1964 Ford GT40 prototype to be auctioned

[MummyChunk]

The Ford GT40 is on the list of the greatest American racecars ever
made. This is reportedly the 2nd oldest GT40 still in existance and is
set to be auctioned off April 12 in Houston.




From AB




Lot S147.1 1964 Ford GT40 Prototype GT/104, Factory Team Car,
Lightweight Chassis

Houston 2014
April 10-12, 2014
This Lot scheduled to be sold SAT 3:00PM

DESCRIPTION
The spark that detonated the famous war between Henry Ford II and Enzo
Ferrari flashed in the spring of 1963. From the drag strips to NASCAR
to Indianapolis, Ford's "Total Performance" image campaign
was in full bloom and looking to reach across the ocean to encompass
the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Manufacturer's World Championship.
Speculation that Ford was angling to buy Ferrari to those ends proved
to be true, but the negotiations went down in flames when Enzo Ferrari
suddenly had last minute misgivings and walked out on the pretense of
suffering under Ford's "suffocating bureaucracy."

Ferrari's stagecraft left Ford enraged and still with nothing to
challenge the competition in Europe, but he did have one very valuable
asset: Carroll Shelby, who even then was preparing his own Cobras to
contest Le Mans and who bore his own personal grudge against Ferrari.
Shelby had also won the 24 Hours for Aston Martin in 1959 and, when
Ford asked him to find someone capable of building a Le Mans winner,
he considered both Lotus and Cooper before eventually choosing
Englishman Eric Broadley, whose Lola GT coupe was very similar to
existing Ford designs for a GT endurance racer and was already in
testing.

Ford signed Broadley to a one-year agreement that included the sale of
the first two Lola GT chassis to Ford. Former Aston Martin racing
manager John Wyer was hired to manage the development team and Roy
Lunn, who had penned the mid-engined 1962 Mustang 1 concept car, was
brought in from Dearborn to lead the design team.

Headquartered at Lola Cars in Bromley, extensive testing and research
programs were begun on the Lola GTs and conducted at various British
circuits and at Monza in Italy with top development drivers such as
Bruce McLaren and Roy Salvadori. The GT40's basic layout comprised a
monocoque chassis constructed of light-gauge steel incorporating two
fuel tanks, conventional double A-arm independent suspension up front
and twin radius arms, lower A-arms and magnesium uprights in the rear.
Eleven-inch cast-iron Girling disc brakes were used at all four
corners along with Borrani wire wheels and Goodyear racing rubber.
Ford supplied its all-aluminum 4.2 L Indianapolis engine in concert
with a Colotti gearbox, believing it would handle the engine's 350
horsepower.

Built at the new Ford Advanced Vehicles, Ltd. facility in Slough, the
first Ford GT40, chassis number GT/101, made its press debut April 1,
1964 at the 1964 New York Auto Show. Just two weeks later it joined
the second car, GT/102, for the April Le Mans practice weekend under
Wyer's management. Wind tunnel testing had further refined the GT40's
shape, but on the first outings drivers Jo Schlesser and Roy Salvadori
encountered severe rear lifting at high speed that made the cars too
dangerous to drive. Both drivers pushed their mounts past 190 mph, but
only once; because there was no time to search for a solution they
were ordered by Wyer to slow down. Despite that edict, on the second
day Schlesser crashed on Mulsanne and Salvadori slid into the bank at
the end of the straight. Both drivers were unscathed, but the cars
were wrecked and Le Mans was only two months away.

Ostensibly with input from American driver Ritchie Ginther, Lunn
solved the high-speed lift with a rear spoiler, which first saw
competition use on GT/102 at the Nurburgring 1,000-km race in May. It
proved surprisingly effective; Phil Hill qualified the car ahead of
all the Ferraris except Surtees' 330P, but his co-driver Bruce McLaren
was forced to retire at the 300-km mark when the rear suspension began
tearing from its mountings.

Meanwhile, two more prototypes were being tested at the Motor Industry
Research Association (MIRA) test facility in Warwickshire, England.
The second of these, GT/104, was the first GT40 prototype built with
lighter chassis steel 24 gauge instead of 22 gauge for decreased
weight. After just 50 miles of testing it was shipped to France to be
driven at Le Mans by Schlesser and Richard "Dickie" Atwood,
who qualified in 8th place. Ford executives crowding the pits were
thrilled when Ginther took his GT40 past 200 mph and finished the
second lap in first place, but in the fourth hour fire broke out in
the engine bay of the Schlesser/Atwood GT/104 on the Mulsanne
Straight. Atwood stopped quickly enough that fire marshals were able
to extinguish the blaze, but he could not continue; by the thirteenth
hour all the Fords had retired.

GT/104 was repaired at Ford Advanced Vehicles and fitted with a
Cobra-spec 289 CI engine and refined front bodywork to prepare it for
the Nassau Speed Week in November. It competed there with GT/103, but
both cars were put out once again with damaged rear suspensions. Thus
the 1964 season drew to a close without a GT40 completing a single
race.

By then relations between Ford and Wyer were frayed beyond repair.
Shelby's success with his Cobra Daytona Coupe at Le Mans that year (a
1st in GT and 4th overall) convinced Ford to hand Shelby the reins of
the GT40 project. Construction would continue at FAV, but now
development would benefit from the input of such talents as ace
development driver Ken Miles and Shelby Chief Engineer Phil Remington,
whose close association with the project from the start allowed him to
continue his work in Los Angeles without having to commute to Dearborn
or Slough.

After Nassau GT/103 and GT/104 were hastily packed off to Shelby
American, Inc. in Los Angeles, they were put through exhaustive
testing at Riverside and Willow Springs by Ken Miles. Several problems
became apparent, most notably in the areas of engine cooling, gearbox,
brakes, high speed roadholding and overall weight.

Aerodynamics also remained problematic. Although much had been learned
in wind tunnel testing, the GT40 did not behave on the track as
testing data projected it would, for several reasons. At the time only
limited background data existed for testing automobiles in the wind
tunnel; reproducing ground effect was almost a complete unknown
because it is irrelevant to aircraft design, and scaling a car for
wind tunnel testing demanded much higher precision than was initially
thought.

To overcome these obstacles, Ford turned to its Aeronutronics division
in Newport Beach not far from Shelby American. Using two different
systems, one involving highly sophisticated missile testing telemetry
and the other using an in-car mounted oscilligraph recorder, Ford
Aeronutronics engineers were able to accumulate an incredible amount
of useful data in an extremely compressed time frame, including such
information as air temperature and speed inside the body ducting,
engine speed tracking and precise suspension movements all acquired
under real racing conditions and revealing, for the first time, what
was really happening inside and around the GT40.

In addition to those very sophisticated measures, the tried-and-true
method of applying tufts of wool to the body surfaces and recording
their movements at speed with a pursuit car-mounted camera was also
employed. It was simply Carroll Shelby leaving no stone unturned.

Along with the experience gained over the previous season, the new
testing resulted in several changes to the prototypes. Removing the
dry sump oiling system and its associated plumbing saved 75 pounds and
allowed the nose and internal ducting to be reshaped, improving
cooling and increasing downforce for reduced front lift. New internals
for the Colotti were manufactured by Ford to handle the higher torque
and horsepower of the Cobra-spec 289 CI engine, which offered another
distinct advantage: because of their vast experience with the 289,
Shelby mechanics could tailor GT40 powerplants to any circuit and race
distance.

While suspension geometry remained mostly intact, the basic components
were strengthened for increased durability. The Borrani wire wheels,
which had barely provided adequate cooling to the brakes, were
replaced with lighter and stronger magnesium wheels.

In late February the revised GT40 prototypes arrived in Florida for
the Daytona Continental 2,000-km race resplendent in the Shelby livery
of Guardsman Blue with White stripes. Although Carroll Shelby's
primary concern was his quartet of Cobra Daytona coupes, he knew it
was crucially important that the GT40s show the Dearborn brass some
serious improvement.

The race began with the number 72 Bob Bondurant-Ritchie Ginther GT/104
in second place next to the pole-sitting Ferrari 330P2 of John Surtees
and Pedro Rodriguez, and the number 73 GT/103 of Ken Miles and Lloyd
Ruby right behind in third. Bondurant spun GT/104 on the opening lap
before pulling ahead of Surtees in a 200-mph dash, but another error
later on relegated him to last place. Soon both GT40s were back at the
front, chasing the Ferraris and Dan Gurney, who was leading in his
Cobra-powered All American Racers Lotus 19B. Gurney's torrid pace soon
spelled the end of the Ferrari prototype contingent, a fate he would
later share when he blew his engine at 213 laps.

The retirements left GT/104 in first followed by GT/103 in third
behind the Schlesser/Keck Daytona coupe. A condenser problem during a
scheduled driver change put the GT/104 car well in arrears, but
determined driving by a charging Bondurant, who was ignoring orders
from Ford management to slow down and ensure a finish, put him back in
third just as the Miles-Ruby car completed 2,000 kilometers. It was a
Shelby sweep, the GT/103 car finishing first and GT/104 in third, with
three Cobra Daytonas rounding out the first five positions. It further
burnished Shelby's credentials with Ford management and vindicated the
GT40 program with its first win.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the season was a series of
disappointments and disasters. Suspension failure took GT/104 out at
both Sebring and Monza, and a missed pit stop robbed it of a high
finish, perhaps even a win, at the Nurburgring 1,000 km. At Le Mans,
both GT/103 and /104 were dropped from the roster in favor of two new
production chassis and two 427 prototypes, and were thereafter retired
from competition.

Duty remained, however, for GT/104, which was sent to Ford contractor
Kar Kraft for restoration. A change of plan saw the car invoiced in
November to Ford by Shelby American and delivered to the Ford Styling
Department, who completed the restoration. Over 500 hours of work was
invested and included new bodywork with a smoother tail section. It
was returned to its original White with Black stripes but the nose was
finished in a shade of Turquoise rather than the original matt Blue;
the Halibrand magnesium wheels were retained rather than the Borrani
wires the car wore when new.

Initially the car served duty at auto shows including the Detroit Auto
Show at Cobo Hall, and remained in Ford's ownership until 1971 when it
was sold to its first private owner, A.H. "Nub" Turner of
Ann Arbor, Michigan. GT/104 was sold in 1972 to John Beaudine Stringer
of Road Sport International, also of Ann Arbor, who sold it the
following year to Dr. Peter Patton of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dr.
Patton immediately began a restoration, but illness forced him to sell
the car in early 1978 in unfinished condition to Bill Jacobs of
Chicago, Illinois. Greg Lonberger of Oak Park, Illinois, had contacted
Dr. Patton to purchase GT/104, believing it to be the 1965
Daytona-winning GT/103. He was able to negotiate a sale with Jacobs in
September 1978 and took it to his shop intent upon completing the
restoration. It remained disassembled for years until it was examined
by GT40 expert Ronnie Spain, whose discovery of the hole in the rear
bulkhead for a water pressure valve installed during the initial
Shelby overhaul confirmed its identity as GT/104.

The car's provenance affirmed, after years of inaction Mr. Lonberger
began the restoration of GT/104 in earnest. He completed the rolling
chassis and invested hundreds of hours finishing the fiberglass panels
to Shelby specification. In June 2010, the partially completed car was
sold to a private owner, who turned it over to renowned English GT40
specialist Paul Lanzante.

Mr. Lanzante's knowledge and experience restoring important vintage
racing machinery including five original GT40s proved invaluable
in precisely returning GT/104 to its Daytona configuration, complete
with accurate finishes and materials that render the car completely
period correct in its presentation. The completed GT/104 comprises
many original and/or period-correct components. Even the lightweight
steel chassis sheet metal is noticeably thinner than standard GT40s.
In addition to retaining the original 4.2 L engine mounts, GT/104 also
has its Colotti gearbox, an indisputably rare piece as ZF
transmissions came into use almost immediately after the Shelby
overhaul. Most significantly, the engine is the correct type Shelby
American 289 CI block with correct Le Mans specification internals,
and is believed to be the same engine used in the 1965 season.
Supporting this is the fact that the earliest engines employed
five-bolt bell-housing patterns necessitated by the Colotti instead of
the 6-bolt design of the later ZF units.

The quality of the work extends of course to the mechanical
components; the running gear was completed precisely to the original
specifications and the car is entirely ready for spirited on-track
duty.

One of the pioneering prototypes of the now-legendary GT40 juggernaut
and one of the few that remains today, GT/104 is one of only two
famously prepared and raced by Shelby American for the 1965 season.
One of the first race cars of any kind to benefit from computerized
missile aerodynamics technology and the budding field of telemetry, it
was crucial to the development of the GT40 into World Championship
form, proving the project's potential at Le Mans, reaching the podium
at Daytona and participating in Ford's first year in international
competition. Its development involved such famous names as Lunn, Wyer
and Shelby; it was driven by the top stars of the era at the world's
most famous venues. As the first ever 1965 Shelby
American-specification GT40, chassis GT/104 is widely regarded as the
most original and correct prototype Shelby American team car and
possesses what Ronnie Spain has described as "one of the clearest
provenances... of all GT40s."

HIGHLIGHTS

- GT/104, the 4th GT40 Prototype
- Factory team car with lightweight chassis
- Ford's 1964 Le Mans debut entry
- The first GT40 with a podium finish
- Driven by Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Bob Bondurant, Ken Miles, Jo
Schlesser, Richie Ginther, Richard Attwood and other works drivers
- The second oldest GT40 in existence
- After the 1965 season, the car was given to Kar Kraft for
restoration
- Displayed by Ford at the Detroit Auto Show
- Owned by Ford until 1971,
- Exacting restoration to 1965 Shelby livery by Paul Lanzante in 2010
- Shelby 289 CI V-8 engine
- Colotti T37 4-speed transmission
- Girling 11.5" 4-wheel disc brakes
- Four Weber 48IDA carburetors
- Known ownership history
- Offered on a bill of sale

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