GT40 Mirage : 1012

Showing posts with label 1012. Show all posts

Saturday, June 20, 2015

GT40 P1012

Ford GT40 Mk2 Chassis P 1012

1011 sister car 1012 was also completed in December 1965 as a Mk2 and raced in Daytona in February 1966 where it finished 2nd. It was also sent to the Le Mans trials in April '66. It stayed in Europe to be prepared by Alan Mann for the 1000 km of Spa in Belgium where it finished also 2nd. This race has been selected to give Alan Mann team some experience before the 24 hour of Le Mans, the main goal of the season. After Spa the car stayed with them and was sent to Le Mans as a spare care with its Spa livery. Only its nose raced! When XGT2, one of the 2 Mk2 entered by A. Mann hit during practice the Scuderia Bear Mk1(1029) they replaced the damaged hood by the black one from 1012.
Back to the States the car was prepared for the 24 hours of Daytona 1967 after being used for a while as a show car with the black livery of the 1966 Le Mans winner. It finished 7th but was later wrecked during some testing.
The wreck was sold to a collector. Judging it was beyond repair he rebuilt the car with a unused chassis acquired from JWA. The scrapped tub was given away and changed hands several times. The value of the GT40 was soaring, even the wrecked ones, and the last owner decided to have it restored, or to be more accurate, have it reconstructed.

The Models:

Ford GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - Test Daytona 1966 (IXO)

The same

1012 on practice at Daytona 1966

Ford GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - 2nd Daytona 1966 (IXO)

The same

1012 racing the Daytona 24 in 1966

Ford GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - SAI - Le Mans trials 1966 (IXO)

The same

1012 at the '66 April test at Le Mans

Ford GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - 2nd 1000km of Spa 1966 (MINICHAMPS)

The same

1012 (the white car) with XGT1 and XGT2 during unloading at Le Mans 1966

Ford GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - 7th Daytona 1967 (Kit TESTOR Modified )

The same

1012 before the race at Daytona in 1967

1012 at Daytona in 1967

Ford GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - 1966 Le Mans Reserve car for the Alan Mann team (IXO)

The same

Saturday, November 1, 2014

The 1967 Season Part 1

THE 24 HOURS OF DAYTONA

In England on January 1st 1967 the FAV (Ford advanced Vehicles) plant became JWA engineering. JW are the initials of John Wyer and John Willment who with John Horsman bought the company from Ford. They were still in charge of the manufacturing of the GT40 road cars and competition and free from Ford they also created their own racing program.
In America the "J" project continued. The reason of the K.Miles fatal accident, with J2, during testing could not be solved. They dissected J3 already in construction when it happened but without finding any problems. J4 was built with a reinforced chassis just in case. They put the J program on hold to prepare the Mk2 for the 24 hours of Daytona. 3 cars each for Shelby and H&M. Each team developed their own cars and they differed in a few details. The most visible was the absence of brake air scoops on the rear hood on Shelby's cars.
SAI had 1015 (The 1966 Daytona winner) 1047 and 1012 while H&M had 1046 (The 1966 Le Mans winner) with 1016 and 1031. 6 GT40 Mk1 came to help. One of them was entered by JWA who borrowed the personnal car of Grady Davis the vice president of the Gulf oil company (The Mirage M1 project was not yet ready). Originally a road car but with a competition engine and transmission. JWA converted it to race specification. It was painted dark blue with an orange stripe the color of Gulf Oil now the sponsor of the team. The more famous light blue and orange livery came later. It was in fact the color of the Wilshire Oil Company recently acquired by Gulf.
The 24 hours were a disaster for Ford seeing Ferrari with a 1st/2nd/3rd place with their new P4. The 2 new Chaparral 2F also didn't finished. The Gulf GT40 Mk1 had the best result with a 6th place. The only Mk2 to finish was only 7th.

The Daytona 1967 line up:

#11 - Mk1 - Chassis #1049 - 6th - Entered by JWA (Gulf)
    #1 - Mk2 - Chassis #1012 - 7th - Entered by SAI
   #20 - Mk1 - Chassis # GT 103 - 8th - Entered by W.Wonder
   #3 - Mk2 - Chassis #1047 - DNF - Entered by SAI
   #5 - Mk2 - Chassis #1031 - DNF - Entered by H&M
#6 - Mk2 - Chassis #1046 - DNF - Entered by H&M
   #4 - Mk2 - Chassis #1016 - DNF - Entered by H&M
   #2 - Mk2 - Chassis #1015 - DNF - Entered by SAI
   #9 - Mk1 - Chassis #1042 - DNF - Entered by Brescia Corse

The models :

Ford (Mercury) GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1016 - DNF Daytona 1967
(BANG Models modified - decals INDYCALS)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk2 (SAI) - Chassis # 1012 - 7th Daytona 1967 -
(Kit TESTOR modified)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk2 (SAI) - Chassis # 1015 - DNF Daytona 1967 -
(Kit TESTOR modified)

The same

Ford (Mercury) GT40 Mk2 (SAI) - Chassis # 1047 - DNF Daytona 1967 -
(Kit TESTOR modified - Decals INDYCALS)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 (JWA) - Chassis # 1049 - 6th Daytona 1967 -
(UNIVERSAL HOBBY)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1049 - 6th Daytona 1967
(Kit MARSH MODELS)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk2 (H & M) - Chassis # 1046 - DNF Daytona 1967 -
(BANG Models modified)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk2 (H & M) - Chassis # 1031 - DNF Daytona 1967 -
(BANG Models modified)

The same

Sunday, October 26, 2014

The 1966 season Part 3

LE MANS Trials, MONZA, TARGA FLORIO, SPA, NURBURGRING, ZELTWEG.

A 1st-2nd-3rd place twice for the 2 long races at Daytona and Sebring was an excellent start of the season but with little opposition from Ferrari. Le Mans will be be another story and they HAD to win the 24 hours. They sent no less than 8 GT40s for the traditional Le Mans trials in April : 2 Mk2 prepared by SAI, the 2 new lightweight Alan Mann cars directly arrived from Sebring, 2 Mk1 from the Scuderia Filipinetti which both wore the # 21 (!) One by Ford France and the last by Essex Wire. In addition they brought their new project started a few months early by Roy Lunn : the first "J" car. It was named from the "appendix J" of the FIA regulations. It was a completely new car using aviation technology. Its lightweight chassis gained 300 pounds from the Mk2 with basically the same mechanical components.
The trials at Le Mans were a disappointment. First Ferrari didn't come and they were not able to compare time datas with them and second, the weather didn't cooperate, it rained a lot . One Mk2 crashed, its driver died after a 5 days coma.
The Le Mans Trials line up:

   #1 - "J" Car - Chassis J1 - entered by SAI
#2 - GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - entered by SAI
#3 - GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1011 - entered by SAI
#15 - GT40 Mk1 - Chassis AMGT2 - entered by AMR
#16 - GT40 Mk1 - Chassis AMGT1 - entered by AMR
#12 - GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1039 - entered by Scuderia Filipinetti
#12 - GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1040 - entered by Scuderia Filipinetti
#11 - GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1038 - entered by Essex Wire
#14 - GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1007 - entered by Ford France

The 3rd round of the championship was at Monza. All Mk2 were either at SAI, AMR (Alan Mann Racing) or H&M for preparation of the 24 hours. The 2 lightweight AMR cars project was abandonned to focus on the MK2. The job to gather point for the championship went to the privateers and their Mk1s.
The Monza line up:
#5 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1010 - 2nd - entered by Essex Wire
  #9 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1040 - 3rd - entered by Scuderia Filipinetti
  #6 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1007 - 6th - entered by Ford France
  #8 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1021 - 9th - entered by J.N. Cussons
  #4 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1026 - DNF - entered by Essex Wire
  #3 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1002 - DNF - entered by F. English

The open road of the Targa Florio didn't suit the GT40 and only 1 car was entered:

  #176 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1007 - 12th - entered by Ford France

For Spa Alan Mann raced one of the Mk2 (1012) mainly to get experience racing the 7 liter car in preparation of the 24 hours. 5 more GT40 Mk1 were entered by privateers:
The Spa line up:

  #4 - GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - 2nd - entered by AMR
  #42 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1038 - 3rd - entered by Essex Wire
  #40 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1009 - 4th - entered by P. Sutcliffe
  #44 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1017 - 5th - entered by F. English
  #41 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1039 - DNF - entered by Scuderia Filipinetti
  #43 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1026 - DNF - entered by Essex Wire

It was a very good result but the win went to Ferrari.

Too closed on the calendar from the Le Mans race, the Nurburgring saw only GT40 Mk1 entered by private teams. This time the win went to Chaparral. One more opponent to watch.
The Nurburgring line up:

  #45 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1003 - 5th - entered by Ford France
  #50 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1009 - 6th - entered by P Sutcliffe
  #49 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1021 -12th - entered by L.N.Cussons
  #44 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1002 - DNF - entered by F. English
  #46 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1026 - DNF - entered by Essex Wire
  #47 - GT40 Mk1- Chassis 1010 - DNF - entered by Essex Wire

The models :