Ford GT article - Ford Times April 1964

Hi all

Recently while I was in an antiques centre I found a load of old Ford Times magazines. I thought a few of you might like the article that was printed in the 1964 April issue.

Thanks

Trev
 

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Trev, very interesting read and thanks for posting. I'm a wee bit confused as Roy Lunn appears to get credit for the design where as I always thought that credit went to Eric Broadly. of Lola fame. Did I miss something?
 
Trev, very interesting read and thanks for posting. I'm a wee bit confused as Roy Lunn appears to get credit for the design where as I always thought that credit went to Eric Broadly. of Lola fame. Did I miss something?

Ah yes, a long debated subject and very subjective. If we concentrate on the chassis layout only and leave the body design and drivetrain to others then this quote from John Wyer in his book, A Certain Sound, is appropriate:


" this is perhaps the right time to correct certain widely held misconceptions about the Ford GT 40.The first is that it was a thinly disguised and only slightly modified version of Broadley 's Lola GT. Nothing could be further from the truth. Both cars were midship-engined coupés, using a Ford engine. Any resemblance ended here. The Lola GT was a simple concept which set a trend and for which Eric Broadley is entitled to great credit. Because of its generally similar configuration to the Ford GT 40 it could be used, to a limited extent, for component testing. I do not underrate the part which Broadley played in the evolution of the GT40, and, inevitably, the car incorporated many of his ideas. But the GT40 was an original concept and by contrast with the simplicity of the Lola GT it was extremely sophisticated and, for its purpose, over-engineered."

"At the end of August (1963) Roy Lunn arrived in England, followed by three design engineers who had been assigned to the project. Two of them, interestingly, were Englishmen .......They were Len Bailey, responsible for chassis engineering , and Ron Martin, a body designer .The third was an American, Chuck Mountain ".

"Between September 1963 , when we effectively started work in England, and the end of March 1964 we completed the design of the Ford GT 40 and the build of the first two cars. It was, in the circumstances, a remarkable achievement, for which credit must go to Eric Broadley himself, and, in particular, to Len Bailey, who, with his very small staff, was so largely responsible for the execution of the GT 40 design ".
 
Hi Trevor,

That's an interesting find, thanks for posting. Good pictures of the original roof vent design & bulkhead air ducts.

Regards Steve.
 
Yes, interesting. I bought a May 1965 copy from EBay.com, as it reported the New York Motor Sallon/Worlds Fair. GT40P/1001 first appeared there as a Shelby mock up and I expected it to be featured in this, a Ford magazine, but nothing... no mention of GT40s at all... only groovy Mustangs. A bit disappointing, but you win some and lose some. Thanks for the posting Trevor.. Andrew
 
Awesome! Thanks so much for this. Given it's 1964, it doesn't cover the Shelby years but as I recall, things didn't go all that well for the GT40 until he and his folks stepped in. Neat to read about the beginning of it though!
 
Thanks for that Trev, one question, does anyone know what is poking through the bulkhead on the right side?
 

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Thanks for that Trev, one question, does anyone know what is poking through the bulkhead on the right side?

The "vent" system that was trashed after they figured out how much drag was created. If you recall the eyelets in the seats were originally feed forced air via the vent system. The original design had air taken in front and ducted through the cockpit via the doors and that oval vent into the rear to be exhausted after some was taken for seat and cockpit ventalation as well as other needs.
 
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The "vent" system that was trashed after they figured out how much drag was created. If you recall the eyelets in the seats were originally feed forced air via the vent system. The original design had air taken in front and ducted through the cockpit via the doors and that oval vent into the rear to be exhausted after some was taken for seat and cockpit ventalation as well as other needs.

Ah, I knew about the 'vent' system but hadn't actually seen the details (apart from the vents in the roof of the spider). Thanks.
 
I thought Eric Bailey was brought in because he had the facilities of Lola next to the FAV setup in Slough and the Lola MKVI incorporated a lot of the ideas for the Ford GT. Like the cut out doors for quick Le Mans entry. The Lola was used as a testing buck to set up the suspension. Eric Broadly left the project because he wanted a pure racecar not one that might be used as a road car (a compromise).
The ducting through the seats caused a loss of 70 BHP.
Shelby was brought in to handle the Ford GT after testing at Goodwood had addede a spoiler to thev rear clip of the car which help improve its stability. When the Ford GT won Daytona in 1965 GT103 it was his team that gave the project its first win.
Regards Allan
 
I came across this article of May 1964. Here the car is simply called Ford GT.

















Z.C.
 

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Randy V

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Love the articles.. I learn something new every time I read articles like these!
 
Not wanting to be too smart but to tie up some loose ends and to mention something no one seems to mention.

The reason the article was called the Ford GT is because these were pre production chassised cars. The first Ford GT was numbered GT/101 when shown at the New York show in 1964. The first twelve cars had the prefix GT and not GT40. The first Production car with the finished production front clip was GT40P/1006 seen at the 1965 Le Mans as a FAV entry running on Borrani wire wheels painted in Linden Green No14.
As for the design of the Ford GT as it was then known as well as the input of certain elements of the Lola MK6 and Eric Broadly. You must not forget the influence of Roy Lunn with his Mustang 1 concept car showing its some of its design features especially on the initial clay model buck of the Ford GT in 1963. And then there's Len Bailey.
Regards Allan
 
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