Rear Wheel Well Vent and adjustable spoiler

[Lynn Larsen]

Guys and Gals,

While looking through the Restoration of Automotive Icons website, I was quite surprised to see several original GT40s with vents cut in the upper rear of the wheel well to help air escape. I also saw what I thought was a MkII feature, namely, an adjustable spoiler which had a corresponding cutout for the wheel well vent.

I don't recall having seen these feartures on replicas or any discussion of them. Can someone fill me in? Was this a practice of only one team? Can I assume these feature did not contribute much to the car's performance and that is why they have not been repeated often?

 

[Mark Clapp]

I'm sure it contributed to making the Gulf cars the winningest team of 40s. A lot of original MK1s that are at least in part trimmed to Gulf spec have the vents and/or the spoiler addition. Look at P1036, P1054, P1065, and P1083 just to name a few. As far as replicas, at least one of the Cal guys has the spoiler addition, but I haven't seen the vents much.