 4 class. Accordingly, FAV were tasked with completing the requisite 50 cars by the end of 1965. These 4.7-litre Mk1 GT40s would be sold to customers in road and racing trim.

Meanwhile, Ford’s works teams would primarily contest the Group 6 category with the seven-litre Mk2 GT40, prototypes of which would occasionally be trialled in 1965.

Over the autumn and winter of 1964, Shelby’s chief test driver, Ken Miles, embarked on a series of exhaustive tests with the Mk1 Prototype at Riverside and Willow Springs. It quickly became apparent that the car’s cooling system, gearbox, suspension, brakes, weight and high-speed handling all required attention.

1965 Technical Changes

To overcome the cooling problems, the car’s nose was redesigned and all new ductwork was installed. This not only saved weight, but as the revised system was more efficient, it also freed up a little more power.

Chin spoilers were eventually added to increase downforce and more bulbous fenders covered wider wheels.

Shelby soon switched the big Ford from Borrani wires to cast magnesium wheels as used on the Cobra. Manufactured by Halibrand, these rims retained the original 15-inch diameter, but were 1.5-inches wider at both ends (now 8-inches front and 9.5 back). However, wider Borranis were retained as standard equipment by FAV and it wasn’t until 1966 that the majority of racing GT40s had switched over to Halibrands.

The brake lines and associated ducting were also overhauled.

The steel semi monocoque chassis fabricated by Abbey Panels in Coventry remained unchanged.

As before, double wishbones were installed 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.

One of Shelby’s first decisions was to revert the engine to wet-sump lubrication which eliminated the need for the front-mounted oil tank and its associated plumbing. This saved a further 34kg and freed up more space for the improved cooling system.

Thanks to better breathing and cooling, it was possible to reduce engine compression without any loss of horsepower. Lowered from a 10.8:1 ratio to 10.0:1, this had the combined effect of improving engine reliability and longevity.

Four Weber 48 IDA carburettors were fitted and output typically varied between 390bhp at 6750rpm and 400bhp at 7000rpm. The torque rating was between 312lb-ft and 330lb-ft at 5000rpm.

Displacement of the pushrod 90° V8 was 4727cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 101.8mm and 72.9mm respectively. As usual, the block and heads were cast-iron and a spaghetti exhaust system was employed.

To try and cure the well-documented problems with the Colotti gearbox, heavy-duty Ford internals were adopted. However, FAV soon switched to the more reliable ZF gearbox and all subsequent cars eventually followed.

Monza Tests

After much work had taken place in the US, Shelby took one of the Mk1 Prototypes over to Monza in October 1964. This car (chassis 102) ran in its 1965 configuration and was variously trialled with Goodyear and Dunlop tyres.

John Whitmore, Richard Attwood, Roy Salvadori and Giancarlo Baghetti all set favourable lap times in mostly wet conditions.

The test ended when chassis 102’s throttle jammed open as Whitmore went past the pits. The car left the road and ploughed into a wooded area where it sustained enough damage to be written off. Fortunately, Whitmore escaped uninjured.

1965 Season

1965 would be the last year that the World Sportscar Championship was decided by Grand Touring Cars.

Since 1962, purebred racing cars had primarily contested a handful of Blue Ribband events that made up the International Prototypes Trophy (IPT).

The IPT had normally played out at the big races such as the Sebring 12 Hours, the Targa Florio, the Nurburgring 1000km and Le Mans 24 Hours. Prototypes had been permitted to run in a number of other World Championship events, but were not eligible for points at these races.

For 1965, the IPT was expanded in anticipation of Prototypes deciding the World Championship from 1966 onwards.

1965 Daytona 2000km

The 1965 World Sportscar Championship kicked off with a 2000km race at Daytona on 28th February.

Shelby entered a brace of Mk1 Prototypes: chassis 103 for Ken Miles / Lloyd Ruby and 104 for Bob Bondurant / Richie Ginther. Both machines were painted Shelby’s handsome team colours of metallic blue with white stripes.

Scuderia Ferrari were absent, but factory driver John Surtees was loaned to the company’s US distributor team, NART.

During practice, nobody could touch the NART Ferrari 330 P2 of John Surtees / Pedro Rodriguez which set a blistering pace. The GT40 of Bondurant / Ginther came closest with a time 1.2 seconds slower. In third was the sister car of Miles / Ruby which was a further 1.2 seconds adrift.

The NART 330 P of Walt Hansgen / David Piper lined up in fourth. Fifth spot went to the GT class Shelby Cobra Daytona of Ed Leslie / Allen Grant.

Bondurant briefly took the lead on the opening lap before he missed the turn to the infield section and dropped to tenth. This left Dan Gurney’s modified Lotus 19J with its 5.3-litre Ford engine at the head of the field. Gurney and Jerry Grant’s sprint-type car led for the next 1200km while the fastest Ferraris dropped by the wayside.

As it was getting dark, the Lotus made an unscheduled pit stop while lying five laps clear of the Bondurant / Ginther GT40 which had risen to second. A long delay for the Lotus subsequently left Shelby team cars holding the first five places.

Unfortunately, when Bondurant came in from the lead to hand over to Ginther, chassis 104 would not start. It was stuck in the pits for 27 minutes while a solution was found.

Ginther eventually rejoined in sixth position which left the sister GT40 of Miles / Ruby with a substantial lead.

Chassis 103 crossed the finish line after 12 hours and 40 minutes to turn the hitherto underachieving GT40's reputation around.

The Bondurant / Ginther machine eventually recovered to place third; it split the Cobra Daytonas in a race that saw Shelby sweep the top four positions.

1965 Sebring 12 Hours

Next up was the Sebring 12 Hours on March 27th.

The same two GT40s were entered for the race in Florida: Ken Miles / Bruce McLaren appeared in the Daytona winner (chassis 103) and Richie Ginther / Phil Hill were in the car that finished third (chassis 104).

As had been the case at Daytona, Scuderia Ferrari were absent.

After qualifying, the big question was how long the Chaparral 2As would last. Jim Hall and Hap Sharp had taken pole in one of the Chaparrals with the sister car of Ronnie Hissom / Bruce Jennings second.

The GT40 of Miles and McLaren started third, but their grid time was an astonishing 10.2 seconds slower than the Sharp / Hall Chaparral. Ginther and Hill were fourth in the sister GT40 and the Gurney / Grant Lotus 19J started fifth.

In the absence of the works Ferraris, the race was expected to be a straight fight between the General Motors-backed Chaparrals and Ford, although some of the privateer Ferrari prototypes also stood a shot at victory.

Ginther led off the line, but went straight into the pits and lost over a lap while a stone that had jammed his front brake caliper was removed. He rejoined on lap three, well down the order with Miles now the lead Ford in sixth.

At the end of the first hour, Miles was up to fifth and at midday (two hours in), Phil Hill (having taken over from Ginther) had stormed into third. However, Hill’s pursuit ended when the Ford fractured a spring mount and this car was retired after 37 laps.

By 1pm, the McLaren / Miles GT40 had itself moved into third behind the Mecom Racing Team Ferrari 330 P of Graham Hill / Pedro Rodriguez and the Chaparral of Hall / Sharp which led. The top three ran in this formation for the next few hours.

At 5.30pm, a rainstorm arrived and an almost solid stream of water left the circuit awash. Lightning and thunder rolled in, huge lakes formed out on track and speeds dropped to under 30mph.

During this deluge, the Iso A3C Grifo of Charlie Rainville slammed into the bridge wall at the end of the main straight. The Iso was literally sliced in two, miraculously without injury to the driver.

Another incident saw a Cobra mechanic discovered unconscious in a pool of water – he had been electrocuted when he stepped on a live wire taking power to the circuit, but survived.

The rain lasted for an hour then eased off and the circuit quickly dried.

It looked as though the GT40 of Miles / McLaren was set for third until Rodriguez handed the second place Ferrari over to Graham Hill with a burned out clutch.

With the Ferrari out of the race, Miles and McLaren were promoted to second.

They finished in the runner’s up spot some four laps behind the winning Chaparral after another creditable performance. Third position went to the privateer Ferrari 250 LM of David Piper/ Tony Maggs who were another two laps behind the Ford.

1965 Le Mans Test

From Sebring, the World Championship moved to Europe, but before the next round at Monza, Le Mans hosted its annual test weekend on April 10th and 11th.

Four Mk1 Prototypes were taken to la Sarthe. There were a brace for Shelby (103 and 104 as raced at Daytona and Sebring) and another pair for FAV (105 and 111). Chassis 105 was a 1964 car uprated to the latest specification. Chassis 111 was a brand new pale green Roadster. It was one of four Mk1 Prototype Roadsters assembled, all of which came with a flattened rear decklid and basket handle roll hoop.

Unlike the Shelby GT40s (which still had the beefed up four-speed Colotti gearboxes), FAV’s cars used the new ZF five-speed. They were also on Borrani wire wheels instead of Shelby’s preferred Halibrands.

An experimental Mk2-style long nose was trialled on one of the cars, but was found to generate significant lift. Spoilers and canards had to be added at the track just to keep it grounded.

Saturday practice was marred by the death of Lloyd Casner when his Maserati 151 crashed doing over 170mph at the end of the Mulsanne Straight.

Ferrari’s works 330 P2 ended the weekend fastest followed by Scuderia Filipinetti’s customer spec. 365 P2. Quickest of the GT40s was the white and black FAV fixed head in third (105). The Shelby cars were fourth and seventh with the pale green FAV Roadster was sixth.

1965 Monza 1000km

The 1000km race at Monza took place on April 25th. It marked Scuderia Ferrari’s arrival at the 1965 World Sportscar Championship having been absent at Daytona and Sebring.

The Italian team had a trio of their latest P2s on hand while Ford were represented by Shelby’s brace of Mk1 GT40 Prototypes (chassis 103 for Miles / McLaren and 104 for Amon / Maglioli).

Also backed by several of their satellite teams, Ferrari were strongest by sheer weight of numbers and dominated practice.

By contrast, Ford were in trouble with chassis break-up which forced the Shelby mechanics to strengthen their cars with metal inserts. The team were further delayed by a minor shunt during Friday practice when Ken Miles approached the south bend far too fast, got sideways and stuffed 103’s front end into a bank.

Ferrari’s works P2s secured the top three grid slots: Mike Parkes / Jean Guichet were on pole in a 275 P2, John Surtees / Ludovico Scarfiotti were second in a 330 P2 and Lorenzo Bandini / Nino Vaccarella were third in another 330 P2.

Jo Bonnier / David Piper qualified fourth in the older Maranello Concessionaires Ferrari 330 P while the Fords were back in fifth (Miles / McLaren) and eighth (Amon / Maglioli).

These positions were retained at the start, but by lap ten, the GT40s were chasing down the works P2s with McLaren up to fourth and Amon now fifth.

Both cars then gained a position when Surtees hit tyre trouble and re-joined in seventh having led the opening stages.

On lap 33, disaster struck when Tommy Spychiger suffered brake failure in his Scuderia Filipinetti Ferrari 365 P. Travelling on the flat out approach to Parabolica, the car somersaulted into the trees and poor Spychiger was decapitated. Georges Filipinetti immediately withdrew his other cars from the race.

After 50 laps, the Fords were still third and fourth and looked set for another solid result.

However, with less than an hour to go, the GT40 of Amon / Maglioli was abandoned out on track with collapsed front suspension.

Miles and McLaren held on to third and came home four laps behind the winning P2 of Mike Parkes / Jean Guichet while Surtees / Scarfiotti recovered to take second.

1965 Targa Florio

Although the GT40s were best suited to high speed circuits like Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans and Monza, FAV decided to enter the Targa Florio with the pale green Roadster they had used at the Le Mans Test.

Held on May 9th, the event attracted a crowd in excess of 250,000 to watch ten laps around the 72km Little Madonie circuit.

Now on Halibrand wheels, the sole Ford (to be driven by Bob Bondurant and John Whitmore) was not expected to win against more nimble opposition from Ferrari and Porsche.

The first car was flagged away at 8am. The GT40 departed soon afterwards with Bondurant at the wheel.

After one lap, local resident Vaccarella led in his works Ferrari P2, Scarfiotti was second in one of the sister cars and Bondurant was third in the GT40.

The big Ford was still third when Bondurant handed over to Whitmore after three laps.

Its progress was then hampered when a wheel came loose on lap five. Whitmore fitted the spare, but had to hunt for the spinner which had flown off about half a mile earlier, it was eventually handed over by a local and Whitmore got the car back to the pits having lost about 15 minutes.

The GT40 was further delayed on the next lap when one of the fuel tanks would not empty because of a faulty pump. When Whitmore handed over to Bondurant at the end of lap seven, the car was in tenth place, some 26 minutes behind the leaders.

Having continued to make steady progress, Whitmore (who was back in the Roadster for the final two laps) ran over some loose gravel thrown up by another car. He lost control and hit a wall which tore one of the front wheels clean off. The GT40’s race was over.

Victory went to Vaccarella / Bandini in the Scuderia Ferrari P2 while second through fifth positions were occupied by works Porsche 904s.

The Mk1 GT40 Production Car Arrives

One week after the Targa Florio, Ford’s production GT40 Mk1 made its debut in a round of the British Sports Car Championship at Silverstone. The car (chassis P/1002) was driven by Richard Attwood for the Fred English Ford dealership in Bournemouth (owned by Colonel Ronnie Hoare).

The Mk1 Prototypes would be officially campaigned at two more events (the Nurburgring 1000km and Le Mans 24 Hours) after which Ford switched focus to the seven-litre Mk2.

1965 Nurburgring 1000km

Four GT40s were entered for the Nurburgring race which took place on May 23rd.

Shelby had their normal pair of blue and white Mk1 Prototypes: chassis 103 for Phil Hill / Bruce McLaren and 104 for Chris Amon / Ronnie Bucknum.

FAV took a brand new pale green Mk1 Prototype Roadster for Richard Attwood / John Whitmore (112).

The fourth GT40 was a white Mk1 production car with blue and red stripes entered by Ford France for Maurice Trintignant and its owner, Guy Ligier (P/1003).

Shelby ran chassis 103 for Hill / McLaren with an experimental 5.3-litre engine that was not seen again.

Ferrari were the class of the field in qualifying. The 330 P2 of Surtees / Scarfiotti took pole while second went to the 275 P2 entered by Maranello Concessionaires for Graham Hill / Jackie Stewart. Parkes / Guichet started third in another works 275 P2.

Then came the Fords, best of which was the 5.3-litre example of Hill / McLaren in fourth. Amon / Bucknum were fifth, Attwood / Whitmore were sixth and the production Mk1 of Trintignant / Ligier started ninth.

The race got underway at 9am.

Phil Hill immediately gained a position to hold third while Amon retained fifth. Attwood (FAV) and Trintignant (Ford France) were left behind as their engines proved reluctant to start.

By the end of lap one, Phil Hill had passed Graham Hill for second. A lap later, the slow starting Attwood had recovered to eighth.

After one hour, Phil Hill’s event ended when he retired out on the circuit with transmission failure. This left Surtees well clear at the front with more Ferraris second and third. Amon was fourth and Attwood was sixth. Trintignant was still working his way back up the field after his very slow start.

Soon after being promoted to third at the expense of Graham Hill, Amon failed to appear. The Kiwi had run out of fuel and was forced to push his GT40 all the way up the hill to the finish. He appeared twelve minutes later than expected.

Instead of handing over to Bucknum, the sole remaining Shelby Ford was taken over by number one drivers Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren. Once refuelled, McLaren departed, albeit well down the order.

By lap 18 of 44, Whitmore had taken over from Attwood and was up to fourth in the FAV Roadster. Ligier was eleventh in the Ford France Mk1.

Unfortunately, lap 19 saw the Alfa Romeo TZ of Honore Wagner leave the road at the Kallenhardt section of the track. The car (which Wagner was sharing with its owner, Nicolas Koob) crashed into a ravine and landed on its roof. Poor Honore Wagner sustained fatal head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Come half distance, Whitmore was lying third, but then had to call into the pits where a broken engine mount was discovered. The pale green Roadster steadily fell back after repeated stops and was retired on lap 34. The Ford France Mk1 had gone out with the same problem on lap 22.

This left McLaren on track as the sole Ford representative, but he too was soon having trouble; a vague back end was hampering his progress.

He soldiered on to finish eighth while Surtees and Scarfiotti took the win for Ferrari. Parkes / Guichet were second in one of the other P2s while third spot went to the works Porsche 904/8 driven by Jo Bonnier / Jochen Rindt.

Next up was Le Mans.

1965 Le Mans 24 Hours

At an early stage in the GT40 development programme, head designer, Roy Lunn, had expressed doubt about the 289 engine’s ability to win at la Sarthe.

Accordingly, two Prototypes appeared for the big race equipped with monster seven-litre engines. These special bodied Mk2 Prototypes had been assembled by Kar Kraft in the USA. They proved exceptionally fast in the week long build up to the race which would be held over June 19th and 20th. Both were run by Shelby for Miles / McLaren (chassis 106) and Amon / Hill (107).

In addition to the seven-litre cars, four other GT40s were entered.

The solitary Mk1 Prototype was a brand new Roadster for Maurice Trintignant / Guy Ligier (chassis 109). It was painted the Ford France colours of white with blue and red stripes.

Three production MK1s were also on hand. One was a pale green car from FAV for Innes Ireland and John Whitmore. The other two were entered under the auspices of Rob Walker and Scuderia Filipinetti but were actually campaigned by Shelby. The dark blue and white Rob Walker machine (P/1004) was driven by Bob Bondurant / Umberto Maglioli while Ronnie Bucknum / Herbert Muller pedalled the red and white Filipinetti entry (P/1005).

Qualifying saw Amon / Hill take pole. Their Mk2 GT40 Prototype went round 3.1 seconds faster than the Ferrari 330 P2 of John Surtees / Ludovico Scarfiotti.

In third was the Shelby / Rob Walker Mk1 of Bondurant / Maglioli with McLaren / Miles fourth in the second Mk2 Prototype. 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.

During the early stages, the Mk2 Prototypes were five seconds a lap faster than anything else and had soon built a substantial lead.

Driving the sole Mk1 Prototype, Trintignant was in the pits after just two laps with a misfire. Having run well outside the top ten, chassis 109 then became the first Ford retirement. With just eleven laps completed, it was pushed away with a broken gearbox.

For the second year running, Le Mans was a disaster for Ford. Not one of the remaining five cars managed to complete more than 100 laps.