RF GT40 on ebay

[JackW]

I found this on ebay today. It isn't mine.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/FORD-GT40-CL...51QQihZ012QQcategoryZ2030QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Regards

Jack

 

[Charlie Farley]

The ad contains a claim that is clearly 'A Load of Bollocks'
They say this car won an award for being the 'The most original GT40 replica in the world'
Its clear from the spec and pictures that nothing is as per an original.
He didnt even use the right lights or turn indicators.
Whoever judged it in whatever competition it won this award, was either ignorant, blind or both.

 

[Mark]

Is this car the same that Mr. RL of RF owns/owned?

The price seems very high (IMO) when comparred to SPF, CAV & RCR etc. Equates to over 50,000 in English money.

 

[Pat Buckley]

Is this car the same that Mr. RL of RF owns/owned?

The price seems very high (IMO) when comparred to SPF, CAV & RCR etc. Equates to over 50,000 in English money.

Wouldn't it be delightful if this were the case?

I would try and come up with a way to stiff him and distribute the proceeds to those who he stiffed.

In a cold way.

 

[Ron Earp]

Interesting.

The one question that is publically asked indicates they know about Roaring Forties being in liquidation. Also, the person that answered the question is "Tim", I wonder if it is Tim Brace from the Administration partners?

It looks like the same car that Roaring Forties had in the most recent brochures/advertisements that came out about two years ago.

Ron

 

[Keith]

Hmmm, it's quite pretty but you see it has that jacked up rear end look.

I don't agree with who ever voted this car as the most original looking. Perhaps there were many tinnies of Carlton involved....

This prettily painted car looks like a kit car, unfortunately. (IMHO)

:squint:

 

[Ross Nicol]

Ron The address of the seller is listed as South Australia which is 10 hours from here in Victoria (the home of RF) so although I like your theory, I'm not sure it will turn out to be correct. There's something about the loud orange wheels I don't like on this car. Maybe it's because the wheels aren't wide enough as in the Gulf cars. By the way when I first took notice of RF it was at a hill climb and the car RL owned at that stage was the Tornado ( I think) he had imported from the UK. This car was painted as per the above car on ebay. I believe that car was shipped back to the UK maybe Aussie registration was not possible or uneconomic to acheive.
Ross

 

[Chris Coote]

Keith H,
I do not own this car or like the colour scheme.However can you elaborate on "jacked up ass end" just for my own curiousity.
Body wise my RF sits slightly high in the "ass end" -appearance wise and not suspension wise-as I have a 1/2" spacer under the rear clip either side so the exhausts and mufflers dont burn the crap out of the paintwork (although protected underneath) after being on the track for an hour.Just my IMHO.Horses for courses. Cheers.

 

[Ron Earp]

Ross, that helps since I obviously don't know the geography involved here. IT was a long shot anyhow. I do remember pictures of that Tornado car but never heard where it ended up. I wonder if a forum member has it?

Some RF's do look fine in the rear but I am not sure what folks have done to make them so.

R

 

[Ian Anderson]

I was offered it a couple of years ago - I believe a club member had it (Norman?), it has since been sold by him and how I don't know the whereabouts

Ian

 

[ChrisL]

Ross,
RL’s original car was a Tornado and it was more-or-less the same colour scheme as this. If I remember correctly, RL’s main motivation for selling the car overseas was to avoid customer/product confusion between the RFs and his Tornado.

The significance of this colour scheme is that it is the contemporary Gulf Racing colours…
http://www.plus4.freeserve.co.uk/macf1/mac016.jpg

RF054,
Re "jacked up ass end", I agree it is a bit of an issue. My personal conclusion is that the original GT40 had massively profiled rear tyres so the wheels managed to fill the rear arch. Our modern sports tyres are a low profile, so the resultant space left in the arches give it the jacked-up look. I have fitted my car with 17 inch rims and the largest rear profiles I could find in a modern sports tyre and it has improved the look somewhat, but it’s still not totally to my liking. I think that the only true solution is to either fit the car with historic tyres or to fit larger diameter wheels in the back such that they fill that space “correctly”.

 

[Keith]

Keith H,
I do not own this car or like the colour scheme.However can you elaborate on "jacked up ass end" just for my own curiosity.
Body wise my RF sits slightly high in the "ass end" -appearance wise and not suspension wise-as I have a 1/2" spacer under the rear clip either side so the exhausts and mufflers don't burn the crap out of the paintwork (although protected underneath) after being on the track for an hour.Just my IMHO.Horses for courses. Cheers.

Hi there RF054. The "jacked up" look is really where either geometry, transmission issues, chassis configuration or even chassis type combine to create this "gap" between the top of the wheel and the lower lip of the wheel arch at the rear and in certain cases at the front too. This stance also tends to result in a nose down "wedge like" appearance. This is perfectly normal on a street car, but race cars or street cars with a racing heritage famously feature wheels that are tucked up just inside the arches probably indicating a fiercely hard (and thus competition) suspension setting, as if you had soft springing with a set up like this, you would be wearing out your tyres on the fender lip in double quick time!.

For me personally, a car that demonstrates a perfect "stance" is Ron McCall's RCR, sign on name: "Pantera 1889" If you check page 8 of his build diary you will see, in profile, a perfect GT40 stance. It looks right, fast and tight, and I wouldn't be at all be surprised if it went well also!

As Our Esteemed Forum Fuhrer Mr Earp has commented, some people work tirelessly with their chassis to achieve this state of Nirvana, whilst others don't seem to bother too much. It doesn't mean the car is no good, far from it, but to some (quite a lot I suspect) it just won't look right.

 

[JackW]

Jacked up behinds

Well said Keith. Personally I like the look of being able to see the whole tyre at the rear when it is done very well ala Bob Childress's CAV, or quite a few of the RF's. However this is not the setup of those original race cars and for those of a more purist view (or perhaps those as you mentioned wanting to do a lot of racing with rock hard suspension) won't like it as much. I guess this is a bonus of building your own car, you can set it up to your preference and taste.

Cheers

Jack

 

[Ron Rowse]

To Ron And Ross.
Roberts first car he brought with him from England was a Tornado. Robert purchased the car from a friend Mr Ken Saunders who was the Chairman of the GT40 Replica Club at that time before moving to France. Ken had the first GT40 Web site that I thought was any good. When Robert starting thinking about making his own cars, people were quick to accuse him of copying the tornado I had heard the builders of the tornado were taking legal action against him. Anyway the car was returned to England so there wouldn't be any connection with Robert and the tornado.
I'm sure if any of the above is wrong you readers will let me Know.

P.S I have a lot of input and photos for your forum, But get disillusioned when there is no reply to my post and sometimes feel this Forum is only for a chosen few. Mind you I still read it everyday.

 

[Russ Noble]

Hey Ron,
Just had quick look and as far as I can see there are replies to the majority of your posts. Obviously there is something that you have specifically in mind? Try reposting if it's important. It can be easy to overlook some posts if there is a lot of other activity at the time.

No one will be deliberately ignoring you. This forum is an interaction of like minds. I was hesitant about posting on the forum initially because I figured a lot of people would be better informed and more expert than me and I felt my contribution would be inadequate. But the experts don't always come to the party and I think any contribution is good. I don't think there's a 'chosen few' but there are a lot of people who post frequently and of course they are interacting. That's unavoidable and can build (or destroy) forum relationships. Interaction by definition is a two way street. You obviously feel you have more to offer this forum. So long as it is posted in the appropriate section, I'm sure you will find it is appreciated.

Regards and good luck,

 

[Tim Kay]

Ron,

Please continue to post. Your input is welcome and most apreciated even by the silent majority. And with an avater like yours how could we not like you

 

[Chris Coote]

Keith H,
At the end of the day the main consideration is it is a "road registerable race car" that to some degree has to be road friendly.Even with current ride height scraping is a regular occurence.I have looked at many photos over the years of the "road GT40s" and it does not look out of place.It is better to back over the roos basking in the driveway than to hit them with a lower rear clip.Cheers.

 

[Ron Earp]

Ron, good info. As far as selling to avoid Tornado aquisations that in the end didn't work from other manufactuer's and customers alike. Keep posting, not sure what you mean about answering posts. Did you send me a message I did respond to or someone else?

Ron

 

[ChrisL]

Hi there RF054. The "jacked up" look is really where either geometry, transmission issues, chassis configuration or even chassis type combine to create this "gap" between the top of the wheel and the lower lip of the wheel arch at the rear and in certain cases at the front too. This stance also tends to result in a nose down "wedge like" appearance. This is perfectly normal on a street car, but race cars or street cars with a racing heritage famously feature wheels that are tucked up just inside the arches probably indicating a fiercely hard (and thus competition) suspension setting, as if you had soft springing with a set up like this, you would be wearing out your tyres on the fender lip in double quick time!.

Hi Keith. There is no doubt that your rule is correct in the vast majority of cases but I don’t believe that it quite applies in the case of the RF40. As my car stands now in road trim, the top of the front arch does sit just on (if not under) the top edge of the tyre. The top of the rear arch sits a good 1.5 inches above the top edge of the tyre. Remembering that I have a rear tyre that has a taller profile than the front, the floor of the car still slants slightly to the rear relative to the ground. If I were to fill the gap by lowering the suspension 2 inches at the rear, then the front of the car would point to the sky. There is no doubt in my view that the rear arch was designed to have a much larger rear wheel, for which there is plenty of room. Also, although there appears to be little space in the wheel arch, the curvature makes it quite deceptive. Even if the top of the rear wheel was to sit under the wheel arch, there would still be plenty of room for adequate suspension travel.

 

[Keith]

Hey guys, not dissing anybodies efforts here - just stating a personal preference.

There's a lot of "noise" on this site (a polite term I believe for general discussion) about values of replicas, and, with my marketing head on, I would say that mostly, people buy with their eyes, and that makes a "replica" with an original appearance and stance worth far, far more.

After all, what are you actually buying in to? It's the dream, the recall and the memory, and if that memory includes a low slung tucked in tyre look, then this is a must have.

Having said that, they all look good and I want one very soon.

Cheers,

Keith