Guide: Ford GT40 Mk2 / 66
Background
At the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours, Ford entered a brace of modified GT40 Prototypes complete with enormous seven-litre engines. Unfortunately, the decision to campaign these Mk2 Prototypes at la Sarthe came late and both cars failed to finish.
Despite the double retirement, GT40 designer, Roy Lunn, was convinced that the big seven-litre engine cruising round at 6000rpm was the way to go if Ford were to win at Le Mans.
A few weeks later, Ford decided to proceed with a seven-litre programme for 1966. In preparation, they commissioned a third seven-litre Mk2 Prototype.
Constructed with an aluminium instead of steel chassis, this latest machine was dubbed the X1 Roadster. Built and campaigned by Bruce McLaren Motor Racing, the experimental X1 Roadster was raced in North America and the Bahamas during late 1965 where it successfully trialled a variety of future parts.
For the 1966 season, John Cowley (manager of Dearborn’s racing effort) put three centrally coordinated teams on the Mk2 programme: Shelby, Holman Moody and Alan Mann Racing were brought on board. Ford subsidiary, Kar Kraft, oversaw the operation.
Twelve seven-litre Mk2 GT40s were subsequently assembled for 1966 (one of which was the freshly reconfigured aluminium chassis X1).
The Mk2s would race in the new-for-1966 Group 6 Prototype category of the World Sportscar Championship which had no minimum production requirement. Meanwhile, the 4.7-litre Mk1 GT40 was homologated in the Group 4 Sports class which had a 50 car stipulation and five-litre engine limit.
Chassis
The Mk2 was based on a GT40 chassis with a different rear subframe plus reinforced engine and suspension mounting points. Beefier A arms and uprights were also fitted while the rear control arm pivot point studs were supported on both ends rather than being cantilevered.
Koni shocks replaced the Armstrong units formerly used.
Like smaller-engined GT40 derivatives, the Mk2’s semi-monocoque chassis employed double wishbone suspension 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.
Spring rates were altered to reflect the Mk2’s considerable extra weight.
As the brakes would have to absorb 25% more kinetic energy than before, racier quick-change pads were fitted along with bigger ventilated discs.
A larger radiator complete with new header tank was mounted higher on the front bulkhead.
The centre-lock Halibrand wheels had a 15-inch diameter. They measured 8-inches wide at the front and 12-inches wide at the back. Tyres were supplied by development partner, Goodyear. Front track was an inch wider than the Mk1.
Fuel tanks with an overall capacity of 35 imperial gallons (159-litres) were housed in the sills.
Engine / Gearbox
In the engine bay was a lightweight endurance racing version of Ford’s seven-litre NASCAR motor.
A dry-sumped 90° pushrod V8 with cast-iron block, it displaced 6998cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 108mm and 96mm respectively.
23kg of weight-saving saw this latest power unit tip the scales at 250kg instead of 273kg. Aluminium alloy was used for the cylinder heads, crankshaft vibration damper hub, water pump housing and front engine cover. The oil pan was magnesium.
The original magnesium intake manifold was replaced by an aluminium alloy unit for longevity.
As in 1965, compression was reduced from 12.5:1 to 10.5:1. A single four-barrel Holley 780 CFM carburettor was fitted.
Peak output was 485bhp at 6200rpm and 475lb-ft at 3200rpm. For comparison, the heavier NASCAR unit gave 520bhp, but had a much shorter lifespan.
Transmission was via Kar Kraft’s T-44 four-speed gearbox (encased in light alloy and with heavy-duty Ford internals). There was also a twin-plate Borg & Beck clutch and limited-slip differential.
Bodywork
Although at first glance the Mk2 looked almost identical to the Mk1, the two cars only shared a mid section.
The Mk2’s new front and rear bodywork was lighter and more aerodynamically efficient than before.
At the front were slightly higher fenders to allow for greater wheel travel. A new removable front lid gave access to the spare wheel and oil tank.
More drastic changes were made at the back where intake scoops were added to the sail panels to feed the carburettors and brakes. The familiar radiator ducts down each flank were enlarged.
From Sebring, additional brake cooling pods were added on the rear deck.
An adjustable rear spoiler was installed and the rear clam was slightly re-profiled to accommodate the FIA’s mandatory luggage bins.
Interior
Getting inside required the driver (or passenger) to scramble across the wide sills found on all GT40s.
Seats were upholstered in fireproof fabric and peppered with ventilation holes for additional comfort.
Instrumentation was housed in a simple wide binnacle; the rev counter was located directly behind the three-spoke steering wheel while the speedometer (if fitted) was angled towards the driver from the far side of the cockpit. Smaller gauges and a variety of flick switches were housed either side of the tach.
Like every GT40 (with the exception of four Mk3 road cars), Mk2s were right-hand drive with a right-hand gearchange.
Weight / Performance
Ford quoted a dry weight a little over 1000kg and a top speed of around 215mph.
These cars were normally geared for a 0-62mph time of around four seconds.
Testing & Production
An intensive test programme included time at Daytona, Sebring, Riverside and Ford’s Kingman proving ground in Arizona.
Of the twelve GT40s built to Mk2 specification for the 1966 season, eleven were brand new cars. Three of these were lightweights assembled by Alan Mann Racing under contract from Ford.
The twelfth Mk2 was built from the experimental aluminium chassis Roadster used in three end-of-season 1965 races (chassis 110 X1). This car was uniquely configured without a central roof panel.
The pair of old seven-litre Mk2 Prototypes raced at Le Mans in 1965 (chassis GT 106 and GT 107) were not recalled.
1966 Season
Ford’s 1966 campaign focused on Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans. The annual Le Mans Test would also be attended and one car was sent to the Spa 1000km which served as a warm-up for the Alan Mann squad ahead of Le Mans.
The eight race International Manufacturers’ Championship of 1968 kicked off at Daytona on February 2nd. Only a manufacturer’s best four results of the year counted towards their final points tally.
The Group 6 category was split between vehicles of over and under two-litres.
1966 Daytona 24 Hours
Scuderia Ferrari skipped the 24 Hour race at Daytona. Instead, opposition to Ford’s five-strong contingent of Mk2 GT40s came from the new GM-backed Chaparral 2D plus a brace of Ferrari 365 P2s (from NART and Ecurie Francorchamps) and no less than eight privateer Ferrari 250 LMs.
Four Mk1 GT40s with the smaller 4.7-litre V8 would be contesting the Group 4 Sports class.
All five of the Mk2s were painted white with black bonnets. Brightly coloured accents were applied to help with identification.
The Ginther / Bucknum example (chassis P/1016) used an automatic transmission.
Pole position went to the Shelby Mk2 of Ken Miles / Lloyd Ruby. This was followed by the Chaparral of Jo Bonnier / Phil Hill and the Holman Moody Mk2 of Walt Hansgen / Mark Donohue.
Next came the Ferrari 365 P2s from NART (Pedro Rodriguez / Mario Andretti) and Ecurie Francorchamps (Lucien Bianchi / Jean Blaton / Gerard Langlois van Ophem).
The other Fords were sixth (Holman Moody: Richie Ginther / Ronnie Bucknum), seventh (Shelby: Bruce McLaren / Chris Amon) and eleventh (Shelby: Dan Gurney / Jerry Grant).
When the flag dropped, Jo Bonnier sprang into an early lead, but Ford took over from lap seven when the Chaparral headed for the pits.
At the one hour mark, the Mk2 GT40s of Miles / Ruby and Hansgen / Donohue were first and second. The NART Ferrari was third until Gurney / Grant went passed in another of the Mk2s.
The Fords continued to steadily pull away. By mid-distance, the Miles / Ruby example had moved three laps clear of Gurney / Grant and Hansgen / Donohue. The NART Ferrari held fourth and McLaren / Amon had moved up to fifth.
Around this time, the automatic Mk2 of Ginther / Bucknum retired from the race with gearbox problems. Generally though, the big Fords ran like clockwork.
After 24 hours of racing, it was the Shelby entry of Miles / Ruby that took the win. They finished eight laps clear of Gurney / Grant (Shelby) who were in turn a lap clear of Hansgen / Donohue (Holman Moody). NART’s Ferrari took fourth and the Amon / McLaren Mk2 was fifth.
1966 Sebring 12 Hours
Ford then sent four cars to the Sebring 12 Hours which took place on March 26th.
The black and white liveries used at Daytona were generally abandoned in favour of a different colour scheme for each entry.
Shelby had chassis 110 X1, the 1965 experimental X1 Roadster, which had been uprated to become a standard-looking Mk2 Roadster. Entered for Miles / Ruby, this car was painted red. Also on hand for Shelby was P/1031, which had finished third at Sebring. Now painted electric blue, it was entered for Gurney / Grant.
The Holman Moody entries were chassis P/1016 for Foyt / Bucknum (the non-finisher at Daytona, now painted gold) and a previously unraced car, chassis P/1032, for Hansgen / Donohue (which was still in the white and black Sebring trim).
Scuderia Ferrari appeared at Sebring with a solitary P3 for Mike Parkes / Bob Bondurant and a two-litre Dino Group 6 Prototype. Chaparral now had a second 2D to challenge Ford.
Pole went to the Shelby Mk2 of Gurney / Grant which qualified two seconds faster than the Ferrari P3. The Alan Mann squad lined up third with F1 drivers Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill piloting the team’s lightweight 4.7-litre Mk1 GT40.
Hansgen / Donohue were fourth quickest in their Holman Moody Mk2 followed by Miles / Ruby in the converted Shelby X1. Best of the Chaparrals was that of Jim Hall / Hap Sharp in sixth. The other Holman Moody Mk2 (Foyt / Bucknum) qualified tenth.
In the race, Gurney had difficulty getting his pole-starting Mk2 to fire and dropped well down the field. He completed the opening lap in 36th position.
Meanwhile, Graham Hill’s lightweight Alan Mann Mk1 led from Scarfiotti (Dino), Parkes (P3), Rodriguez (NART 365 P2) and Thompson (Penske Corvette Grand Sport). The best of the Mk2s was that of Hansgen in seventh.
The Mk2s quickly began to move up the order though. After ten laps, Miles was second behind Parkes’ Ferrari P3, Hansgen was fifth and Gurney had moved up to eighth. The Foyt / Bucknum example came into the pits early on suffering brake trouble.
With 25 laps gone, Gurney had stormed to the front ahead of Parkes and Miles.
In the fourth hour, the race was struck by tragedy when Bob McLean was fatally injured. McLean had just taken over the Comstock Mk1 GT40 when, heading down towards the hairpin, the Ford’s entire rear end locked up. The car span wildly, hit a telegraph pole, barrel rolled end over end and burst into flames.
Bob McLean was killed instantly and Comstock withdrew their second car.
Shortly before mid distance, the Bucknum / Foyt Mk2 had the first of two complete disc and caliper changes.
With six hours gone, the Shelby Mk2 of Gurney / Grant led the Ferrari P3 of Parkes / Bondurant. Miles / Ruby were third in the Shelby X1 Roadster with Rodriguez / Andretti close behind in their NART 365 P2.
With three hours to go, Ford’s job suddenly got a lot easier; the fast Ferrari P3 retired with gearbox problems which promoted Miles / Ruby to second.
Further tragedy then struck when the fourth-placed NART Ferrari of Mario Andretti tangled with a Porsche 906 at Webster Turn. Both cars span into the bank where four spectators were killed.
It looked looked like the Mk2 GT40 of Gurney / Grant would run out a comfortable winner.
However, just as the flag was produced, Gurney broke down on the approach to the Martini bridge which allowed Miles through for the victory in the red Roadster.
Gurney pushed his car across the line, but was disqualified from second as cars were not allowed to be pushed on the circuit.
This handed second spot to the Holman Moody Mk2 of Hansgen / Donohue which finished twelve laps behind the leader.
Skip Scott / Peter Revson rounded out the podium in their Essex Wire Mk1 GT40.
After a troubled race, Foyt / Bucknum brought the other Mk2 home in twelfth.
1966 Le Mans Test
Following their victories at Daytona and Sebring, Ford took three cars to France for the annual Le Mans Test weekend which took place over April 2nd and 3rd.
A brace of white and black Mk2s that had been raced at Daytona (P/1011 and P/1012) were accompanied by chassis J-1 (Ford’s experimental J car prototype). Equipped with a new honeycomb chassis, seven-litre Mk2 engine, two-speed transmission and heavily revised bodywork, the J car weighed around 135kg less than a standard Mk2.
Six other GT40s were on hand including two lightweight Mk1s from Alan Mann.
Scuderia Ferrari did not attend.
The event was marred by the death of Walt Hansgen who was involved in a horrifying crash on Saturday morning.
Driving P/1011 in wet conditions, Hansgen lost control on the approach to the Dunlop Bridge. His Mk2 aquaplaned, travelled up the short escape road at around 120mph, hit a sand barrier and bounced across the road before smashing into a retaining wall.
It took 20 minutes to cut the critically injured driver free of the mangled wreck before he was rushed to hospital by helicopter.
Walt Hansgen died of his injuries five days later.
Chris Amon topped the timesheets in the J car while the surviving Mk2 went second fastest followed by the brace of Alan Mann Mk1 GT40 lightweights.
1966 Spa 1000km
In order for the Alan Mann squad to get some running time with the seven-litre GT40 ahead of Le Mans, Shelby’s second place finisher from Daytona (chassis P/1012) stayed in Europe after the Le Mans Test.
P/1012 then appeared at the Spa 1000km on May 22nd, where it was entered for John Whitmore and Frank Gardner.
Five Mk1 GT40s were also present at Spa, but chief opposition was likely to come from the solitary Ferrari P3 of Parkes / Scarfiotti.
Chaparral were absent.
Parkes took pole for Ferrari with a time over three seconds faster than the Mk2. Third on the grid went to the Revson / Scott Mk1 GT40 from Essex Wire.
At the start of the race, Whitmore was passed by Revson, but the Mk2 GT40 was soon back up to second.
Conscious that Ford could do without losing another Mk2 just before Le Mans, Whitmore and Gardner drove steadily to finish second overall behind the unstoppable Parkes / Scarfiotti P3.
Revson / Scott finished third in their Essex Wire Mk1 GT40.
1966 Le Mans 24 Hours
Ford subsequently took an unprecedented array of machinery to France for the Le Mans 24 Hours which took pace over the weekend of June 18th and 19th.
Nine Mk2s were present (one of which was a T-car) along with a half dozen Mk1s. All the GT40s had been specially prepared for the event by Ford Advanced Vehicles in England.
One of the Mk1s (that of Scuderia Bear) was a non-starter after a practice crash with the Mk2 of Dick Thompson. For causing the crash, the organisers initially tried to exclude Thompson’s Alan Mann-built Mk2 that he was set to share with Graham Hill. However, when Ford said they would withdraw all their cars should this occur, the governing body relented.
Instead, Thompson was excluded and Brian Muir took his place.
The big Fords dominated qualifying and swept the first four grid slots.
Gurney / Grant were on pole for Shelby in a brand new red and white striped Mk2 (P/1047). Shelby drivers Miles / Hulme were second fastest in the Daytona winning chassis (P/1015) which was now light blue with white stripes and orange flashes.
In third was the quickest of Alan Mann’s new lightweight Mk2s; a yellow and black striped example for Whitmore / Gardner (chassis XGT-1). Shelby’s other Mk2 (P/1046, a new black and silver striped car) was fourth in the hands of McLaren / Amon.
Then came the best of the non-Ford entries (the NART Ferrari P3 Spyder of Rodriguez / Ginther in fifth) followed by the other Alan Mann Mk2 lightweight for Graham Hill / Brian Muir (XGT-2, silver with black stripes).
The Holman Moody entries started ninth (P/1016 for Bucknum / Hutcherson: gold with white stripes and pink flashes), eleventh (P/1032 for Hawkins / Donohue: gold with white stripes and green flashes) and twelfth (P/1031 for Bianchi / Andretti: blue with white stripes and yellow flashes).
In the race, Graham Hill took an early lead with his Alan Mann Mk2. He was followed by Gurney’s Shelby example and the fast-starting Holman Moody entry of Bucknum.
Ken Miles called in at the end of the first lap for a door lock to be fixed. On lap three, Whitmore pitted for attention to the brakes of his Alan Mann machine.
On lap five, Gurney overtook Hill for the lead and quickly pulled out a ten second advantage.
The less fortunate Paul Hawkins was in the pits having a half-shaft repaired on his Holman Moody machine. The offending shaft had failed down the Mulsanne Straight at almost 200mph and nearly resulted in a spectacular accident. Hawkins went back out, only for his engine cover to then blow off when a lock came adrift.
After an hour of racing, Ford held the top three positions with Gurney / Grant first, Hill / Muir second and Bucknum / Hutcherson third. The Rodriguez / Ginther Ferrari was fourth and Miles / Hulme (Shelby) were making up ground in fifth. McLaren / Amon were eighth and Bianchi / Andretti were tenth.
By 10:30pm, Ford had discovered their brakes only lasted five rather than eight hours. Extra stops for the Mk2s meant Ferrari moved into first and second positions ahead of Miles / Hulme, Gurney / Grant and McLaren / Amon in third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Late on Saturday evening, four of the Mk2s dropped out.
First to go was the Hawkins / Donohue Holman Moody example which retired with a differential failure in the fifth hour.
Next was the Alan Mann lightweight of Whitmore / Gardner (clutch failure, hour six).
The Holman Moody entry for Bianchi / Andretti was withdrawn in hour eight with a dropped valve.
Shortly afterwards, the lightweight Alan Mann Mk2 of Hill / Muir had to be abandoned when the front suspension upright casting broke.
Nevertheless, by midnight, Ford had recovered first and second positions.
Soon afterwards it started to rain heavily.
Come 2am, all the front-running Ferrari prototypes were out. Within a couple of hours, Fords occupied the top four positions: Miles / Hulme led from Gurney / Grant, McLaren / Amon were third and Bucknum / Hutcherson were fourth.
In the 18th hour, the Gurney / Grant entry arrived at the pits with steam and smoke pouring from the engine. The radiator had failed and it was pushed away.
However, the remaining trio of Mk2s all finished.
During the last driver change, Ford racing director, Leo Beebe, informed race leader, Ken Miles, that he was to cross the line alongside McLaren who was holding station on the same lap. Miles was told to ease off and allow McLaren to catch up so the cars could cross the line at exactly the same time.
It was rumoured that Miles, unhappy with the team orders, lifted off to allow McLaren to finish a length ahead.
McLaren / Amon ultimately took the win from Miles / Hulme while Bucknum / Hutcherson were twelve laps behind in third.
In addition to securing their first win at Le Mans, Ford also won the 1966 International Manufacturers’ Championship. They scored 38 points compared to Ferrari’s 36.
Not wanting to rest on their laurels, Ford would be back with the all-American Mk4 GT40 in 1967.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ford - https://www.ford.com & The Henry Ford Museum - https://www.thehenryford.org/
