Mk II at Minnesota State Fair in '66 or '67 ??

[Jennifer WhiteWolf-Crock]

It was probably the autumn of 1967, but it might have been '66. Ford had GT40 on display at the Minnesota State Fair, probably it was in the month of August, well after LeMans, held in the spring. It was presented as the race winning Mk!!, but I suspect it may have been a look-alike out on the promotional circuit. I was in mid-teen years back when I saw this car, my first 'in person' GT40...Does anyone have any idea which chassis number this car might have been? or better yet any photos of whatever car it was while on that promotional tour? Was the actual race winner on the display circuit, or a look alike? Please Note: This WAS a MkII, for sure, not the Mk4 or the JW-Mk1 that followed in win sequence.

Jennifer

 

[Jennifer WhiteWolf-Crock]

Hi Guys,
This might help...the 3 MkII s that finished 1-2-3 in '66 were as I recall, 1047 [ EDIT WRONG! it was 1046] , 1015 and 1016....the car on display, passed off as the winner, was supposed to have been the winner. [EDIT, I got the SN wrong...see below.... It was 1046 that won, not 1047...so much for memory over the age of 50!!]

EDIT insert 1047 history for the time period: 1047 had 2 different serial numbers ..It carried 1031 originally
"LeMans, June 10/11th, 1967 was the next event for this car. This is the race where it's unclear as to which serial number (#1031 or #1047) this car actually carried. Documents show that the car was now light blue with roundel #57 and was entered by S/A with the driving team of Paul Hawkins and Ronnie Bucknum. Records also show that #57 qualified 5th with a lap time of 3 minutes 25.8 seconds, and quickly jumped into the lead once the race started. After numerous routine (and not so routine) pit stops, #57 was in ninth overall position when after 17+ hours it finally retired with a seized engine, on lap 254. Incidentally, the gold #5 MKII (the original #1047), crashed/DNF'd 5 hours earlier and would never race again in 1967. " from http://www.racingicons.com/gt/1031_1047.htm

Number 1046...Still begs the question though, What car was on display at the Minnesota State Fair? the real 1046 or a spare roller there to look the part?

Jennifer

 

Jennifer, It could have been #1132. 1132 was painted up in black with the silver stripes to look like Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon MKII. It's been a museum at the Indy track for a long time and is now going through a little restoration being done by a Jim Dunham in Michigan I believe.

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Morning Bill ..thats 1032....
Its actually now turned into a major restoration ...looks spectacular too....great patina and not over done.

 

[Randy V]

Jennifer - My memory's not quite as good as yours... Having grown up in Minneapolis, I used to ride my bicycle to the fair during those days.. I remember seeing the car but have no pictures. I also do not remember the year for certain. I thought it would have been 1966 but - again - I can't be certain..

I was 13-14 at the time... Also fully in love with the new GT40!!

I wish I could remember it as clearly as I remember spending 30 minutes at the "All the milk you can drink for $.05 stand" on a humid and hot 95+ degree day... Sick isn't the word for what I was after that... Maybe it was the 10 mile ride home on my bicycle after that...

 

Thanks for the correction Fran. I have a bunch of pictures of the car's inners show a pretty rough codition. I sure Jim Dunham will do a super Job.
Jennifer, I remember seeing a GT40 MKI, Cobra Daytona Coupe, and Cobra ay Watkins Glen in 1965 after Shelby won the championship. I think it was call the "Cobra Caravan". The cars took some parade laps around the track before the GP race.

 

[Jennifer WhiteWolf-Crock]

Hey there BigFoot, we saw the same car at the same place, the same year! We must be about the same age...I never rode a bike to the Fair though, it was just too far as we lived in Edina. I always went with Mom and Dad in the family car...I had forgotten about the Milk for $0.05, but you have triggered the memory of same overindulgence and suffering later in the 90+ degree heat with an upset stomach... My family left MN 40 years ago, and I have never been back...

Interesting possibility it was 1032 on display...I have wondered about this for over 35 years! Once I started to hang out with racing people a bit later, it became clear to me that it would silly to pay for shipping a well used race car back to the US just to go on a promotional tour, on display in front of a bunch of people who would never know any difference...

Cheers!
Jennifer

 

[Allan Feldman]

Thanks for the correction Fran. I have a bunch of pictures of the car's inners show a pretty rough codition. I sure Jim Dunham will do a super Job.
Jennifer, I remember seeing a GT40 MKI, Cobra Daytona Coupe, and Cobra ay Watkins Glen in 1965 after Shelby won the championship. I think it was call the "Cobra Caravan". The cars took some parade laps around the track before the GP race.

The Ford GT40 in 1965 Cobra caravan was GT40/P1004. This was Rob Walkers 1965 Le Mans entry.
In 1968 it was uprated and used by Gulf at Spa and re numbered GT40/P1084.
Regards Allan

 

[Rex]

1032 was actually painted up in black with white stripes in an attempt to look like Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon MKII. The GT should have had silver stripes. It was at the Indy track museum for a long time and now has been completely disassembled. I am afraid a lot of patina may have been lost.