1040 - And part of the GT40 Sbarro Story

GT40P1040, restored by Racing Icons, is rumored to be appearing in August at the Monterey week- I don't know which venue it's going to be shown at, possibly the Rolex Historic Races? If you plan to be out there, it will be well worth seeing. The car has been restored to the livery and spec in which it competed at LeMans in 1966 as part of the Scuderia Filipinetti team. There were some photos of the partly completed car at Elkhart Lake. The restorer, Robert Ash, is the most knowledgeable and experienced of the few really qualified GT40 restorers on the planet, so 1040 will be quite spectacular. This car languished for years taken apart, so it will be a real treat to see it all back together and in its former glory. One of Robert Ash's other restorations won first place at Pebble Beach in 2003- 1074 or 1076, I can't recall which one. It was spectacular as well.

Re: 1040

Hi Jim,
I think it was 1076, it was the same year I met you at Concourse Italiano?

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It's nice to see the car back in top form. It's a beauty.
I don't see Don on here these days so I hope life's good for him.

Ford GT40 Restoration - Chassis 1040

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He emailed me to tell me that Ronnie was in the area and would I like to show him my car? We haven't connected yet; I don't know if he'll have time, this trip, but maybe later on in the year. I'm interested to see what he thinks of it, if he's able to look at it. And I am very keen to see 1040, which is going to be restored to the usual Robert Ash level of perfection and period authenticity. I can't wait to get a close look at it. If I got a ride, I'd probably die and go to heaven.

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Jimbo:

Ryan and I are heading out to Montery. I think you should meet us out there. Regardless, I will take some pics if we see it.

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No trip to Monterey for me this year. Shoot a lot of photos and say hi to Robert Ash if you meet him, he is a great guy and one of the handful of people really most knowledgeable about these cars. AND a lot of other stuff besides- Gran Sport Vettes, Daytona coupes, etc.

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hello ,I would like to comme back to the Autoweek articles
they says that the car his not the right one...
and send a picture to explain :


but has you can see on 1040 located in €urope and recently seen that the hole are flanged


just taking pictures and saying that the correct one...
is that the way to tell it's a true car?... without pictures or anything else from 1966 picture?

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Everybody who has seen the 2 1040s knows which car is the real 1 and everybody who had done bussiness with Franco Sbarro know what you get when you buy a car from him or that he has worked on.

Just in the photo shown an abundance of non original clues show up. The 2 most glaring and difficult to explain would be the incorrect size of the lightening holes and the incorrect size of the reinforcement gussets for the lower front wishbone mount which partialy overlap the lightening holes that are the wrong size and location.

I would challenge anybody to post detail pics of the Sbarro 1040 tub for inspection.

Jay Cushman

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Sbarro is an established fraud. Leaving that aside, the real car- Silawsky's old car which now belongs to Davis and was restored by Ash- was inspected by Ronnie Spain, by Robert Ash, and by mechanics who had worked on the car in period when it was part of the Filipinetti team. And all of these folks were quite confident that the Silawsky-Davis car is the original 1040.

Against their experienced and in some cases disinterested word you have that of Sbarro, who was found to have faked these cars by a European court etc. And this isn't a one-time thing- evidently he's done it numerous times. I don't know who you all want to believe- everyone gets their choice- but for me the overwhelming weight of evidence shows that the Silawsky-Davis car is the original and genuine 1040.

I own a continuation GT40, or whatever you want to call it. I think anyone should be free (including me) to build a reproduction or continuation GT40 or whatever you want to call it. I also think that people ought to tell the plain truth about what they are doing and not try to enrich themselves illegitimately by passing off a car that they built as an original 60s period race car. To do so is dishonest and disgusting. I've made my opinion about Sbarro clear in previous posts and I won't stoop to calling names- anyway, I've kind of run out of them as far as he's concerned. But his efforts make me want to hurl.

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Which issue of Autoweek was that article in?


Oops never mind found it: http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/FREE/60803007/1029

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BTW, re: jimbo's comments, is Sbarro still at it?

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He has a web site that was linked on here a few years ago. I have to admit, I don't go out of my way to follow his efforts...

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Years ago I went to see a Lola T70 III in need of restoration that was for sale - a bit of a basket case in the chassis dept. The clincher was the Sbarro badge inside the cockpit; despite the attractive price I walked away.

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Is this the car being discussed here...

I have some pics, ill post if anyone is intrested....The car is anly partly finished in the pics

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Please post, it would be interesting to see them.

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I cant remember where I found them, but Ive had them for a few yrs

I also have pics of P 1103 at Beaulieu Motor museum, and P 1083

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Those photos are from the display at Road America Vintage July 2009.

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sfm6s said:

Years ago I went to see a Lola T70 III in need of restoration that was for sale - a bit of a basket case in the chassis dept. The clincher was the Sbarro badge inside the cockpit; despite the attractive price I walked away.

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why when you know Sbarro story :At the time, he was chief engineer in the famous Filipinetti team, which committed the race and Ferrari P3 ... Ford GT40. This was no secret to our man. He has also built replicas of the highest quality from original parts, identical to the original. This is why it is not surprising that Eric Broadley himself asked Franco Sbarro to build for his own use a Lola T70 MkIII suited for the road. The designer of the T70 is for Sbarro in person shows the qualities of the latter, observed during the four years at Filipinetti. It took about a year to honor Sbarro the order and book a car Broadley color "British Racing Green."



Meanwhile, the ACA (Atelier de Construction Automobile), the company founded by Sbarro, received twelve orders for a Lola T70 MkIII. Some customers remain loyal to the original model, opting for the Chevrolet V8 engine fitted to the race car. Others have moved away from the technical accuracy, preferring a Ferrari V12 engine, the other a Porsche 911 engine 3.3 liter turbo. Apart from the engine, all share the same Sbarro Lola chassis and the same body. What is not without its problems for road use, due to the cramped interior, poor visibility and rear and side boarding reserved for flexible conductors and not too old! Once launched, the Sbarro Lola is difficult to drive a car (to drive should I write!): It is first and foremost a competition car, even if the Sbarro dressed leather interior and installed an air conditioning and radio equipment on some models.

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jimbo said:

Against their experienced and in some cases disinterested word you have that of Sbarro, who was found to have faked these cars by a European court etc. And this isn't a one-time thing- evidently he's done it numerous times. I don't know who you all want to believe- everyone gets their choice- but for me the overwhelming weight of evidence shows that the Silawsky-Davis car is the original and genuine 1040.

.

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you are not right with the GT40 chassis # 1033, sold to a collector by Sbarro. Yet another GT40 bearing the same number of frames traveling in the United States. Again, disputes of experts and court battles took place and gave reason to Franco Sbarro. This did not prevent the latter to return the car, thus canceling the sale.

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Fine- you want to defend him? Why don't you comment on the European court case that he lost, when he was found to have faked 1040? He's the Lord Brocket of GT40s, and that is no compliment, believe me. He's just managed to stay out of the slammer.