GT40 Mirage : The 1967 season Part 4

The 24 Hours Of LE MANS

Ford came to Le Mans with 12 cars : 4 Mk4, 3 Mk2B and 2 Mirages in the Prototype category (groupe 5) with 3 GT40 Mk1 in the Sport Prototype one (groupe 4). Against them Ferrari had 8 Prototypes : 4 new P4s, 3 P3/P4 also known as 412P and 1 P2. Plus two in GT class. Chaparral had two 2Fs, Lola Aston Martin had the one seen at the trials plus a new one with a long tail. In the 2 liter class Porsche had 6 and Matra 2.
Only 2 Ford finished the race but at the 1st and 4th place, Both 7 liter Mk4. Ferrari with only a 4 liter engine took 2nd and 3rd.
Ford got the win, the pole position, the best lap and a new record 5232.9 Km in 24 hours. The second placed Ferrari with 5180 Km had nothing to be ashamed of. It beat the 1966 Mk2 winner by 337 Km

The Le Mans line up:

#1 - Mk4 - Chassis # J5 - Winner - Entered by SAI
   #2 - Mk4 - Chassis # J6 - 4th - Entered by SAI
    #57 - Mk2B - Chassis # 1047 (1031?) - DNF - Entered by SAI
  #16 - Mk1 - Chassis # 1020 - DNF - Entered by Ford France
  #3 - Mk4 - Chassis # J7 - DNF Cr - Entered by H&M
  #5 - Mk2B - Chassis # 1031 (1047?) - DNF Cr - Entered by H&M
  #6 - Mk2B - Chassis # 1015 - DNF Cr - Entered by Ford France / H&M
    #18 - Mk1 - Chassis # 1042 - DNF - Entered by Brescia Corse / Filipinetti
  #4 - Mk4 - Chassis # J8 - DNF - Entered by H&M
  #14 - M1 - Chassis # M1 0001 - DNF - Entered by JWA
  #15 - M1 - Chassis # M1 0003 - DNF - Entered by JWA
  #62 - Mk1 - Chassis # 1026 - DNF - Entered by Dawnay Racing / JWA

The 1031 / 1047 mysteries:

Le Mans was the last race for the 7 liter engine cars except for one Mk2B entered the rest of the season by Ford France. That car, 2 weeks later won the 12 hours of Reims. It's chassis # was officially 1047 (The blue car #57 at Le Mans) All Mk4 and Mk2B (except that one) were sent back to the United States for repair or rebuilding to be used as show cars or sold to private collectors and there whereabouts are more or less known. 1031 ( the gold car # 5 at Le Mans) was thought to be in Japan a little while later. As for 1047 after 45 years it was sent in England for a full restoration. There were already some rumors about its origin. After dismantling all its components the proof that 1047 was in fact 1031 appeared clearly without any doubts: #1031 stamped on a lot of parts and above all the coats of paint revealed the history of the car as 1031 although the chassis plate number was still stamped with #1047. And to confirm the switch, not very long after that, the car thought to be 1031( the golden car #5 at Le Mans) was sent to the same English company to be restored after being forgotten in a private collection in Japan for over 45 years. It still has his # 1047 stamped on it.
There are still two mysteries unsolved : WHY and WHEN?
"Why" nobody can come with an answer, as for "when" meaning: before or after the start of the 24 hours of Le Mans : noboby knows for sure. My guess is that it was before the race. 1031/1047 as it is now referred (the blue car) stayed in France after the race. So there was no reason to repaint it in blue if the change had been made before because it was already in blue ( 1047 was gold) If the car had to be repainted it would have been in white, the color of all the Ford France entered cars. Beside 1047 (the gold car) was crashed at Le Mans and had to be sent back to the USA for repair.
Still confused? go to:

http://www.racingicons.com/gt/1031_1047.htm

and:

http://gt40photos.co.uk/page60.html

for more informations on this subject.

The models :