P/1085 - 40 years on

This may not be news for many of you but it was for me.

The attached article was in this weeks MSN (motor sport news).
1085 was the last of the GT40 to be numbered by the works, dispatch date 20-3-1969 and bought by Malcolm Guthrie on behalf of Gil Jackson of Garden City, New York who also bought p/1009 at the same time.
1085 was sold as a rolling chassis and has been sitting as a kit of parts for the best part of 40 years.
I'm hoping I've got the attachment process correct and I'm not repeating old news.

View attachment GT40 article.pdf

Bob MacDonald

Its certainly not old news as previously we've only had clear reference to Sbarro's 1085A

Is it not that Sbarro fabricated the 1085A monocoque but Bryan Wingfield built the complete car for Rene Herzog ?

I have been involved in sourcing parts for the build of this car, for some months now.
I can confirm that this is the sole remaining unbuilt JWA car and is thus the last of the 'original' cars. It has been awarded its FIA paperwork and been inspected by Ronnie Spain.
Furthermore, the owner and builder invited me to watch it make its debut at Donington race circuit, earlier this month. It was interesting to see the early use of carbon fibre in its body panels.
I took a few rushed photos of the car, at the circuit, but will post better ones later next week.
I've also included photo's of a Lola that was there and also the Ex - Nigell Mansell Lotus F1 car that was there for testing.

Interesting article

Feature Interviews | Jonathan Turner

What a great looking car. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

I have know Gilbert for years he owned 1009 and 1085. He used to drive 1009 around town and piss off the cops. He first bought a GTE Cougar in 68. Then in 71 bought the GT40's. He also bought out Shelby's parts when they shut down. He got all the Shelby parts. He owned two Cobras and enough parts to build another. He has gotten old and started losing his sight and decided to sell everything. He was my inspiration and a man who saw what these cars really were before most did. I have the GTE now. He is the man. Glad to see his cars being enjoyed.

The car is for sale at Maxted-Page; lots of detail and beauty photos of the car here:

1969 Ford GT40 - Mk 1 Chassis GT40 P/1085

Lee Maxted-Page is a buddy of mine (I'm actually great friends with his business partner, Andy Prill) and I got to see the car up close when I visited Andy back in September 2010. It was sitting parked next to P/1080 and GT/111 (the 'lost' GT40 roadster). Here's Andy and me with the three GT40s:



Heaven!

Mike your a dog.

What's that yellow thing in the foreground If you visit their web page, there are TONS of photos of GT40s that they sold...very cool and lots of fun to look at.

By coincidence, today I found myself at RAF Mildenhall and my copilot is sick, so we can't fly. I figured I'd spend the day visiting Andy and getting detailed photos of P/1080 and P/1085 for you guys, as well as paying a visit to the fantastic air museum at Duxford, which is only about 30 minutes away.

Not so fast! The various local car rental agencies refused to rent me a car, not because they know me (which would be a legitimate excuse, I admit!) but rather because I'm a foreigner. They will only rent to Americans who are actually stationed here permanently.

The only national agency of any real repute is an Enterprise agent. Except, they have no cars to rent. (I wonder what it is they do all day if they don't rent cars to people who need them?)

There is an on-base car agency, that is a US military concessionaire, but they also have a policy of not renting cars to people. Oh, they will rent one to us for a week, at 58 pounds a day, but not for a day.

I feel like I'm in the middle of a Monty Python sketch! :veryangry:

So, I slept all day instead.

My question is this: If this is how the country is run, how does anybody get anything done here???? :huh:

Mike, thats a shame.
If i'd only known, i would have lent you an Audi A4.
I was only 10 miles away.
If you're at Mildenhall in the future, we should hookup.
Last time we caught sight of each other was at the Classic 2008.
I was in Alan Mann's GT40 on the track with Chris Melia.
You were trackside and lent over to take a photo as we were about to set off.

You've encountered what a British friend of mine calls the "Customer Satisfaction Prevention Department"

Charlie Farley said:

Mike, thats a shame.
If i'd only known, i would have lent you an Audi A4.
I was only 10 miles away.
If you're at Mildenhall in the future, we should hookup.
Last time we caught sight of each other was at the Classic 2008.
I was in Alan Mann's GT40 on the track with Chris Melia.
You were trackside and lent over to take a photo as we were about to set off.

Click to expand...

Ah yes, I wondered about that--I thought Chris had picked up a right proper hooligan on his way to Le Mans! :laugh:



Turns out I'm still at Mildenhall, and hope springs eternal that I might get my hands on a rental car today. Watch this space!

Very kind of you to offer up a set of wheels, what a guy!:thumbsup:

If for whatever reason we don't get out to see Andy & Co. and are around this evening, perhaps we might meet up at the Bird and Hand, Mildenhall's highly mediocre pub, for a drink or two!

Hi guys--I managed to visit Andy and get some pics of 1085 (and a lot more of 1080, parked right next to it) and will post them here tomorrow. :thumbsup:

Here's a photo of Andy in the car he races (but doesn't own), P/1080.



And here are various photos of P/1085 with P/1080 alongside, and some detail shots of P/1085's interior.

















Many more great photos of P/1085 are located here:

1969 Ford GT40 - Mk 1 Chassis GT40 P/1085