Great GT40 factory photos etc.

[Mike Drew]

Hi guys,

A friend of mine from Spain who is an amateur student of post-war auto design sent me a 26-page magazine article from a Japanese car magazine, published in 1965. It is a detailed, in-depth analysis of the Ford GT40. The author of the article spent time both in the Shelby shops and at FAV, and shot a bunch of photos of GT40s, and GT40 pieces, in various stages of construction etc. As far as I can tell, these photos have never been published elsewhere (most of them anyway; some of them are stock Shelby PR pics) and give some fascinating insight into the cars during their early days.

One photo shows the pedal bracket of P/1020 as it's being built, and others show the front hubs of P/1021, which gives an indication of the era. There are also photos of the GT40 roadster that kicked around Shelby's shop for a long time (GT/108 I think, the one that Dean Jeffries ultimately got, right?), plus a bunch of other stuff.

I'm hosting the PDF file on the Pantera club website here:

Technical Analysis: Ford GT

It's a little bit user-hostile; there's no thumbnail to be seen. Instead there are the tiny words "Download document". Right-click on that, and an 8.9 mb PDF file will download to your hard drive (it's big so be patient!). You can just left-click on it instead, and the PDF file will open in a new browser window, but it will take awhile and might not work, depending on how spiffy your computer is.

I'm interested to hear your comments on what we can see in this article.

Cheers!

[Brian Kissel]

Those are some awesome pictures Mike. Thanks for sharing. When I get a chance, I think, I'll try to get that translated, so I know exactly the details. The file download worked great for me -- less than a minute

THANKS AGAIN !!!

Regards Brian

[Mike Drew]

Originally Posted by Brian Kissel

Those are some awesome pictures Mike. Thanks for sharing. When I get a chance, I think, I'll try to get that translated, so I know exactly the details.

If you're successful in that endeavor, please post the translation here in this thread.

Originally Posted by Brian Kissel

The file download worked great for me -- less than a minute

THANKS AGAIN !!!

Yeah, the download worked for me too (I beta-tested it before posting to the forum), but trying to just click on it to open it in a new browser window failed miserably.

[Dave]

Awesome...thank you.

[Cliff Beer]

Wow, super nice Mike. Those are some very interesting period pics. Now if I only spoke Japanese......

[JimmyMac]

Mike,
Very nice, thank you very much for that.

[Randy V]

Thanks for hosting and posting!

I really like the dashboard in the Roadster..

Interesting that many of the competition cars had additional scoops/airdams under the grill opening. Along with the twin nostril hoods, I suspect it was to address heating issues in that automotive aerodynamics had not quite progressed to the point of using airdams at that time..

[Gus]

Nice! thanks for posting that.

[Mike Drew]

Originally Posted by Big-Foot

Thanks for hosting and posting!

I really like the dashboard in the Roadster..

Interesting that many of the competition cars had additional scoops/airdams under the grill opening. Along with the twin nostril hoods, I suspect it was to address heating issues in that automotive aerodynamics had not quite progressed to the point of using airdams at that time..

Here's a companion article also from 1965, tracing the history of Shelby and A.C Cars Ltd's efforts up to that date. Mostly Cobra stuff initially, but the GT40 stuff appears at the end, including some dynamite detailed shots of the dash in the roadster. Notice that it was a slapped-together, unfinished affair, with no speedometer fitted, no steering wheel emblem, etc.

Same mechanics as above; right-click on 'Download document' to save it to your hard drive. Left-clicking SHOULD open it in a new browser window, but it's not working for me because the file is too big I think.

Shelby American and A.C. Cars Ltd.

As far as the aero is concerned, they were still fooling around with the nose of the car when these photos were taken in early-mid 1965, hacking and whacking, lengthening etc. It wasn't until late in the year when they arrived at what became the definitive Mk 1 nose, which didn't change after that. (The Mk II nose has some subtle differences, and at least one Mk 1, P/1010, the Peter Sadler car, was at one point equipped with a Mk II nose...)

[Jim Craik]

Mike,

Those pix are great, thanks for posting them!

The rear overhead photo seems to show a fairly sharp angle (seam) along the rear body that I do not remember seeing before. Did the early, narrow rear clips have a sharp edged crease?

[Randy V]

Originally Posted by Mike Drew

Here's a companion article also from 1965, tracing the history of Shelby and A.C Cars Ltd's efforts up to that date. Mostly Cobra stuff initially, but the GT40 stuff appears at the end, including some dynamite detailed shots of the dash in the roadster. Notice that it was a slapped-together, unfinished affair, with no speedometer fitted, no steering wheel emblem, etc.

Same mechanics as above; right-click on 'Download document' to save it to your hard drive. Left-clicking SHOULD open it in a new browser window, but it's not working for me because the file is too big I think.

Shelby American and A.C. Cars Ltd.

As far as the aero is concerned, they were still fooling around with the nose of the car when these photos were taken in early-mid 1965, hacking and whacking, lengthening etc. It wasn't until late in the year when they arrived at what became the definitive Mk 1 nose, which didn't change after that. (The Mk II nose has some subtle differences, and at least one Mk 1, P/1010, the Peter Sadler car, was at one point equipped with a Mk II nose...)

Seems to be a different dash from the first document's Roadster pics.. I like the first one better with individual Nacelles for each guage.. I'm a sucker for things like that...

Agreed on the hacking of the nose.. I've seen some pics where the nose of the car was extended what looks like 2 feet in front of the tires!

I'm glad they settled on the design that's in my shop now!

[Mike Drew]

Originally Posted by Big-Foot

Seems to be a different dash from the first document's Roadster pics.. I like the first one better with individual Nacelles for each guage.. I'm a sucker for things like that...

>>>Oh, you're talking about the dash of the Mustang I, the prototype mid-engined sports car (pictured at the start of the article) that laid the foundation for the whole GT40 idea, and whose name was later given to the passenger car that changed America. The Mustang I is an incredibly tiny car, now on display at the Ford museum in Detroit.

Originally Posted by Big-Foot

Agreed on the hacking of the nose.. I've seen some pics where the nose of the car was extended what looks like 2 feet in front of the tires!

I'm glad they settled on the design that's in my shop now!

Yes, that long nose was used at Le Mans in '65 in the 427-powered cars, the predecessors of the later Mk II. Pictured on page 3 and page 13 of the GT40 technical analysis article...and I'm with you! The final Mk 1 nose is a picture of perfection!

[Randy V]

Right you are on the Mustang-I pics Mike.. I don't know why my memory didn't bring that one back to me - I remember that prototype pretty well actually!

[Mike Trusty]

Curious how the engines were shipped with no valve covers, open valley and with the 271 hp cast iron exhaust manifolds. Almost as though they were stock hipo motors. Then you notice that they have the small diameter flywheel as used on the GT. The cast iron exhuast manifolds is the most interesting. Hope the crates were sealed well from dust and water.

[Allen English]

Thanks for sharing this, too bad it wasn't in English. anyone up to re-creating this in English?

[Bill Musarra]

If you have a Google Tool Bar, it has a Bookmarks button. When you click on it you get a choice of a Spell Checker, Translate this page to English or a Word Translator, Auto Link, and Auto Fill, which automatically will fill out your personal information into a form.
I tried the page translator and I got a 0%. I guess it doesn't work for PDF files. I have done it on web pages and it works great. I tried.

Bill

[Allen English]

Yeh for the PDF translation we won't be able to cheat the system

[Jim Rosenthal]

This is a terrific posting. Maybe the best I've ever seen on this site. Thanks so much. the purity of line and simplicity of the original car with the LeMans nose is just astonishing.

[Mike Drew]

Originally Posted by jimbo

This is a terrific posting. Maybe the best I've ever seen on this site. Thanks so much.

Thanks--I hoped you guys would enjoy these two articles.

[Chris Stahl]

Thank you very much for this pictures!!
Strange to see the old pictures with nippon script. Its like a description for pasta in arabian script