The Ford GT PROFILE PUBLICATIONSTHE FORD GT40, with 4.7 liter Ford V8 engine. ae The Ford GT by William S. Stone No estimate of the amount of money poured into the Ford GT program is available, Obviously, millions ‘nd millions of dollars were spent. But to’ write off Ford's 1966 victory at Le Mans as the result of mere money would be unthinkable, Immense. quantities fof determination and skill were also clearly savolved, ‘The roster of racing manpower employed by Ford was impressive. Erie Broadley, John Wyer, Roy Cun, Carroll Shelby, Holmai-Moody and’ Alan Mana were all involved in the project. A list of the Grivers who. spent time testing oF racing the car ‘an international racing Who's "Who: Roy Salvador, Phil Hil Chis Amon, Denis Hulme, Dan’ Ginther; and’ many more The length of time from the peo its successful culmination at Le Mans can be fixed at about three years—a remarkably short time by motor racing standards, (The Ferraris, t might be noted, had been racing at Le Mans for 18) years wwhen the Ford hurricane overtook them.) Tn the summer of 1962, Ford announced its inten tion of ollcally te-entefing motor racing. Of the rainy forms of auto sport open to it, Ford was quick fo choose those types for which its background best Fited itz stock car (saloon) rac racing. ‘win at the Indianapolis. $00 (a race that excites ‘more Americans and. generates ‘more. publicity in the U.S. than any other) was also a Ford tar ‘target only narrowly missed in May of 1963 when Tim’ Clark. was placed second in a Ford-powered car. Pethaps Clark's near-win encouraged. Ford along another racing. path—a path it had already cided (o follow, For early in 1963, Ford had decided toeextend its participation in racing to the GT category. FORD ENTERS GT RACING 1k seemed a peculiar decision for Ford 10 take, GT racing! enjoys relatively litle prestige in the U.S attracts relatively ite interest there. But Ford boldly gambled thatthe news ofa GT win at Le Mans would fiter back down'to Main Street, US.A. As vents proved, they were fight Ford's plan was 1 develop a car which could be built around an existing Ford racing engine: the 4:2 liter 1963 Indianapolis pushrod unit. But looking ahead, it was also decided to make provision accommodate the double oh. Ford unit. which was then under development for the 1964 Indianapolis “Ford's pel Te was to be @ mid-engined coupe with extreme! careful attention paid to ils aerodynamic qualities. (Speeds at Le Mans were then approsching 200 m.p.h Speeds at which aerodynamic. qualities become cover helmi fant.) A. isize model of the far was built, and extensively tested at the University fof Maryland ‘wind tunnel. These tests were made principally to determine the ‘optimum body con figuration for it-and drag. At the same time, a full- scale hberglass madel of the car was built, with allOriginal, concept sketch of Fond GT40. Hinged canopy wa bandon in favor frigid rf incompleted ar fir inlets and outlets in Position. This_model "was fesied in Ford's wind tuanel at Dearborn, Michigan. Ford Wanted to" determine the intemal airflow patterns for engine cooling, engine and Interior compartment vent lation, engine air intake, and brake’ and. shock “absorber cooling. ‘Chassis design also got under way. A steel semi- ‘monocoque construction was chosen, for reasons of light ness, simplicity of fabrication and similarity fo the materials and techniques employed in Ford's production cars, Front suspension was to. be. by double A-arms, while at the rear, a complicated combination of double trailing arms, transverse Tinks and an inverted lower Avtrame was chosen. Power transmission was to be through a Colotti ‘Type. 37 four-speed. non-synchronized. transaxle— not ideal, but a tested unit believed to be equal to ‘the job of transmitting the necessary power. Packing all of the components into a sophisticated GT car was an incredibly complicated ask, For ‘comparison, it Is interesting to note that the finished. Ford GT had approximately the same length and wheelbase as a Volkswagen, yet was 17 in, lower! THE LOLA GT Ford's plans for thei GT. bore strong resemblences to the Lola GT designed by Eric Broadley, first ‘exhibited at the London Racing Car Show in January of 1963, Broadley too had seen the potential of the Ford. V-8 a8 a GT racing engine, and incorporated a stock 4,262 cc. version in his car. The engine was located ‘midships, and also employed the Colotti Type 37 transaxle cis certainly reasonable to suppose that many of Ford's ‘ideas were translations. of Broadley's.. Yet ‘which car was chicken and which car was egg cannot be precisely determined. But there were many com ponents common to both: basic engine, earbox, Steel" semi-monocoque’ "construction, longated fuel tanks beneath the door Sills. and so on. Particularly interesting twas the height of the Lola GT. It stood 40) in high. So did the completed Ford GT. {twas from this 40 in. height that the Ford GT received its appeilation of GTO, Atany rate, in the summer of 1963, Ford and Broadley joined forces. The jobject: design and production of the Ford GT. Ford. purchased two Lola 4 GT to use as test beds for their components. By August 1963 {wo evaluations of the Lola design had been completed by Ford: one on the Goodwood tack, another at Ford headquarters in. Dearborn, Michigan. Also in August, Ford hired John Wyer, general manager of Aston Martin, to manage the program in England. New facilities were sel up at slough, since Broadley’s workshop at Bromley "was inadequate for a project as large as that contemplated by Ford. In charge of the whole project was Roy Lunn, formerly of Jowett (see Car Profile No. 16) Aston Martin and English Ford. By November 1963 testing of components was ended. By the Ist Apel 1964 the first GT40 prototype ‘was completed—only oleven months after the design hhad ‘been started in Dearborn. A second car was finished less than two weeks later. Both cars were hhurried to Le Mans for test day-on 16th April. With practically no test time on either car, it was not Surprising that both cars came to grief on the wet Le Mans circuit. Driver Jo Schlesser crashed in one, Roy Salvadori in the other. Neither driver was hut, but the ears were so badly bent as to lose any further chance of gaining invaluable Le Mans test time on them. THE FIRST GT40s These original GT40s were powered by a 4:2 liter Ford V-8 with five main bearings. Both block and First olay concept madel of the GT40. 7 Thad tron Icing Car Show in Sy WSs competed te ite awn) Shed psu Fhe! Geos Boasand) heads were of alumi mm, Lubriation was Byaty sump, and the Valves were’ pushrod operated, Four 48 mm dualthroat Weber carburetors Sa atop the engine Compression was 128401 asialy, this was the engine developed for the 1963 Tndighapots ace, bur detuned! Tor Foad racing, to aecommotate pump Toe! (eather than the more rote fuel permite at" Indlanapoliy,Fullsized Slectrical equipment had to be added? aerator and Starter and various other minor modieaions were Tequred to adapt the engine to roud-aciny’s greater fatge of caging demands. As insaled inthe GT40, thecngine developed about 350 bhp. at 7.200 rpm hind the engine lay-an 8} io. twin plate lich and the, Colott transis. Although. the ‘Coot box had lony four speeds and was nom-synchronized, itwas the only unt available at the Une thous Capable of handling the engine's output with any degree of relabili. Unfortunately the "eearbox proved a rather constant source of rouble Davestals orginally carried single Cardan_uni- vera! jolnts outboard, simple. pot joins inboard The por Joints were later replaced with rubber ouplings {0 smooth out harshness and absorb drive train shock "The monocoque chassis was constructed of thin sheet steel C024 028 i.) The load-bearing mem- bers consted of a unilzed underbody with corgue box side sills 10 house the two fuel sels (holding {otal of 42 gallons), Two main bulkheads, a oof section and end sruciures to ear suspension mount- ings competed the main members of the chassis, Front a0 rear substructures were added 10 support body, Spare wheel, radiator, battery ee ‘Doors were cit high into the Toot to allow quick entry-vat least the CTs would be carly off the tmark at Le Mans! Doors, front and rear body sections din! rocker panels were fabricated of Aberglas. All fitings were carefully designed to At Ash with the Partay-completed chasis ofthe GT#O proto. body panels. Glass was attached by adhesive rather than by conventional means. The whole structure ‘was exceedingly sif—having a torsional rigidity of ‘ver 10,000 Tl. per degres. Front suspension was by double A-frame, with a cast magnesium upright supporting the live. wheel spindle and the aluminum brake ealiper. At the rear, an A-frame supported a magnesium upright casting from the bottom with double trailing. links doing the job at the top. Rack-and-pinion steering, with ratio of 16:1 was selected, Overall steering tatio was 2 turns of the steering whee! from. lock t0. lock Girling disc brakes were at all four wheels, operated by a dual master cylinder and adjustable by a balanc- ing device for front and tear braking distribution ‘The 114 in. cast iron discs were J in. thick, Wire ‘wheels (Borrani) with aluminum rims carried Dunlop tires 15 at the front, 7-28 > 15-at the rear ‘The interior, as might be expected, was extremely functional. It was designed with an eve to the driver comfort necessary for. long-distance road racing. Seat supports were of nylon netting, covered with & pad, Seats were non-adjustable. But io accommodate various sized drivers, an adjustable pedal mechanism was installed—an idea which had earlier appeared ina Ford show ear called the Mustang | After the discouraging crashes at Le Mans practice, further tention was given to the car's aerodynamics The major addition {0 the car was a spoiler at the rear end. It was found to reduce drag, increase 15, ego" 15 misters evel oie Bese FORD GT40 FORDGT — Fuel eapacity 37US. gals, 42. US. gals (MARK 1) MARK II Wheelbase’ 35 in 35 in Displacement 289 cv. in. (4728 427.cu. in. (6,997 Front track Sin 57 in ory a Rear track. 54 in 56 in Bore 400in.(102mm.) 4:34in.(108mm.) Qverall length 1646 in 163-0 in, Stroke 2487 in. (73 mm.) 3.78 in. (96 mm.) Overall height 405 in 40510, Engine type 90° pushrod V-8 90° pushrod V-@ Overall width, 70 in. (over 70 in. (over Carburetion 4 dual 48° mm. I Holley 4throat scoops) scoops) Weber Min. Ground Clear, 48.in 334, Lubrication Wee Sump Dry Sump. Weight (no fuel) 1.635 ib. 2.350 Ib. Sebring, 1966, The winning Mark HI roadster, dubbed the — EE ES Printed in England © Profile Publications Li¢., P.O. Box 26, Leatherhead, Surrey, England by The Whitefriars Press Lte London & Tonbridge, England. U.S. 2nd Class Mailing Rates applied for. Profile Publications Ltd. is a member of the Norprini Division of the Norcros Group with world distribution network, retaining all rights in all languages. North American Import Agency tights delegated to J. W. C. Aeronautica, 7505 Clybourn Avenue, Sun Valley, Calfornia $1352; North American Distributive Agency tights vested in the National Aerospace Education Covnell, 16 Shoreham Building, 806 18th Strovt N.W., Washington D.C. 20005. Reproduction of, or any part of, this publication Is expressly forbldden under the terms of International Copyright Law except as subject to written permission by the Managing Director, Profle Publications Lt