Monterey Historics

David Briggs · 08-19-07, 11:04 PM

Just got back from Monterey, saw some very interesting 40's and at the Baja Cantina met 40 owners from Canada and Australia. There several 40's there but I never was able to hook up with the drivers.
lots of fun.
Dave

Bob Childress · 08-20-07, 05:56 PM

Hi Dave et al .................
Me too and with lots of pictures including your car. We all know about Gurney Bubbles but I think I may have seen a set of Gurney Toe Dimples. Pictures to come.

dfreeman95 · 08-20-07, 07:41 PM

Speaking of Gurney..... I was unable to make the historics this year because of being a very new father. But the Dan Gurney Lotus 19B ( the Pacesetter Ford ) that I crew chief for was unfortunately involved in an accident. The owner speculates that one of the Lotus 23s must have hung a wheel in the dirt cresting the hill just after the start finish line. In an effort to get back on the track it came across the track and hit us in the rear. This caused the car to spin, get hit by another car and eventually smack the inside wall with the left hand side of the car.

BUT this is our side of the story, somewhat supported by video. If any of the forum members were present and perhaps saw the accident I would appreciate feedback on the cause. The reason for the concern is that the involvement of the car in an accident can lead to a suspension of anywhere from a year to lifetime ban for the driver. He has been vintage racing for 30 years and would hate to have something like this on his record.

Don't know if any eyewitness accounts will help the review board but couldn't hurt. Thanks in advance for any information.

dfreeman95 · 08-20-07, 07:44 PM

Here is a picture of the car if it will help.

David Briggs · 08-20-07, 11:42 PM

Hi Bob, were you there with your car?
Dave

Bob Childress · 08-21-07, 09:05 PM

Dave,

You bet I was there but without my car. I left a note in your car seat at the Concorso Italiano. Sorry I could not find you.

Here is an interesting picture from the paddock at Monterey this weekend, car GT40P/1049 with Gurney Toe Dimples. The car was very well cared for and could have been a show car as well as a racer.

Mark Charlton · 08-23-07, 12:44 AM

Bob, you're right about that car, it was very pristine. I had never seen the "Gurney toes" and would love to know what they were for. I wanted to ask the owner, but as I was about to Alain De cadanet showed up to interview him for Speed TV. Another thing I'd never seen before was the "Gurney Antlers"?

David Briggs · 08-23-07, 01:45 AM

I have to confess, I am mystified and amazed by both the "toe dimples" and the "antlers" but Gurney is my hero so it is all ok.
Dave

SpyderMike · 08-23-07, 02:32 AM

toe dimples look to me to be at the rad - fitting clearance for the radiator? for bleed fittings?

Mark Charlton · 08-23-07, 01:26 PM

I had assumed that they were some sort of aerodynamic device to disturb air flow and reduce some resonance, but that's a truly uneducated guess.

BTW, David, I enjoyed meeting you, chatting, and seeing your wonderful CAV. I only wish I had stayed around long enough to hear you fire it up. I was also impressed at how long $10 kept your wife busy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpyderMike

toe dimples look to me to be at the rad - fitting clearance for the radiator? for bleed fittings?

Malcolm · 08-23-07, 02:59 PM

I suspect the "gurney antlers" are night time identification lights? Hope Dan is happy to get the blame for any variation to a body shape! :-) At least most proved effective.

Mark Clapp · 08-23-07, 05:39 PM

You can read more about the restoration of the car here:
Ford GT40 Restoration - Chassis 1049
I don't think every bump and light should be attributed to Gurney.

SpyderMike · 08-23-07, 06:30 PM

if you look at the pic on the website of the restoration showing the front compartment - it looks like those bumps are clearance fo rthe radiator and oil cooler.

Mike

David Briggs · 08-23-07, 07:39 PM

Hi Mark, I enjoyed meeting you and hope to see you with your car next time.
Dave

Mike Drew · 08-25-07, 03:58 PM

Hi guys,

It's taken me a week to recover from the Monterey Madness, but I can finally post photos of the three genuine GT40s that were campaigning on the track.

I was privileged enough to get media passes, which gave me unlimited access to areas of the track normally out of bounds to spectators--I was literally standing with my toes on the edge of the dirt alongside the track, on the action side of the concrete barriers. My camera equipment is certainly not up to the job, as I'm using a Nikon Coolpix 950 which is about seven years old. But although I got lots of terrible photos, I did get some pretty good ones as well.

Here's some photos of the first car, P/1042. It was campaigned at Le Mans in 1967, oddly entered by two teams--Scuderia Filipenetti and Scuderia Brescia Corse. It appeared at Monterey wearing its Le Mans colors and markings. The first two are taken during the morning practice on the short straight between turns 3 and 4:

This was taken in the braking zone approaching Turn 5:

And these were taken late on Sunday afternoon, as everybody was packing the cars up and getting ready to ship them home:

I was at Sears Point last year when this car was rather heavily crashed into the barrier, tearing the nose to shreds. I looked as closely as I could, and could find no evidence of any damage; clearly the guys at Intrepid Motor Sports in Reno did a great job fixing it!

The next car was P/1049, which is a historically significant car because it belonged to Grady Davis, who was a big honcho at Gulf Oil. He originally bought it as a road car, but it was fitted from new with a race engine etc., and in 1967 it actually finished 6th at Daytona. The car was equipped with some unique equipment including a pair of identification lights on the roof, yet it retained most of its street car features (interior etc.)

Here is P/1049 during a quiet moment in the paddock. Note the two raised dimples in the nose; period photos show those were present when the car was new.

Note the oddly modified exterior door handle, which presumably would make ingress easier during Le Mans-type starts; also note that it still has the street car external door lock:

And peering through the rear, it's possible to see the FIA-mandated luggage rack perched over the exhaust system:

It's fabricated very simply from angle iron (or rather, angle aluminum). Brackets are bolted or welded to the chassis in various locations and the aluminum frame is held to them using Dzus fasteners.

Finally, P/1083 was running hard as well. This car was sold from new to Brazil, where it eventually passed to the Fittapaldi family and was raced by them with some success; it was also used as a road car for awhile.

It was great getting the opportunity to see these three cars running strong. Although they were outclassed by more modern machinery, they all ran well mid-pack and acquitted themselves quite well against the contemporary machinery in the class.

Next stop--Coronado in October!

Mike Drew · 08-25-07, 06:05 PM

I forgot to mention that the #11, P/1049, is owned by Miles Collier, and was driven by Brian Redman.

#18, P/1042, was owned and driven by Nick Colonna, while #83, P/1083, was owned and driven by Archie Urciuoli.

Gary Kadrmas · 08-25-07, 07:31 PM

Mike,

Thank you so much for taking your time to share the Historic pitures.

Not having the ability to attend a race weekend at Monterey sure makes it nice when folks post pictures.

Thanks again,

LoLola · 08-26-07, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfreeman95

Speaking of Gurney..... I was unable to make the historics this year because of being a very new father. But the Dan Gurney Lotus 19B ( the Pacesetter Ford ) that I crew chief for was unfortunately involved in an accident. The owner speculates that one of the Lotus 23s must have hung a wheel in the dirt cresting the hill just after the start finish line. In an effort to get back on the track it came across the track and hit us in the rear. This caused the car to spin, get hit by another car and eventually smack the inside wall with the left hand side of the car.

BUT this is our side of the story, somewhat supported by video. If any of the forum members were present and perhaps saw the accident I would appreciate feedback on the cause. The reason for the concern is that the involvement of the car in an accident can lead to a suspension of anywhere from a year to lifetime ban for the driver. He has been vintage racing for 30 years and would hate to have something like this on his record.

Don't know if any eyewitness accounts will help the review board but couldn't hurt. Thanks in advance for any information.

Do you have video of the race? We would enjoy seeing it.