VIN: the Gulf Racing Mirage M1 chassis M10002
History of chassis M10002
Chassis M10002 was the second of three Mirage M1s built to contest the 1967 World Sportscar Championship.
Although John Wyer had hoped the GT40-based M1 would be accepted as a Group 4 contender, the FIA ultimately deemed it to have been sufficiently modified that it should be classified as a Group 6 Prototype.
A brace of M1s were present for the model’s public debut at the Le Mans Test held over the weekend of April 8th and 9th.
David Piper and Richard Attwood travelled to la Sarthe to drive both cars (chassis M10001 and M10002).
David Piper crashed M10002 on its maiden lap as a result of a defective front brake which locked and could not be released.
M10002 was repaired in time for some gentle shakedown runs on Sunday that garnered 32nd fastest time.
The sister car ultimately went on to post sixth fastest time overall and third quickest in the five-litre Prototype class.
The M1 made its competition debut at the Monza 1000km two weeks later when the same two cars from the Le Mans Test were present. Both were now running stroked 4942cc engines to replace the original 4736cc units.
M10002 was allocated to David Piper / Dick Thompson who lined up fourth on the grid with the sister car fifth.
Unfortunately, Piper span at Parabolica during the opening hour; a loose manifold stud had caused water to spray onto a rear tyre. A long stop to carry out a repair dropped the M1 well down the order.
Piper and Thompson spent the rest of the race trying to regain lost ground, but in the later stages they were delayed again when the continual hammering of the Monza banking broke a shock absorber.
After another lengthy stop for a replacement to be fitted, they eventually crossed the line ninth overall and fourth in the over two-litre Prototype class.
M10002’s next and final appearance was at the Nurburgring 1000km on May 28th.
It was entered for David Piper / Dick Thompson and had been fitted with a new five-litre Gurney Weslake motor with alloy heads.
During practice, Thompson landed askew having taken off shortly after Klostertal. Chassis M10002 span down the road and demolished a stationary Ginetta that had been crashed a few hours earlier.
Fortunately, Thompson emerged unscathed, but the Mirage was a write off.
Notable History
John Wyer Automotive Engineering
4736cc engine
09/04/1967 IND Le Mans Test (D. Piper) 32nd oa, 5th P5.0 class (#14)
4942cc engine
25/04/1967 WSC Monza 1000km (D. Piper / D. Thompson) 9th oa, 4th P2.0+ class (#5)
28/05/1967 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (D. Piper / D. Thompson) DNS (#5)
Destroyed in Thompson’s practice accident at the Nurburgring
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
