#20-04 GT40

 Ford GT 40 – Mk1        

Ford Vs Ferrari? I am biased in that question and no I didn’t see the movie yet. I did however see a documentary on Netflix one time that was a great fact filled documentary about the same story and era. The Ford GT40 is a purpose-built racecar that got a rough start but very quickly gained fame once the ‘master’ – Carroll Shelby got his hands on the project. Lets get into that a little later on.....

                   

The casting represents the Mk1 body style from 1966. The casting was released in 1999 as a first edition and has been featured too many times to list including a 2020 Super Treasure Hunt in spectraflame Gulf blue with orange wheels. The casting could not be much better. The body lines are all there, the monster sized headlights are cast in and some releases feature decals for the lights which make the casting really pop. The hood lines and infamous air dams are cast in. Mirrors are cast in place although it would have been a nice touch to have the mirrors on the front fenders which appeared on most of the race versions. Door lines, air scoops, taillights and those center bumper mounted exhaust pipes are all cast in place with nice detail. Curiously, the interior is cast with a right-hand drive arrangement which indicates pre-production or first run units that had been assembled in the UK and the first built cars that were shown at the New York Autofair in 1963.

                   

The casting is a rivet front and tab rear assembly and typically has a plastic base. This casting is fast on the orange track and handles most track bumps despite having low clearances. With the amount of times this casting has been released, it is easy to pick up without a collector premium on them. The 2020 Treasure hunt is already demanding a premium but if you wait a little while, they should go down in premium. I do suspect that it will not go down very much. Especially with the movie popularity right now, this casting is bound for a collectible swarm.

At the Track

Very interesting past this one has indeed. Ford sought to buyout Ferrari in the early 60s at the drop of a rumor that Ferrari was interested in this transaction. However, Ford decided to throw in a stipulation that Ferrari would not be allowed to keep control over the racing division because it would lead to competition with Ford. Ferrari backed out of the deal even after Ford spent large amounts of money assessing the Ferrari assets. So Mr. Ford (II) decided to invest even more money to do whatever it took to beat Ferrari at the racing game that they held so dear and had caused the deal to collapse. In with the GT40. The first attempts at the racing games were not very good. Enzo Ferrari was probably laughing very hard at the first attempts in 1964. Enzo would not laugh after that. Carroll Shelby was given the project and after some modifications, the GT40 claimed victories at Daytona and Sebring but that would be the highlights for 64. In 1965, the car was updated with slightly new bodywork and a much larger powerplant that eventually won Daytona, Sebring and LeMans with 1-2-3 finishes. [2] The rules for the racing of this type required a minimum of 50 cars had to be built and sold to the public in order to qualify for LeMans (Ferraris big race). With the limited production, these cars are highly coveted much like the Cobras of the same era. I have witnessed one in a museum but never on the streets.

                 

With the story laid out, we can look at why this car influenced American automotive history. First off, the US in the 60s wasnt focussed on high performance cars like Ferrari or Porsche on the streets. The Corvette is the only exception, every other manufacturer was looking at the muscle car era, big lumps of steel and chrome with big engines and loud exhausts. Hot Rods were popular and drag racing was more of the American focus. By entering into this battle with Ferrari, Ford showed the world that the US could build a high performance car that could compete in this market. Look where we are now with Corvettes, Cadillacs, high end Mustangs, Vipers and on and on. Many of these may still have been created but with the GT40 as the leader, is says yes it can be done.

With the introduction of the newer GTs, one of these cars could possibly show up at a car show say maybe Pebble Beach or some other high end classic car show so keep your eyes open and if you get a chance to see one, stick around to hear it start. A 289 was used in the Mk1 body style but after that, a monstrous 427 that was being used in NASCAR was put into the 2700lb frame!

Thank you and may you stumble upon a glorious peg upon which hangs the coveted GT40 super treasure hunt for your collection - if you get there before me

Collector Quentin

I own the actual diecast pictured in these posts. However, all packaging artwork, Mattel or Hot Wheels logos, paint descriptions and wheel descriptions in regard to the Hot Wheels versions are copyrights of the Mattel toy company.

Ford is a trademark of the Ford Motor Company.

GT40 is owned by Superperformance USA – a company that continues to manufacturer replica versions of the original GT40 cars. Check them out at: https://www.superformance.com/factory-models-gt40

[1] Some casting information gathered and summarized from:

https://hotwheels.fandom.com/wiki/Ford_GT-40

[2] Road car history and specs gathered from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GT40