In October 1966, John Wyer was visiting New York on business when he took a call from Gulf Oil Executive Vice President, Grady Davis. The two men had met for the first time at the Sebring 12 Hours…
Read MoreFor 1966, dramatic rule changes were made to the World Sportscar Championship. The main event, known as the International Manufacturers Championship, would no longer be decided by…
Read MoreAfter a self-imposed year in exile, Scuderia Ferrari returned to the World Sportscar Championship for 1969 with the all-new 312 P. Ferrari’s absence from the 1968 campaign had come about as a result of…
Read MoreHaving dabbled in a variety of motor sport disciplines since his company’s 1959 inception, Alejandro de Tomaso’s first production model, the Vallelunga Coupe, entered the final throes of development…
Read MoreFor 1966, new Appendix J motor racing regulations came into effect that split machinery into one of seven categories. Groups 1, 2 and 5 were for Touring cars. Group 3 was for Grand Touring cars and…
Read MoreDespite an upturn in speed and reliability, Ford had still been easily defeated by Ferrari during the 1965 season. For 1966, a new regulatory framework came into effect which saw the de-facto World…
Read MoreHaving vowed to defeat Ferrari at the Le Mans 24 Hours following the collapse of a takeover bid, Ford’s debut campaign with the GT40 in 1964 had seen the car show a devastating turn of speed…
Read MoreFord first decided to shoehorn a seven-litre engine into the GT40 during early 1965; it was thought a big block motor might be the best way to go for high speed tracks like Daytona, Sebring and Le…
Read MoreAt 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…
Read MoreAlessandro de Tomaso’s early days as an auto manufacturer focused on the production of single seat and sports racing cars. The period 1959 to 1962 was generally spent trying to compete at a level…
Read MoreJohn Wyer’s decision to build a Group 6 Prototype for the 1969 racing season had not met with the initial success one might have expected; the Mirage M2’s best result from five outings at three races…
Read MoreFor the 1968 World Sportscar Championship, the FIA unilaterally decided to impose a three-litre engine limit for Group 6 Prototypes. At a stroke, this made cars like the Ford Mk4, Ferrari P4, Mirage…
Read MoreWith five wins between 1951 and 1957 (two by C-types and three by D-types), Jaguar were the most successful manufacturer to participate at Le Mans during the 1950s. Although the firm officially…
Read MoreOne day after the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours had seen all previous records broken, the FIA announced a three-litre engine limit would be imposed on Group 6 Prototypes from 1968. Top flight…
Read MoreDuring the 2000 GT development phase, Toyota decided to take their first step into the world of motor racing. At the time, Japan was still recovering from the affects of World War 2. While the…
Read MoreThe Competizione 2000 was one of several De Tomaso racing concepts produced during the mid 1960s. Few saw competition use but, along with myriad experimental engines, they illustrated De…
Read MoreAutodelta, run by former Ferrari designer, Carlo Chiti, became Alfa Romeo’s official motorsport partner in March 1963. The first Autodelta product, the Tubolare Zagato (TZ), was a 1.6-litre GT racing…
Read MoreScuderia Brescia Corse was a racing collective established in 1964 to prepare and campaign cars for its members. It attracted a legion of wealthy privateers that owned a wide variety of machinery.
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