The Google translation makes it an interesting read:
Adminisrators, if this is not allowed please feel free to remove.
Bill
The holes in the chassis and the arrangement of the fuel pumps made him suspicious. Something was wrong with this car. The interested party presented comparisons with old photos and historical data sheets - and bought the cars. How much did he pay for the Ford GT40, he would not reveal any more than his name. But for a few months is clear: the motorsport enthusiast has found a treasure, the department paid for itself. Because of this Ford GT40 is the second ever built prototype and the first GT40 who were riding in a race at all. , "The history makes car more," says the present owner,
He wanted for years to buy a Ford GT40, searching for one of the rare original vehicle. "The car looks fantastic, like a real race car. I was also tired than Porsche drivers, to be regularly overhauled in vintage car races of GT40," says the racing fan.
Test at the Nürburgring: The doors swing far forward, the entry remains tight as in a fighter aircraft. With knees bent and much acrobatics to fold on the paper towel thin seats. Suspender belts weld driver and passenger almost to the body. It looks out directly onto the street. From the long bonnet do not see anything, so deeply seated one.
The tires whimpering for mercy
On the dashboard of an armada of toggle switches ranks as the aircraft cockpit together. A short press on the start button of the 4.2-liter V8 awakens at the rear. The valves cackle like a goose Horde and the pushrods rattle to the beat. Four Weber carbs draw greedily on air, as it comes from the pit lane on the track.
Even at half throttle the eight-cylinder in the rear wummert yells at higher speeds the soot from the exhaust and babbles rhythmically from the first corner. From the exhaust it pops when switching back and inside it smells like in a pit-lane - for fuel and oil.
In the cockpit there is hot quickly. With the 900 kilograms curb weight, the 450 PS easy game have: The 1.02 meter (40 inches) high Grand Touring (GT) whets from corner to corner, the tires whine for mercy and too much gas the owner directs jerkily against. "The GT40 moves extremely athletic, has a great sound and really makes a lot of fun," the pilot yells at his helmet. He dances with narrow racing shoes on the pedals even narrower and would be no Porsche overtook him.
The opponents were at the beginning of the GT40 history other: The Ford is more than just an American sports car . He showed the ambition and doggedness Henry Ford II. The American patriarch wanted to buy in 1962 Enzo Ferrari company. When the alpha animals not agreed after months of negotiations in May 1963, a deal was not simply burst. The result was a bitter enmity. Ford was so mad that he should have said that he would destroy Ferrari on his own turf - in endurance races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans . He built up his own sports program that should end up winning four consecutive years, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969 Le Mans.
Departure in the forest
From 1964 to initially arose twelve prototypes, starting with the number 101 and a body made of glass fiber reinforced plastic and small V8 engines. Only then began the official series with a total of 101 vehicles - at the end with V8 engines and seven liters of displacement.
The second car, number 102, was thought to be lost. It was the first GT40 who ever started in a race, the Type 101 was a pure show car.
In his first race at the Nürburgring in May 1964 of 102 dropped out with a broken rear suspension. A month later the driver Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren went to Le Mans at the start and in July at a race in Reims, but retired with technical problems from. On October 28, remained in a test hanging the throttle and the driver John Whitmore rushed from the track directly into a forest. He was unhurt, the front of the GT40, however, was destroyed.
The mid-sixties brought the scrap dealer disused pre-production cars at the plant from to disassemble it. Including the battered chassis number 102, with 6270 miles on the odometer. A trader did not abide by the agreement and selling number 102 on. The car went into a prototype dealer and stayed there 20 years. The turn sold it to a Porsche collector, who converted the Ford race car for the street car. The true value of the unrecognized collectors. So the car dusty 20 years in a shed until it was auctioned the car. By chance, the current owner discovered the car in which collectors.
To make sure that it sits no dizziness, the Motorsportfan examined the Ford meticulously. Even metallurgical studies he let make. The subsequent restoration took two years. Here, the owner sat not only originality, but also in modern-built new parts such as brakes, landing gear and other technically relevant parts. "The engine is usually too strong for the initial transmission and for the landing gear," he says. For OEM front he was a second make. Although until 1965 the race at Le Mans was used and not fit to number 102. "But it is beautiful and aerodynamically stable than the old," he says.
How much of this Ford GT 40 is worth today, he does not know. Perhaps three million euros. Maybe even five. The monetary value of less interest to him. Rather, it is the history of the car. And drivability. "The GT40 does not drive like a stubborn old bitch, but very simple. It's just fun to him to turn some quick laps," says the owner. Clear that he therefore only runs on racetracks - where the GT 40 belongs.