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buddaben · 06-15-04, 04:40 PM

Recieved the following correspondance & Picture from an ex-Fird engineer I mat at a car show in Oklahoma.

Ben Miller,

As I promised you at the car show in OK. here is the photo of a early GT-40 we crashed into a fixed barrier at the Ford Dearborn Test Track in 1967. We conducted this test after we installed a roll cage to see if we couldn̓t help the driver when an accident occurs. We hit the barrier at 41 mph and the spray you see over the vehicle represents fuel, (gas), we use Stoddard Solvent as it very close in weight to fuel but has a very high flash point. As you can see the front tires crush the rockers panels, housing the fuel cells, causing the fuel cells to be pressurized. The fuel is then forced up the filler necks and blows the fuel caps. In our crash the front sheet metel is forced back over thç fuel caps directing the fuel over the vehicle. We didn̓t have a fire as the engine was not re4uired to run in our test. We found the vehicle to be quite sturdy and but the crash dummy was in fact hurt. There is a accompaning letter about a friend of mine that was a special test driver at the time you might fmd interesting.

You have a real collectors car and you should be very proud of it, I enjoyed talking with you and maybe someday we will meet again.

Regards

Bill Holbrook

06/11/2004

06-15-04, 04:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
buddaben A Tenth Join Date: Jul 2003 GT40: OKLAHOMA Posts: 107 Rep Power: 7	GT40 Crash Test 1967 Recieved the following correspondance & Picture from an ex-Fird engineer I mat at a car show in Oklahoma. Ben Miller, As I promised you at the car show in OK. here is the photo of a early GT-40 we crashed into a fixed barrier at the Ford Dearborn Test Track in 1967. We conducted this test after we installed a roll cage to see if we couldn̓t help the driver when an accident occurs. We hit the barrier at 41 mph and the spray you see over the vehicle represents fuel, (gas), we use Stoddard Solvent as it very close in weight to fuel but has a very high flash point. As you can see the front tires crush the rockers panels, housing the fuel cells, causing the fuel cells to be pressurized. The fuel is then forced up the filler necks and blows the fuel caps. In our crash the front sheet metel is forced back over thç fuel caps directing the fuel over the vehicle. We didn̓t have a fire as the engine was not re4uired to run in our test. We found the vehicle to be quite sturdy and but the crash dummy was in fact hurt. There is a accompaning letter about a friend of mine that was a special test driver at the time you might fmd interesting. You have a real collectors car and you should be very proud of it, I enjoyed talking with you and maybe someday we will meet again. Regards Bill Holbrook 06/11/2004 Attached Thumbnails