Ford GT40

Hard to keep it concise, but here is…

A little history

As the story goes, what would become the most successful American racing sportscar in history was born out of Ford’s resentment to having been turned down by Enzo Ferrari while attempting to purchase the old man’s famous company. Revenge would be sweet if the Dearborn giant could beat the Commendatore’s small outfit on its own grounds. Enzo Ferrari cherished endurance races above anything else, well above Formula One actually – this would be right where Ford would defy him. The clearly stated objective was to win the Le Mans 24 hours, in which Ferrari was triumphant since 1960.

Though Ford has huge resources at its disposal, it had absolutely no experience in sportscar racing. The American company therefore shopped for the most valuable partners available, recruting John Wyer, the team manager who had led the Aston Martin team to a brilliant victory at Le Mans in 1959 ahead of the Scuderia cars, and acquiring the services of Eric Broadley, Lola’s founder.

A few months before, Broadley had unveiled the Lola GT, a fibreglass coupe powered by a centrally-mounted engine – a V8 borrowed from the Ford Fairlane… Great promises were perceived in this sleek little car. Though Broadley refused to see Lola directly involved in Ford’s racing program, he accepted to personally cooperate on a short-term basis. Progressing at a high pace, the “Ford GT” project was already quite advanced when the Lola GT was entered at the 1963 Le Mans race, and though it ended up in smoke (literally), it was able to put up a potent demonstration beforehand, comforting Ford in its technical choices.

By the end of 1963, Broadley ended his direct involvement and the project was moved from Lola’s factory to a plant set up in Slough near London by a specially-created division of Fomoco, named Ford Advanced Vehicles. By the spring of 1964, the GT40 was ready to race.

Despite all of Ford’s efforts and investments, the beginnings of its touted sportscar were difficult. The GT40 was fast indeed, but all too often unable to reach the finishing line. After a dismal 1964 season, Ford installed Carroll Shelby, of A.C.-Cobra fame, at the helm. Things slightly improved, a GT40 winning at Daytona early in the season, but failing again in most other major events. Ferrari remained victorious, and the American effort started to raise some smiles in the Old World.

For 1966, a new GT40 Mk.II was unveiled. Thanks to this improved version, benefiting from a huge 7-litre engine, fortune started to smile at Ford. The Mk.II dominated the season, most notably taking a historical win at Le Mans. For this latter race, a specially designed J-Car, with refined aerodynamics and all-new chassis, had even been designed, but not raced after the tragic death of its test pilot Ken Miles occurred during its development. Some characteristics of the J-Car were used to design the Mk.IV for the 1967 season. It ended with another Ford triumph. Having nothing more to prove and being one of the major teams targeted by the new rules in effect in 1968, Fomoco decided to pull out of endurance racing.

Some were still seeing some potential in the GT40. Though its most recent versions were now outlawed, the older Mk.I respected the requirements of the new 5000cc Sport class. Many privateers continued to race GT40s with various degrees of success, but none as brilliantly as the stubborn John Wyer himself. With Gulf’s support, Wyer allowed the ageing car to remain one of the major contenders in endurance for two more seasons, and also scored two more wins at Le Mans for Ford. In 1969, the manufacturer’s fourth straight success was a narrow one, Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver beating the Porsche 908 of Gérard Larrousse and Hans Herrmann by a tiny margin in the race’s very last lap. Though insufficiently prepared yet, the new Porsche 917s had dominated the beginning of the race. It was clear that the GT40 wouldn’t be able to follow the pace in 1970. Wyer and Gulf carried on with their successful partnership but switched to the 917, while only a few private teams entered GT40s until the end of 1971, when FIA’s rules definitely excluded all prototypes with engines displacing more than 3000cc.

This could have been all, if not for the wave of nostalgia which engulfed the automotive industry from the Nineties on. During the 2005 Detroit motor show, Ford presented a modern GT40, which closely mimicked the style of the original but was larger overall. Finally named “GT” due to trademark ownership problems, this exclusive gran turismo coupe was designed as a limited-production image-builder, officially selling for a whopping $140000. In reality, Ford never even built as many GTs as it planned, and the very last one was sold in 2007. Interestingly, a few GTs returned to the racetrack, more than forty years after the legendary machine which they took their inspiration from.

About the models

Model: Ford GT40 Mk.II
Event: 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon (overall winner)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.33 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in February 2005, in Souillac, France

Rather detailed compared to other models within this Altaya series. Nice wheels, too. My rating is 14/20.





Model: Ford GT40 Mk.II
Event: 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon (overall winner)
Maker: Del Prado, or whoever builds models for Del Prado
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Del Prado through an unknown Japanese press series
Acquired: brand new, in December 2006, in Hong Kong, S.A.R.

This is exactly the same car as the previous one, but this time as seen by Del Prado. Unsurprisingly, overall quality is inferior to the Altaya/Ixo, but it remains quite good compared to other models distributed by the Italian company. My rating is 12/20.





Model: Ford GT40 Mk.II
Event: 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant (retired)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.5 of its Les monstres sacrés de l'endurance press series
Acquired: brand new, in April 2007, in Souillac, France

Here is a second works Ford from 1966. Though they set the fastest time in practice, Gurney-Grant's radiator forced them to retire. Altaya released this model in a later, more detailed series, so #3 ended up being even better than #2: I'd give 15/20 to it.







Model: Ford Mk.IV
Event: 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt (overall winner)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.23 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in August 2004, in Souillac, France

A nice model of the 1967 Le Mans winner: 13/20.







Model: Ford GT40
Event: 1968 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi (overall winner)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.42 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in September 2005, in Souillac, France

Ford's third victory at Le Mans was not the most joyful, as winner Lucien Bianchi learnt on the finishing line that his brother Mauro had been severely injured in the accident and subsequent fire of his Alpine. Another good die-cast by Ixo for Altaya, deserving a 13/20.









Model: Ford GT40
Event: 1969 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver (overall winner)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.18 of its Les monstres sacrés de l'endurance press series
Acquired: brand new, in May 2007, in Souillac, France

One of the most extraordinary race in the Sarthe: after Ickx started last in protest against the safety flaws induced by the typical Le Mans start, he and Oliver won the race after a final sprint run to the finishing line. This time, the switch to the slightly more refined Monstres sacrés series didn't bring much improvement over the previous car, hence an identical 13/20 rating.









Model: Ford GT
Year: c.2005
Maker: Yat Ming
Scale: 1/72
Distributed by: Road Signature, "Petite" series
Acquired: brand new, in April 2006, in Manila, Philippines

Very correct rendition, despite the small size. My rating is 14/20.

MG-Lola EX257

A little history

After two tumultuous decades, MG seemed on the right track by 2000. The sporty MG F sold in volumes unthinkable just a few years before, while a full range of cars was about to be added. All what was missing to restore the old constructor’s glory was a successful racing program.

MG having no recent experience on the track, it turned to the world’s specialist of the turnkey racing car: Lola. The constructor’s ambition was to enter sportscar racing, but in the smaller, more accessible LMP675 class. Lola had just built two models of a spyder designed for LMP900, and incorporated as many elements as it could into its new racer, internally known as the B01/60, but christened EX257 by MG. The engine was equally called MG, though once again the constructor’s input was limited. Dedicated company A.E.R. was chosen to provide the EX257’s block, a turbocharged 2.0-litre inline four able to provide outputs in the vicinity of 500 hp.

The MG EX257 made its debut at the 2001 Le Mans 24 hours, which wasn’t an easy task. The two cars entered made a strong demonstration, proving themselves to be faster than any other car in their class. Unfortunately the insufficiently tried machines both retired in an event that, actually, put great strain on all LMP675 entrants.

In 2002, the car competed in the American Le Mans series through private entrants, and immediately proved highly competitive. Good results were consistent throughout the season, and MG clinched the ALM’s LMP675 crown. This transatlantic success was well enough to raise the MG team’s expectations in the year’s European events. It indeed raised them… a little too high perhaps, as the EX257 suffered once more during long-distance races, a problem that owed more to unpractical rules than to the car’s lack of preparation.

By the end of the 2002 season, MG had only met success in America, where market for its road cars was actually quite narrow. Brought down by the collapse of the Rover group, the company simply couldn’t afford to maintain a racing program that gleaned so meagre laurels. From then on, the EX257’s fate rested entirely upon the shoulders of private teams. Despite isolated attempt to keep the car competitive, most notably by replacing the original MG engine by a Judd block, success was still scarce. In contrast with its dismal European results, the car occasionally encountered success in America, which explains its longer career in the New World: the very last EX257 to retire was raced until 2007.

About the models

Model: MG-Lola EX257
Year: 2001
Event: 2002 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Mark Blundell, Julian Bailey and Kevin McGarrity (retired)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.13 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in March 2004, in Souillac, France

Quite correct, the die-cast benefits from good enough assembly and decals affixed to the car without any mistake. My rating is 12/20.









Model: MG-Lola EX257
Year: 2001
Event: 2004 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Thomas Erdos, Mike Newton and Nathan Kinch (retired)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.57 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in May 2006, in Souillac, France

Redecorating the previous model allowed to represent the private car entered by the Ray Mallock team two years later during the same Le Mans 24 hours race… and in the process, garner a little more money for Altaya by extending its long-run series. Again, 12/20.

Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6

A little history

We recently saw how deep Peugeot’s roots extend. Those of de Dietrich go even further back in time, as its industrial activities started as early as… 1684!

By the late 19th century, de Dietrich operated two plants in Alsace and Lorraine, the two regions annexed by Germany from France after the 1870-71 war. It was then known as a locomotive manufacturer, but gave a try at automobile construction under the guidance of one of its directors, the young and enthusiastic Adrien de Turckheim. Though known characters worked for de Dietrich, as Amédée Bollée who designed the company’s first vehicle, or a young Italian named Ettore Bugatti, its models were usually far from conventional, always being extremely modern, even ahead of their time from a technical point of view. Among the features introduced on the company’s cars, we find a windshield on their very first car (1896), front independent suspension (1899), a six-wheel limousine (1905 – okay, so this one didn’t caught on, except in the Thunderbirds TV series), V12 engines (1919) and power-assisted brakes on all four wheels (1924).

De Dietrich was one of the most active companies in motor sports at the glorious times of the city-to-city races, with de Turckheim himself often seen behind the wheel. This provided good publicity for the company and boosted its sales, a welcomed thing as its cars were rather expensive. Actually, de Dietrich, which started fitting a large Lorraine cross onto its cars’ radiators in 1905 and soon afterwards changed its name to Lorraine-Dietrich, tried to position itself among the elite of automobile manufacturers – in this respect, its takeover of Isotta-Fraschini in 1907, though brief, remains significant.

After World War Two, Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France. Technical leadership at Lorraine-Dietrich was taken over by Marius Barbarou, which had already made himself quite a reputation while working as an engineer at Delaunay-Belleville. Soon Barbarou designed a new range of cars, including a 1922 B3-6 model powered by an advanced 3.5-litre hemi six, fitted with aluminium pistons and overhead valves. So, forty years before Mopar, Delaunay-Belleville had its own brilliant hemi engine.

Such a nicely-powered vehicle as the B3-6 couldn’t miss the very first Le Mans 24 hours, organised in 1923. Three cars were entered, one of them finishing a promising 8th. This was enough to justify the creation of a dedicated racing version of the B3-6, the 15 Sport. In 1924, three cars were again entered at Le Mans, finishing this time as high as 2-3 behind the winning Bentley. Success would finally come in 1925 (1-3), immediately followed by triumph (1-2-3 in 1926). Having nothing more to prove, Lorraine-Dietrich retired from Le Mans, though a few privately-entered B3-6s returned to the Sarthe a few years later, one of them finishing a good 4th in 1931 (helped by high attrition rate, to be frank), and the very last one racing there as late as 1935, no less than thirteen years after the introduction of the model! By this time, Lorraine-Dietrich itself was gone as an automobile manufacturer: as tens of other companies in the luxury field, it was hit hard by the aftermath of the world crisis and gave up automobile production in 1934. With a war looming, building aircraft engines and armoured vehicles seemed a more profitable business. Interestingly, the company is still active today: after reverting to the railway equipment business and changing back its name to de Dietrich, it has now entered its fourth century in the industry!

About the model

Model: Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 (15 Sport)
Year: 1926
Event: 1926 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Robert Bloch and André Rossignol (overall winner)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.70 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in August 2006, in Souillac, France

Ixo proposes a nice reproduction of the 1926 Le Mans winner – though not the only one on the market, it is affordable, unlike its competitors. The Altaya version didn’t suffer too much from the necessary cuts in production costs, even its wire wheels remaining quite acceptable. I’d give a 13/20 rating to this model.

Jaguar XJR6 to XJR14

A little history

After a few seasons spent across the Atlantic in IMSA racing, Jaguar decided to return to the international sportscars championship, three decades after the C-Type dominated the racing scene. Long gone were the Ferraris, Maseratis and Mercedes-Benzes it used to challenge in those days as in 1985, when its XJR6 made its debut, Porsche was all-conquering with its extraordinary 956 and its new 962. Facing such a formidable opposition wasn’t an easy task, so Jaguar secured the help of designer Tony Southgate, along with that of Tom Walkinshaw Racing’s, which would build and develop the car. Though TWR had previously been very successful in racing the XJS coupe in touring cars events, it initially fared much worse with the XJR6. Despite its huge but naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre V12, the XJR6 couldn’t compete with the Porsches, not even with the fast but fragile Lancia LC2s. Further developed for 1986 and helped by Lancia’s withdrawal, the XJR6 proved much more competitive, the team scoring a promising victory with F1 regulars Cheever and Warwick at the Silverstone 1000 kms.

For 1987, Tony Southgate refined its original design into the new XJR8, powered by a V12 enlarged to a whopping 7.0-litre displacement. Dominated during the early season, Porsche’s works team would withdraw, a move that paved Jaguar’s path to success. The British team won 8 of the 10 world championship’s events, clinching both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ crowns, the latter being worn by Brazilian Raul Boesel. Triumph wasn’t complete though, as Jaguar failed to win to most prestigious event of the season, the Le Mans 24 hours.

With Porsche’s ageing 962, now in the hands of private teams, facing a brand-new XJR9, 1988 should have been an easy year for Jaguar. This would have happened without the new Sauber C9, fitted with its tremendous turbocharged 5.0-litre Mercedes-Benz engine. Out of 11 events, 6 went to Jaguar and 5 to Sauber, which was enough for the British team to retain its title. Furthermore, it won Le Mans, for the first time in thirty-one years. For this particular event, nothing had been let to chance, TWR even developing a special “LM” low-drag version.

After two great years, things would turn sour in 1989. Sauber’s C9 was now fully developed, while the 962 recovered some of its competitiveness. It was the XJR9’s turn to play the ageing contender from which the title would be disputed. As things weren’t better in IMSA championship, Jaguar introduced a new XJR11 in the midst of this disastrous season, abandoning its naturally-aspirated engines for a brand-new twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 block (based on the engine of the MG Metro’s rally version), but the British efforts were to no avail. The car returned in 1990, followed by an updated XJR12 which marked a return to un-supercharged engines. Not a dent could be made into Sauber’s supremacy. The only satisfaction for Jaguar was a new victory at Le Mans, albeit without much competition, as the race had been excluded from the world championship.

Juggling with the ever-changing regulations of the time – Max and Bernie had launched their onslaught on sportscars racing – Jaguar introduced a new XJR14 for 1991. Tony Southgate’s failures brought his replacement by Ross Brawn. No more effort was made to develop an in-house engine, and power now came from a normally-aspirated 3.5-litre Cosworth engine. Sauber was still there, but a new challenger had seen light: Peugeot. The latter took a thundering start by winning at Suzuka, but its fragile 905 still needed development. The title was closely contested, but Jaguar prevailed. At Le Mans, on a track that now included the infamous chicanes on the Mulsanne straight, courtesy of the aforesaid evil pair, Jaguar entered the XJR12 with its reliable 7.4-litre V12, but victory went to Mazda.

Irritated by the continuously changing rules in FIA world championship, Jaguar decided to retire after 1991. While the XJR14 ran one last year in IMSA without achieving much success, the FIA finally reached its goal of killing the sportscars championship for 1993.

About the models

Model: Jaguar XJR9
Year: 1988
Event: 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Jan Lammers, Andy Wallace and Johnny Dumfries (finished 1st overall)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.48 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in September 2005, in Souillac, France

A correct model which suffers from the lack of tobacco sponsorship. My rating is 11/20.









Model: Jaguar XJR12 Advanced
Year: 1990
Event: 1990 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by John Nielsen, Price Cobb and Martin Brundle (finished 1st overall)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.28 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, around December 2004, in Souillac, France

Basically the same model as the above, but with a different rear wing... and, curiously enough, tobacco sponsorship: 12/20.







Model: Jaguar XJR12 Advanced
Year: 1991
Event: 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Davy Jones, Raul Boesel and Michel Ferté (finished 2nd overall)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.10 of its Les monstres sacrés de l'endurance press series
Acquired: brand new, in April 2007, in Souillac, France

This later series from Altaya supposedly proposed models with a higher level of quality than its predecessor, but difference is not obvious when examining this particular die-cast, hence a 11/20 rating.

Dallara SP1

A little history

Though Dallara is better known for its open-wheel racers, it has had a long involvement in sportscar racing, albeit screened by more prestigious names. Actually, Dallara was responsible for the development of the Lancia LC1 and LC2’s chassis during the early Eighties and, later, designed the chassis of the Ferrari 333 SP, the Toyota GT-One and the all-conquering Audi R8, no less!

Shortly after the beginning of the new millennium, Dallara decided to put such an experience to good use by designing its very own prototype, the SP1. Nevertheless, during development the Italian company was approached by Chrysler, which requested from it the design of yet another sportscar’s chassis. The Dallara SP1 became at this point the Chrysler LMP. Racing debut was in 2001 and, despite some problems with reliability, a rather normal issue for a new car in endurance races, a Chrysler LMP was able to grasp a fourth place during its first Le Mans 24 hours. Though this was no small feat, modern motor racing is unfortunately the thing of financiers who don’t understand much of the sport. Therefore, Chrysler estimated that not winning everything from their very first race wasn’t worth their involvement, and withdrew at the end of the season.

This left Dallara with several unused LMP chassis, while the French team Oreca, which had been a Chrysler partner for a long time and had collaborated on the Viper and LMP programs, remained without a car to run in 2002. A solution was easy to find: Oreca took over the three cars, which name reverted to Dallara SP1 (though I also often read Dallara LMP, an understandable confusion) and continued their development. The Chrysler engines were replaced by much-tested Judds, and Oreca was ready to face the competition for the 2002 season. Its cars performed well throughout the year and took the fifth and sixth place at Le Mans. Another car was shipped across the Atlantic to Doran Racing, and won the prestigious Daytona 24 hours. From 2003 though, successes became scarce. Oreca had retired their own racers. Development of the car was now at a standstill, except for the vain efforts of the British team Rollcentre Racing which tried to improve the two chassis it raced in 2004-2005. For 2006, regulations were changed, and making the ageing cars legal for the coming season was unreasonably onerous. The end has come for the SP1.

About the models

Model: Oreca-Dallara LMP02 - Judd
Year: 2002
Event: 2002 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Olivier Beretta, Eric Comas and Pedro Lamy (finished 5th overall)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.22 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in July 2004, in Souillac, France

A very correct model of a Dallara sportscar as raced by Oreca under the "LMP02" name. My rating is 13/20.









Model: Dallara SP1 - Judd
Year: 2004
Event: 2004 Le Mans 24 Hours, driven by Martin Short, Rob Barff and João Barbosa (retired)
Maker: Ixo
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Altaya as no.64 of its Les Plus Belles Voitures des 24 Heures du Mans press series
Acquired: brand new, in May 2006, in Souillac, France

Same 13/20 for this later SP1 ran by Rollcentre.