Snob - or wot?

[Neil]

Quite.

Does it really matter? Of course it doesn't.

I suppose if one sets out to create a nut and bolt replication of something, and promotes it as such, then it's important. But in the Grand Scheme it's really not important. Is it fun? Does it bring you pleasure? Did it take months of your life to create?

Without wanting to get off the GT40 subject, I find it amusing with Astons that they can be continually 'enhanced' - better cooling systems, suspension, high torque starter motors, larger inlets etc etc and yet they're still 'original'. A bit like grandpa's axe really (5 new handles and 3 new heads - but still grandpa's axe).

I'm rambling.

 

[Graham Inchley]

I have several of my Grandads and Dads old tools at home and they are just that "implements for specific intentions" and I just can't bring myself to ditch any of them, even the hacksaw blade with white maskers round it!
Unless we can replicate to molecular levels and arrange grain boundaries,slip plains and blobs of grease then what does it really matter. Each to their own.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

In other words you cannot polish a turd!!

 

[Quentin H.D.L]

Hey everyone, im new to this GT forum. Sence i was 15,ive been dreaming about a GT40, id spend hours in tech class talking to my pals on engine configurations and modificatons to the original desgin. In fact, they'd get bored shitless with me talking about this supercar.

In that respect, nothing has changed, i still dream of eventualy owning one. Its a sort of car that gives you that selfish desire to own it, no other car i now of has this effect on me.

As far as wether a Replica is an original or not, who really cares, new parts have come out that maximise the performance and reliabilty of these machines sence they were made 40 yrs ago, as far as im concerned, when i finaly get my own, i will upgrade and personalise it to a reasonable degree.Bringing it up to modern day standard, but not diminishing its charm.

I couldnt care less if someone brags they are still useing the original headgaskets or the rad is on the left side instead of the right, what difference does it make. as long as it is a car you are proud of and cherish, no one elses opinon of your workmanship counts.

As for a car being a fake or original, every car is unique and has a personlity, specialy the GT40


I plan to go for a CAV GT40, a 347 V8 fuel Injected running at 425BHP provided by Pro-Performance unlimited as well as a RBT 6 speed gear Box, as for the rest of the car, ill upgrade the parts i feel need be.
A simple ICE system is a must, as music is the second love of my life.

Q

 

[Paolo-LoveGT40 Modelworks]

as seen in Le mans (referring to Newey destroyed car...and the replica we had in our club area)the real one and the replica are so closer in appearence...but never forget (as Frank Catt also told..) too often the replica is faster, better build, safer and cheaper than original one...that has its only real value in being touched 40 years ago by Jackie Ickx and Dan Gurney maybe.
I personally dont see soo many other better points in an original Ford FAV vehicle than a RCR car for example.
Just think Fran's masterpieces can only be better that original (damn Milano is so far away from Michigan...damn..)

..and surely no one original is loved as our/your replicas I think....

Paolo

 

[Howard Jones]

Usually I try to explain what my GTD is when asked nicely by someone "is that real". Something like "Well yes in the sense that it was originally copied from a original GT40. It's a newer car originally manufactured in kit form by a company in England in the 90s and I spent 5 years building it myself.

If I get a mean person ask "the question" then I say. Well.... have a look.... you tell me. That gets em, and at that point they usually walk away pretending they could tell the difference.

By the way just about every person who COULD tell the difference was a nice person and was very interested in my car, what it was, and appreciative of how much work I have put into it.

Don't spend time on mean people!! You miss talking to the nice people!

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

what I do/think

Not many have seen my car, since it isn't finished. The few that have, or photos, occasionally ask me if it is "an original one".

I tell them, no it isn't. For me, an original GT40 is a car that was run in the days when Ford was campaigning the cars, or privateers were. Or, it can be a car that was built in that period. Or, it can be a car that was built from parts made at that time and finished later on, as several were. Or, it can be a car that was resurrected from a race car built and run in period and then rebuilt later- although this gets a bit thin when you are looking at cars that consist of an original chassis number plate that someone has applied to a repro car. That's NOT an original car AFAIC. Or, it can be a car which was built in original tooling by folks who have a legitimate and solid connection to the original builders of GT40s.

It is hard to define what my car is, by those rules: the body was cast from the original FAV Slough molds, and it has a 1968 engine. The monocoque is a Mark I tub, not a Mark V. However, many of the bits in it are updated or modern. Finally, it is coming from the company (Safir) that actually owns the name and shape and paid to own them. If they say it is a GT40, then it is.

What I set out to do was this- and this was a conscious decision when I set out to have the car built: I wanted, within my budget (which has been stretched considerably) to have the car that I would have owned if I had somehow been able to afford a Mark I street GT40 in 1966 or 1967. No more, no less. This meant trying to recreate that size, feel, and sound, warts and all, in the modern era. And although we have had to make some accommodations for street driveability and cost considerations, I remain hopeful that we have gotten very close, chiefly through the thoroughness and persistence of Brady and Bob.