P/1083 Refresh Pictures

[Rick OBrien]

With the kind permission of Archie Urciuolo, here are a few pictures of 1083 during it's off season refresh. As many probably know, this original GT40 is actively raced. I was fortunate enough to catch it in the process of being maintained and refreshed for the upcoming season at Auto Restorations in CT. The clips, drive train and rear suspension were removed exposing a lot of details normally obscured. A brief history of the car follows, again courtesy of Archie. If this is of general interest I have about 40 more pictures I can upload.

History of P / 1083
GT40 P/1083 WAS THE LAST GT40 TO BE CONSTRUCTED AND SOLD AS A COMPLETED CAR. IT IS ALSO THE ONLY GT40 TO BE SOLD DIRECTLY BY THE FACTORY.


COMPLETED BY JWA IN 1969 TO SPECS IDENTICAL TO THE JWA-BUILT LE MANS-WINNING #1075. CARNIVAL RED. RACE SPECIFICATION, WITH LIGHTWEIGHT ROOF. 302 ENGINE, WITH GURNEY HEADS AND WEBER CARBS. ZF 5-SPEED TRANSAXLE. JWAE/BRM 10’ AND 14’ WHEELS. FIRST TESTED AT THRUXTON BY DAVID HOBBS.



FIRST OWNED BY “TEAM CAI” AND FITTIPALDI RACING IN BRAZIL. RACING RESULTS: 11/69 – 1st, CAMPEONATO DO RIO DE JANEIRO; 12/69 – DNF, MIL QUILOMETROS DA GUANABARA; 1/71 – 2nd, FIRST GP DE SAO PAULO; 5th, SECOND GP DE SAO PAULO; THEN RACED INTERMITTENTLY -- FIVE OR TIMES -- BY WILSON FITTIPALDI AND CARLOS PACE, REPORTEDLY WINNING ALL ENTERED RACES. ALSO USED BY FITTIPALDI AS A ROAD CAR.


SOLD VIA EMERSON FITTIPALDI AND ADRIAN HAMILTON TO GEORGE STAUFFER, BLUE MOUNDS, WISCONSIN, IN 1982. VINTAGE RACED EXTENSIVELY BY STAUFFER. SOLD TO JIM GEORGE, MT. CLEMENS, MICHIGAN, IN 1992. VINTAGE RACED OCCASIONALLY. TUB RESTORED BY FAV CO.


SOLD TO ARCHIE URCIUOLI, CASEY KEY, FLORIDA, IN 2002. ENGINE, RUNNING GEAR AND COSMETICS RESTORED TO ORIGINAL 1969 CONFIGURATION BY BOB ASH AND JEFF SIME. ACTIVELY VINTAGE RACED BY URCIUOLI FROM 2003 TO PRESENT, INCLUDING LE MANS CLASSIC, LIME ROCK FALL FESTIVAL, MONTEREY HISTORICS, MT. TREMBLANT AND WATKINS GLEN.



AWARDS: “BEST RACE CAR,” 2004 ROLEX CONCOURS, LIME ROCK, CT. “AMELIA AWARD,” 1961 – 1973 RACE CARS, 2006 AMELIA ISLAND CONCOURS. ROAD&TRACK “THE CAR WE WOULD MOST LIKE TO DRIVE” TROPHY, 2007, ROLEX VINTAGE FESTIVAL AT LIME ROCK.

Rick O'Brien
Oxford, CT

[Steve C]

Archie and Riick,

Thanks...Great pics...If more please share.

Steve

[Malcolm]

Am wondering what the tank (?) is at the front of the car in the middle with the red cap? Oil tank or additional fuel tank?

[jyrki]

Malcolm
Maybe for safety reasons (/ economy, new FIA tank every 5th year); safetybag instead of very expensive sill safety tanks?
It looks like "bonnet" is modified for tank too; little higher than normally?

[Fran Hall RCR]

Oil Tank ...when I last saw the car in Detroit it had an aluminum tank up there.

[Mike Trusty]

I believe Fran is right. If you look in some of the other photos you will see two large AN lines extending from the left front side of engine bay toward the front of the car. One being discharge from the scavage stages and one suction to the pressure stage of a dry sump pump. The top cover of hte tank is a standard fuel cell cover being used as a fill and access port to the tank. All being similiar to what Shelby did on MKII that they prepared.

[allanfeldman]

Just a dumb question but is the oil tank where the original spare wheel would have been situated? It would have been there on the 1966 MKII before the spare was moved to the back on its own carrier on the 1967 MKIIB? Really good pictures much appreciated.
Regards Allan

[Fran Hall RCR]

Dug up some pics from a few years ago...1083 in Blue Detroit days

[Keith 'Baron' Hardy]

Found these too....

[Mark Clapp]

Is that a replica of Dean Lampe's car? (Just kidding)

[jyrki]

Originally Posted by gt40fran

Oil Tank ...when I last saw the car in Detroit it had an aluminum tank up there.

Ok.
Sounds right; my theory was anyway absolutely dead , if you have enough $`s to drive and own real 40, you must have enough for running costs too.

[ibsenop]

Wilson Fittipaldi never won a race with this car and José Carlos Pace didn't race her.

Here is a little piece of the car history here in Brazil.
Races compilation by Ricardo Cunha from Quatro Rodas and Auto Esporte Magazines.

Ford GT40 GT40 P 1083 races in Brasil in 1969/1973:
1969 - Equipe Colégio Arte e Instrução -
Nov/15 - Rio de Janeiro (Regional Race) - First - Sidney Cardoso
Dec/13 - Rio de Janeiro - 1000 Km da Guanabara - DNF - Sidney Cardoso/ Carlos Alberto Scorzelli
1970 - Equipe Colégio Arte e Instrução -
Jan/10 - Interlagos - First race - 2nd - Sidney Cardoso
Jan/10 - Interlagos - Second race - DNF - Sidney Cardoso
Jan/25 - Interlagos - 3th - Sidney Cardoso
1971 - Equipe Fittipaldi -
Dec/12 - Interlagos (International Race) - DNF - Wilson Fittipaldi Jr.
Dec/19 - Interlagos (International Race) - DNF - Wilson Fittipaldi Jr.
1972 - Equipe Greco-Ford -
Apr/30 - Interlagos (Nacional Race) - 3th - Paulo Gomes
May/07 - Tarumã (Brazilian Championship) - 3th - Paulo Gomes
May/14 - Interlagos - Prova dos Campeões (Race of Champions) - 4th - Paulo Gomes
Sep/03 - 500 Km Interlagos (International Race) - DNF - Paulo Gomes
1973 - Equipe Greco-Ford - (With brazilian Ford V-8 engine)
Jun/24 - Interlagos (Brazilian Championship - Race 5) - DNF - Arthur Bragantini
Sep/02 - Interlagos (Brazilian Championship - Race 6) - 6th - Arthur Bragantini.
Sold to USA.

You can see a lot of old photos of the car when raced here in Brasil at
Video of GT-40 in arriving in Brazil ('69). Anyone knows about this car?

Photos from Sidney Cardoso (original owner) and scanned from old brazilian magazines.

[Rick OBrien]

Here's a few more pictures of 1083 taken at Automotive Restorations' open house. I've probably over done it, but I find this stuff fascinating. Again, thanks to Archie Urciuoli for the permission to post these. I'm not sure how pix are allowed per post, so I've split them up into 2 seperate posts.

Rick OBrien

[Rick OBrien]

And here's the last of them...I promise.

Rick

[Pantera1889]

There is NO WAY that you can "over do it" !!! I can look at pictures like that ALL DAY!!!

THANKS!!!

[Phil]

Super nice car!
I once met Archie at a vintage race when he had the MK IV, super nice guy.
Cheers
Phil

[Mike Trusty]

These pictures are great. The very type to learn more about these cars. With these it has become apparent that:

1. The tank in the front that was believed to be an oil tank is in fact a fuel cell.
2. The oil lines that I saw going to the front in an earlier post are in fact going only to the oil cooler that is mounted behind the radiator.
3. The oil cooler that is in the original location for Mark I's is the transaxle cooler.
4. The motor was apparently changed from a dry sump arrangement when Fran took pictures of it to a wet sump motor.

[dhungerf]

Rick:

Nice bunch of pictures. That car was my favorite last summer at Limerock and from the look of that guy in the picture it was one of his favorites as well.

Cheers

[ARCHIE URCIUOLI]

Just To Clarify, The Tank At The Front Is An Extra Fuel Tank We Used For The Le Mans Classic. Normally, The Fia-mandated Spare Tire Would Be There. The Main Tanks Are Where They Should Be, In The Door Sills (but Now With Fuel Cells Inside).

The Photos Of The Car In Blue Paint Must Have Been Taken When Owned By Jim George. He Installed A Bigger (350 Cid, I Think) Dry-sump Engine, And Made Some Other Changes. Fortunately, George Stauffer Had The Original (correct) Wet-sump Engine, So With The Help Of Bob Ash & Jeff Sime, We Were Able To Restore The Car Completely To Original Specs.

My Thanks To "ibsenop" For A More Complete Race History. I Would Note However, That Both Wilson Fittipaldi And His Daughter Roberta (who Administrates Her Brother Christian's Racing Efforts) Say That Wilson Won A Few, And That Carlos Raced The Car. 30 Years After The Fact, The Picture Is Somewhat Blurry!

Best To All -- Archie Urciuoli

[Dean Lampe]

Your car was an inspiration for me and my gt40 build. I think your car is the best looking 40 I have ever seen. Thanks for joining the group!