"Ford's machine to assault the Ferrari dominated sports car racing was the GT40. It raced lemans in 1964 and 1965 without much success. 1966 was the turnaround year for the GT40. The privateer team, Shelby American Cars, achieved victory at both the 66 & 67 Le Mans.

In 1968 the LeMans regulations changed such that a five-litre capacity limit was imposed. This resulted in both Ford and Ferrari withdrawing their LeMans efforts that year. This left only Porsche and Alpine-Renault as competition. JW automotive saw more potential in the GT40 platform. They prepared two cars to take on the Sports Car Championship with sponsors from Gulf Oil. These cars featured a host of new upgrades including new Gurney heads and aluminum rooftops. JWA took three cars to the 1968 Lemans of which chassis #1075 took victory. Repeating history, the very same car won Lemans the next year.

For both Sebring and Daytona the Gulf sponsored GT40s experienced problems forcing them to retire. Overseas victory was achieved with Jakie Ickx behind the whee at Brans Hatch and Monza. By the end of the season, both Porsche and JW Automotive were entering the final round with a possibility to take the championship. The LeMans victory was had which included the championship with it. Finally, the GT40 had proven itself as a worthy endurance racer.

Featured above is Ford GT40 Chassis #1075. This is the most important GT40 as it won both the 1968 and 1969 Le Mans 24 hour races. Only 2 cars in history have ever achieved that goal."







The street cars were made just for the hell of it.

Think of the GT40 as the McLaren F1 of the 60s.