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From: Jason James on 27 Feb 2010 18:15
Top gear-Austar yesterday

Didnt catch which track,..but the 40 yo Ford won by 0.6 sec,..no surprise
there, as we know Ford can come up with the goods, when they pull their
finger out.

Jason


From: John_H on 1 Mar 2010 20:11
hippo wrote:
>
>Here's a link to his article from a while ago about how he couldn't
>actually get into a GT40 to drive it:
>http://fat.ly/dk47v

And, as always... it's an entertaining read. Those who only want the
technical stuff will need to look elsewhere though. :)

--
John H
From: Noddy on 1 Mar 2010 20:14

"hippo" <am9obmhAc2hvYWwubmV0LmF1(a)REGISTERED_USER_usenet.com.au> wrote in
message news:hmhn4p$qv$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...

> FWIW, there are very few totally *original* GT40s left, which is a good
> thing. The original had an completely untreated mild steel frame, so left
> to their own devices, most of them would by now have ignominiously and
> tragically rusted away. AFAIK, most of the ones still about have gal or
> stainless frame replacements.

The GT40 was only ever built to win races, and in particular show that an
American truck engine could stick it up Enzo Ferrari. Longevity wasn't
something the manufacturers ever had in mind. Original GT40's ran an
aluminium chassis, and it's type of construction depended on the model. The
most common variant was the Mk.I & II which used an aluminium tube frame
chassis, whereas the Mk.IV (of which only 6 were built) used an aluminium
honeycomb chassis. The Mk.III (only 7 constructed) was a dedicated road car
with a heavily de-tuned engine offered for sale in the US as a "promotional
vehicle", with most going straight into the hands of to Ford executives. All
of them used a mixture of aluminium & fibreglass bodywork.

The original GT40 concept was based heavily on the Lola Mk.6 (itself a
fantastic looking sports car of the era) With Eric Broadley of Lola
initially being involved in the design and production of the first batch of
GT40's. The later Mk.IV (the best looking sports car of the era in my
opinion), which used a different body and chassis was an American affair
being designed by Caroll Shelby. With it's big block 427 engine it was
capable of near on 250 miles per hour down Mulsanne straight in it's day,
with the only car that could reel it in being the legendary Porsche 917
(itself the only other 4 time winner of Le Mans aside from the GT40).

Total production figures for the original GT40 are rumoured to be around 130
vehicles of different variants, with Mk.I's and II's making up the bulk of
that figure, but the true production number will probably never be known. It
is also rumoured that fewer than 30 original GT40's survive today, with most
either having been raced into the ground, written off and scrapped or broken
up for parts as they became obsolete as a race car in the early 1970's.

Of the replicas that have existed since production of the original GT40
ended (which includes the Ford "GT", none that I'm aware of ever ran an
aluminium chassis of any kind and most ran a tube steel or stainless chassis
or space frame.

--
Regards,
Noddy.



From: hippo on 1 Mar 2010 21:29
Noddy wrote:
>
>
> "hippo" <am9obmhAc2hvYWwubmV0LmF1(a)REGISTERED_USER_usenet.com.au> wrote in
> message news:hmhn4p$qv$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>
> > FWIW, there are very few totally *original* GT40s left, which is a good
> > thing. The original had an completely untreated mild steel frame, so left
> > to their own devices, most of them would by now have ignominiously and
> > tragically rusted away. AFAIK, most of the ones still about have gal or
> > stainless frame replacements.
>
> The GT40 was only ever built to win races, and in particular show that an
> American truck engine could stick it up Enzo Ferrari. Longevity wasn't
> something the manufacturers ever had in mind. Original GT40's ran an
> aluminium chassis, and it's type of construction depended on the model. The
> most common variant was the Mk.I & II which used an aluminium tube frame
> chassis, whereas the Mk.IV (of which only 6 were built) used an aluminium
> honeycomb chassis. The Mk.III (only 7 constructed) was a dedicated road car
> with a heavily de-tuned engine offered for sale in the US as a "promotional
> vehicle", with most going straight into the hands of to Ford executives. All
> of them used a mixture of aluminium & fibreglass bodywork.
>
> The original GT40 concept was based heavily on the Lola Mk.6 (itself a
> fantastic looking sports car of the era) With Eric Broadley of Lola
> initially being involved in the design and production of the first batch of
> GT40's. The later Mk.IV (the best looking sports car of the era in my
> opinion), which used a different body and chassis was an American affair
> being designed by Caroll Shelby. With it's big block 427 engine it was
> capable of near on 250 miles per hour down Mulsanne straight in it's day,
> with the only car that could reel it in being the legendary Porsche 917
> (itself the only other 4 time winner of Le Mans aside from the GT40).
>
> Total production figures for the original GT40 are rumoured to be around 130
> vehicles of different variants, with Mk.I's and II's making up the bulk of
> that figure, but the true production number will probably never be known. It
> is also rumoured that fewer than 30 original GT40's survive today, with most
> either having been raced into the ground, written off and scrapped or broken
> up for parts as they became obsolete as a race car in the early 1970's.
>
> Of the replicas that have existed since production of the original GT40
> ended (which includes the Ford "GT", none that I'm aware of ever ran an
> aluminium chassis of any kind and most ran a tube steel or stainless chassis
> or space frame.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Noddy.
>
>
>
>
>

It seems to hold a special place for a huge number of people, doesn't it?
There was just something about it that looked absolutely 'right',
regardless of whether is was merely parked up or running at full noise in
a race. Brilliant achievement.

--
Posted at www.usenet.com.au
From: Jason James on 1 Mar 2010 22:53

"hippo" <am9obmhAc2hvYWwubmV0LmF1(a)REGISTERED_USER_usenet.com.au> wrote in
message news:hmht6e$v8$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>
> It seems to hold a special place for a huge number of people, doesn't it?
> There was just something about it that looked absolutely 'right',
> regardless of whether is was merely parked up or running at full noise in
> a race. Brilliant achievement.

It sure does,..it has that special thing going for it,..a bit like E-Type
Jags with wider wheels.

Jason


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