GT40 Mirage : 1049

Showing posts with label 1049. Show all posts

Saturday, August 22, 2015

GT40 P1049

FORD GT40 Mk1 Chassis P 1049

1049 was sold mid '66 to Grady Davis, the vice president of the Gulf Oil Company, as a road car but equipped with a racing engine and transmission. JWA and Gulf signed a deal to race the next seasons with the Mirage M1 (a lightweight version of the GT40) but the Mirages were not ready at the beginning of the year so they decided to upgrade 1049 to racing specifications for the first two races. The car was painted the original Gulf color: dark blue with an orange stripe and raced at Daytona (6th) and Sebring (DNF). When the 3 Mirages were ready Grady Davis returned the car to its road use then sold it to Francis Grand who raced it at Sebring in 1969 this time in a dark metallic green livery. It was resprayed in yellow with a black spare wheel cover and a different rear hood and it has its Borrani wire wheel back on. 1049 was also raced at Daytona and Sebring in 1970 this time with Hallibrand wheels.
Then it was sold to a collector who reverted it to a road car again. It changed hands several times and is now restored to its 1967 Daytona Gulf colors but with a larger hood with two rear lights instead of four.

The Models:

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

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1049 - DNF Sebring1967
(BANG Models modified)

The same

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

The same

1049 at Daytona in 1967

Pit stop for 1049 at Daytona in 1967

1049 during practice at Daytona in 1967

1049 racing at Sebring in 1967

1049 at Sebring in 1967

Pit stop for 1049 at Sebring in 1967

1049 at Daytona in 1970

1049 at Sebring in 1970

Saturday, November 22, 2014

The 1970/71 season

Although the Gulf / JWA GT40 won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1969, JWA knew that its days were numbered. The Mirages didn't show any potentiel so Gulf and John Wyer signed with Porsche for the following 2 seasons. Porsche who won the 1969 manufacturer championship with its 908 developed a program for Le Mans. Its 917 model although too young in '69 showed an incredible potential. The GT40 was still legal to race and a few had been used that season. The regular privateers raced AMGT2 - 1033 - 1049 - 1010 until the 12 hours of Sebring. After that only a handfull of cars (mainly 1033 - 1038 - 1017) had been seen mostly in club races in the UK.
Gulf sold its GT40 (Chassis 1074) to Solar Productions which used it as a camera car for the filming of the movie "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen. The car did a few laps prior to the start to film some ambiance scenes. It was then driven by Johnny Servoz Gavin who wore for the occasion the famous green helmet borrowed from Henri Pescarolo. Servoz Gavin had recently quit racing in Formula One and thrown all his trophies and equipment in the Seine River
A GT40 (Chassis 1048) came to the Le Mans trials in 1971. It has a elegant and curious tail end nicknamed at the time "a miniskirt" (It was the fashion back then). Unfortunatly it caught fire after a rushed pit stop. It would have been the last chance to see a Ford GT40 at Le Mans.

The models :

Ford GT - Chassis GT 103 - 8th Daytona 1970
(BANG Models modified)

The same

Ford Gt40 Mk1 - Chassis 1082 - Ret. Tour de France Automobile 1970
(Kit STARTER modified - decals GP)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 _ Chassis 1048 - Le Mans trials 1971 -
(Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1074 - Solar Productions - (Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)
As driven by J. Servoz Gavin prior to the start of the 24 hours of Le Mans 1970

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1074 - Solar Productions - (Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)

With a hand held camera used for the movie "Le Mans"

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1074 - Solar Productions - (Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)
With a compressed air controlled camera used for the movie "Le Mans"

The same

Ford G7A - Chassis J10 - Can Am 1970 - (Kit MARSH MODELS)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis # 1078 - DNF Nurburgring 1970
(Kit TENARIV modified)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis # 1010 - DNF Daytona 1970
(Kit TENARV with decals GP)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis AMGT2 - DNF 1000 Km Buenos Aires 1970
(Kit MARSH MODELS)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1010 - DNF Sebring 1970
(Kit TENARIV Modified - Decals GP)

The same

Sunday, November 2, 2014

The 1967 season Part 2

12 HOURS OF SEBRING 1967

For the 12 hours of Sebring in April Ford sent J4, the first race for a Mk4, with 1031 prepared by H&M with all the modifications seen at Daytona. The car was now designed as Mk2B.
The opposition was composed of 2 Chaparrals but no works Ferrari. The pole position and the victory for the first race of the Mk4 decided Ford to send 4 similar cars for Le Mans (J5 and 3 new chassis). Meanwhile J3, now rebuilt to Mk4 specifications was sent to the Le Mans trials the following week.
The Mk2B 1031 got the 2nd place. The privateers too, with the Mk1, had good results : a 5th and 8th place with the win in the group 4 category. Gulf JWA entered 1049 in almost the same Daytona livery (and with the same racing number) but this time the car didn't finished.

The start of the 12 hours of Sebring 1967

The 1967 Sebring line up:

#1 - Mk4 - Chassis J4 - Winner - Entered by FoMoCo
   #2 - Mk2B - Chassis 1031 - 2nd - Entered by FoMoCo
   #19 - Mk1 - Chassis 1042 - 5th - Entered by Brescia Corse
   #17 - Mk1 - Chassis 1038 - 8th - Entered by Autosport Int.
   #11 - Mk1 - Chassis 1049 - DNF - Entered by JWA (Gulf)
     #14 - Mk1 - Chassis GT 103 - DNF - Entered by W.Wonder

The models :

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1038 - 8th Sebring 1967
(BOX Models modified)

The same

Ford GT40 - Chassis 1049 - DNF Sebring 1967
(BANG Models modified)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1042 - Brescia Corse - 5th Sebring 1967
(BANG Models modified)

The same

Ford Mk4 - Chassis J4 - Winner Sebring 1967 (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 :