Pathfinder/Holman Moody P/2289: Le Mans P/1046 Clone for NZ
Hi all:
Pathfinder Motorsports (
www.GT40Racing.com) recently finished building a clone of the 1966 Le Mans-winning MKII GT40 chassis 1046. You'll recall that this was the same car that was driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon to their historic win at Le Mans.
This project took Pathfinder Motorsports and our partner Holman Moody over a year of collective effort to build and deliver to the new owner in New Zealand what we believe is an accurate recreation of GT40P/1046.
We began this MKII build using Superformance chassis GT40P/2289. Pathfinder commissioned a Le Mans-spec Holman Moody dry sump 427 FE side oiler. This engine was built by Jimmy Tucker, who has worked as the go-to engine-man at Holman Moody since the Le Mans days back in the '60's.
Pathfinder then sourced dozens of authentic and period correct components, including a 1966 front mounted oil tank, a rare T-44 transmission, original Girling brakes, original Ford roundel lights, Pathfinder recreation GT40 racing seats, correct Stewart Warner gauges - including the Jones-style tach, and much more.
The Holman Moody shop then had their long-time chassis man, Jim Rose, assist in making other period correct mods, including the FIA mandated aluminum suit case boxes to the left and right side of the exhaust; an under-dash brake handle; and, a correct shift box with lock out. Jim worked with John Wyer back in the 1960's in developing the GT40, Jim himself owning one of the rare light-weight JW GT40 MKI's.
Our client is very excited to have his car on its way to New Zealand, but this story gets better: The new owner is good friends with Chris Amon, the second driver behind the wheel of P/1046 during their historic first win for Ford. Chris is scheduled to race the Pathfinder P/1046 clone at a vintage race event later this year in New Zealand. (We will soon add Chris to the roster of racing luminaries who have driven Pathfinder GT40s and the Pathfinder-designed GT40Rs, including Bobby Rahal, Derek Bell, Bill Adam, Divina Galica, and others.)
A brief history of P1046
- Shelby team car;
- Won LeMans June 6th, 1966 Amon /McLaren;
- Sent to Holman Moody and modified to MKII B specs to include new front and rear clip, a roll cage (in response to the death of factory driver Walt Hangens while testing at LeMans in 1966), a new dash layout (which is being replicated by Pathfinder on Mk II cars), and relocating the dry sump oil tank from front to rear;
- In January of 1967 Holman Moody tested P1046 at Daytona with the short tail, before re-installing the longer MKII B tail;
- Ran Daytona February 2, 1967 Ruby/Hulme DNF (transmission);
- After Daytona P1046 was returned to Holman Moody;
- Sold three times before being purchased by a gentleman who shipped it to Belgium, who then later sold the car to George Stauffer who returned P1046 to the United States
Pathfinder worked long hours with Lee Holman and the staff at Holman Moody in creating this GT40 to correspond with the build details of the original car; meeting the design requests from the owner; infusing Holman Moody's LeMans DNA into the build; and, applying Pathfinder's unique approach to small-detail authenticity.
Kudos to Lance and the folks at Superformance and Hi-Tech for providing us with such a great MKII platform from which to build this project. Pathfinder's GT40P/2289 is one of the most authentic GT40 MKII continuation cars ever built and will now join the other Pathfinder GT40s and GT40Rs racing the streets and tracks around the world.
Pictures and videos from New Zealand will be posted as we receive them, including Chris Amon's drive of the GT40P/2289. Here are a few photos we took prior to sending her home. They show some of the special and authentic details that were built into the car:
If any of you have any questions on this project, feel free to send me an email:
[email protected].
Alan
.
