Ford GT40 1968 Dutch race Zandvoort winning GT 40 Mk IV Paul Hawkins photo photo

Description

A superb and rare photo of the magnificent
Ford GT40 Mk IV
of
Paul Hawkins
, photographed after winning the
1968
Trophy of the Dunes
race which was ridden at Zandvoort.
The
Ford GT40
was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969 (in 1967 with a different body, though). It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari (who won at
Le Mans
six times in a row from 1960 to 1965). The GT40 GT-40P 1075 was the first car to win at
Le Mans
twice (in 1968 and 1969). That car used the Gurney Weslake engine with the special alloy heads made by Weslake. The car was named the GT (for Grand Tourisme) with the 40 representing its overall height of
40 inches
(
1.02 m
, measured at the windshield) as required by the rules. Large displacement Ford V8 engines (4.7 L and
7 L
) were used, compared with the Ferrari V12 which displaced
3.0 L
or
4.0 L
. Early cars were simply named "Ford GT". The name "GT40" was the name of Ford's project to prepare the cars for the international endurance racing circuit, and the quest to win the 24 Hours of
Le Mans
. The first 12 "prototype" vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 through GT-112. The "production" began and the subsequent cars, the MkI, MkIIs, MkIIIs, and MkVs, numbered GT40-P-1000 through GT40-P-1145, were officially "GT40s". The name of Ford's project, and the serial numbers dispel the story that "GT40" was "only a nickname." The contemporary Ford GT is a modern homage to the GT40.
Henry Ford II had wanted a Ford at
Le Mans
since the early 1960s. In the spring of 1963, Ford reportedly received word through a European intermediary that Enzo Ferrari was interested in selling to Ford Motor Company. Ford reportedly spent several million dollars in an audit of Ferrari factory assets and in legal negotiations, only to have Ferrari unilaterally cut off talks at a late stage. Ferrari, who wanted to remain the sole operator of his company's motor sports division, was angered when he was told that he would not be allowed to race at the Indianapolis 500 if the deal went through. Enzo cut the deal off out of spite and Henry Ford II, enraged, directed his racing division to find a company that could build a Ferrari-beater on the world endurance-racing circuit. To this end Ford began negotiation with Lotus, Lola, and Cooper. Cooper had no experience in GT or prototype and its performances in Formula One were declining. Lotus was already a Ford partner for their Indy 500 project. Ford executives already doubted the ability of Lotus to handle this new project. Colin Chapman probably had similar views as he asked a high price for his contribution and insisted that the car (which became the Lotus Europa) should be named a Lotus-Ford, an attitude that can be viewed as polite refusal. The Lola proposal was chosen, since Lola had used a Ford V8 engine in their mid-engined Lola Mk 6 (also known as Lola GT). It was one of the most advanced racing cars of the time, and made a noted performance in
Le Mans
1963, even though the car did not finish. However, Eric Broadley, Lola Cars' owner and chief designer, agreed on a short-term personal contribution to the project without involving Lola Cars. The agreement with Eric Broadley included a one year collaboration between Ford and Broadley and the sale of the two Lola Mk 6 chassis built to Ford. To form the development team, Ford also hired the ex-Aston Martin team manager John Wyer. Ford Motor Co. engineer Roy Lunn was sent to
England
; he had designed the mid-engined Mustang I concept car powered by a 1.7 L V4. Despite the small engine of the Mustang I, Lunn was the only
Dearborn
's engineer to have some experience with a mid-engined car. Broadley, Lunn and Wyer began working on the new car at Lola Factory in Bromley. At the end of 1963 the team moved to
Slough
,
England
near Heathrow airport. Ford established a new subsidiary under the direction of Wyer, Ford Advanced Vehicles Ltd to manage the project. The first chassis built by Abbey Panels of Coventry was delivered on
March 16, 1963
. The first "Ford GT" the GT/101 was unveiled in
England
on April 1 and soon after exhibited in
New York
. It was powered by the 4.2 L Fairlane engine with a Colotti transaxle, the same power plant was used by the Lola GT and the single-seater Lotus 29 that came in a highly controversial second at the Indy
500 in
1963. (A DOHC head design was used in later years at Indy. It won in
1965 in
the Lotus 38.) The Ford GT40 was first raced in May 1964 at the Nürburgring
1000 km
race where it retired with suspension failure after holding second place early in the event. Three weeks later at the 24 Hours of
Le Mans
, all three entries retired although the Ginther/Gregory car led the field from the second lap until its first pitstop. February 1965 saw Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby take a Shelby American entered GT40 to victory in the Daytona
2000 km
. The experience gained in 1964 and 1965 allowed the 7-litre Mk II to dominate the 24 Hours of
Le Mans
race in 1966 with a
1-2-3
result. The finish, however, was clouded in controversy: in the final few hours, the Ford GT of New Zealanders Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon closely trailed the leading Ford GT driven by Ken Miles. Ford team officials faced a difficult choice.
This is a very nice and very rare
non period
photo that reflects a wonderful era of Ford GT 40 and 24 Hours of Le Mans history in a wonderful way.
This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 12" (ca. 20 x 30 cm).
It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.
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Le Mans
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