Russ, I guess what I'm asking is, in '68 why would JW pick the MKI 289 to run with instead of the MKII 427. In '67 & '68 there was plenty of knowledge about wide wheels & tires from the CANAM cars. I know the MKII "B" model had a little wider tail, but nothing like the "Gulf" cars
I believe that the rules changed after '67 and that the 427s were no longer allowed. Max
displacement was 5 litres. I don't believe the MkIIs had any aero advantage over the
MkIs, and since there was no need for the MkII clip's extra cooling and clearance since
the 427 was out. So, JW took what was legal and available, and worked with it.
Obviously, it wasn't a bad choice
Ahh - dug up some more info. JW had the Mirages already in hand, but since they had 351s,
he had to drop in 302s. Also, the 5.0 rule stated you had to have a minimum of 50 production
models. So, JW rebuilt the Mirages to more closely resemble the MkIs (I believe only body
mods - the chassis was close enough to comply with homologation).
Ian