Dreams can come true - 34 years later!

I,m only a one finger typist so my mails to this forum are usually short but i thought you might be interested to see some pictures of my 40 in the"flesh".There has been a little disbelief over my announcement late last year that i had gained backing from Gulf and so with gratefull thanks to Nasaracer i can show you a group picture of me (far right) and senior Gulf management at a recent photoshoot on the opening of a new garage.This is just one of my duties that i have to perform off the track as a mobile advertising vehicle as the car is also road legal.I worked hard last season at achieving 100% reliability for all the races and maintained the standard and presentation which gained me Gulf recognition.
My racing interests go back to the late sixties when i first started to race in the Hepolite-Glacier championship and had backing from a car sales department of a Gulf garage. I first went to Le Mans in 1969 and saw that epic finish between Porsche and Ford and i was hooked on GT 40s and on my return in 1970, although Wyers team never won, i was hooked on 917s as well!!!
Well here we are all these years later and my dreams are coming true.The Gulf name has reappeared in the UK and they wanted grassroot advertising and that is now why i am working so hard for them to help them regain their footing again.
So for all those doubters, doubt no more and just buy Gulf products from Gulf garages and be part of the great nostalgia days.
Finally my 40 was built from a bare GTD chassis and cost £18,200 on the road/track. It may not be the fastest and most highly developed car but it does prove that you need not spend a fortune on building one or to get noticed. Reliability.
I do hope these pictures work and once again many thanks to Nasaracer for his help.
My finger is aching!!
Regards,
GTA Racing.
http://images2.fotki.com/v14/photos/...lfGroup-or.jpg
http://images2.fotki.com/v14/photos/...lfGroup-or.jpg
http://images2.fotki.com/v14/photos/...lfGroup-or.jpg

Sorry!!!
I fouled up. Another two pictures that should have been with the first.
GTA
http://images2.fotki.com/v14/photos/...40cobra-or.jpg
http://images2.fotki.com/v14/photos/...tbehind-or.jpg

[gweitzel]

Congratulations, GTA Racing,
Beautiful car. I guess, this is the sponsor that everybody in the GT40 community dreams about.

[Paul Bearman]

Lovely car Graham. It would be nice to see some photos of your 917.

[Redcat]

Congrats!

There is hope for the common man after all.

Doug

[Trevor Jones]

very pretty car! Just out of curiosity what tyres are you using? They look perfect.

The tyres i run on are Pirelli P7s which give me road legality and yet are suffiently"soft" in compound to behave, for my setup, impeccably.
Paul, with regards to the Porsche i,ve loads of construction pictures and two short videos of detail work but these would have to be scanned and copied and then put onto a sight that i could then get onto the forum sight with. The 3 shots of the 40 were only possible because of the kindness of Nasaracer in the US and i cannot put upon him anymore. Best if you, along with other interested parties, come and see it and place your orders shortly!
Regards
GTA Racing.

[NASA racer]

Actually, I'd be more than happy to host any 917 pictures...my Fotki site won't accept videos but feel FREE to e-mail me any pictures of your 917 project. I pay a yearly flat fee with no limit to space and so to upload a few more pics is nothing.

And you know what a 917 fan I am!

[Torn40]

with reference to your original post, I wouldn't read disbelief...jealousy perhaps, but not disbelief. There seems to be a lot of people on here trying to exploit a rather niche market, and a success story often offends. Good for you, the car looks superb and is a credit to all your hard work and effort. If you built it for £18K, you must have done everything yourself, mine cost £26K and I thought I'd cut a few corners. Are you building the Porsche 917 from scratch? I can't say I'm surprised at the interest, it's not the type of car you see or hear of very often. Be interesting to see how the project is progressing. Will Gulf sponsor your 917 also?

Thankyou Torn40 for your kind words.I have to say that i was fortunate to source some components at sensible prices and do all of the build from a bare chassis upwards but i proved a point that it can be done and to a high standard and as you see the car in the previous pictures it cost just £18,200. The Porsche 917 was the other of my dreams until a couple of years ago and i decided to start building one from scratch.On searching about for odd spares to help kickstart the project i discovered that some one else had the same thoughts some previous time before and had built a couple for a limited run so i thought why redesign the wheel and with no hesitation paid my monies and ordered one, chassis no 009 to be precise, although it is actually only the seventh complete one. It is NOT A KIT but my example is not sprayed by them ( i am doing it myself so that it matches the 40 in its original GULF approved livery) and is not all put together. This will enable me to fully understand the exact nature of the beast as it is being raced only and at 820kg and 500+bhp and capable of well over 220mph i need to know every nook and cranny. It will also help prospective customers if the salesman knows what he is talking about!! The 917 is a beautifull car but it is not for the faint hearted and it will require a large wallet and patience for the very long build wait.
Finally, yes it is fully backed by Gulf and will be campaigned along with the 40 in the Sports Racing and GT Series this year (fingers crossed) as i have provisionally found a driver for the 40. So it will be a unique site to see on the circuits two Gulf cars in matching livery upholding the brand name so synonymous with motor sport and thankfully back in this country.Look out for the ever expanding group of garages opening up around the country and buy their products.
My one typing finger is aching so thats all for now,
Regards,
Graham @ GTA Racing.

[Fred/Belgium]

Graham,

Congratulations.The car is splendid.
Note I have also a Gulf livery but copied to the 1968 winner.Hope to meet you at one of the UK events
Fred

[Brian Magee]

Graham

After seeing a 917 at Goodwood a couple of years ago with the nose pane removed, I don't think I would want to do 20mph in it let alone 220. The drivers feet are well in front of the front wheels and there did not seem to be much chassis up in the front - just fibreglass. Sooner you than me.

Will the Porsche be out this year, I would love to come and see it race?

Brian.

[Mike Dozier]

Just remember one word....Widowmaker!

MikeD

[Brett James-McCall]

A big congrats man... everybody's dream. I work for big blue oval.... now I wonder if I could get them to sposor me when I finish my project??

Yes the 917 will be racing this year as i said above and i have no qualms whatsoever about driving the 917.Motor racing is no more dangerous than driving on the highway and i would sooner be in a pack of cars hurtling into Paddock Bend than at 8.30 in the morning on the M25!!!!!!!!!
I,ve known these cars since 1969 and it does not worry me one bit about the vunerability of the human body at all.If you worry about that sort of thing you would,nt motor race.There are far more dangers in the world we live in and i personally love and feel very much at ease behind the wheel of a a car on the race track.
Incidentally Fred i did not set out to exactly copy the old Gulf 40s.Thats all been done and i was able to present Gulf with a 2000 car in the correct old livery and reliability that they required for their relaunch into Europe.If you want to see the car close up before the racing season starts visit the Gulf stand at the NEC on the 4th, 5th and 6th of March where it is the centrepiece of their very impressive display if the artwork they have sent me is anything to go by.
I am a little concerned about 917 talk on the 40 Forum so please don,t overdo the Porsche chat but the Gulf link between 40 and 917 is very real and i am giving them total commitment and beyond and i shall forever be gratefull to them.
Find their garages and buy their products.
Regards,
Graham @ GTA.

[Ian K]

Graham,

What size BRM's are those? Who makes them?

Thx, and WOW!

Ian

IanK
The BRM rims are 15" diameter, 8" front and 10" rear and were made by PS Enginering in USA.
Regards,
Graham @ GTA.

Well, I did,nt see any of you at the NEC last week on the Gulf stand but i certainly met thousands of new faces and did my bit in gaining new customers for them and myself.
The 40 looked almost too clean as i had polished off the racing battle scars as part of the new presentation for this years season and all the publicity booked for Gulf.
The many budding race drivers who were trying to win our free rally school prize managed to write- off 3 GT 40s and an Audi but luckily we had enough supplies from scalextric to see us through the three days!!!
Since i joined Gulf i have been made to feel like one of the family and i am giving them absolute support and the supplies and back-up are second to none. New sites are opening thick and fast and the number of new signings at the show was encouraging to put it mildly.
If any British readers run garages or workshops and would like to take on the GULF Brand please contact me in the first instance and i will arrange a contact meeting to discuss further. You will not regret it.
The racing season starts again this month so i,ll try to keep FGT 40 on the black stuff and hopefully my present hard pushed engine will hold together until the new one is ready.With Brands Hatch and Spa coming up i want to be really on song by mid April. Donnington and Silverstone, i reckon, will just about finish off my old faithfull!!!!
Will post NEC pictures when ready.
Regards,
Graham @ GTA/Gulf Racing.