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Car Of The Day: October 22, 2009; Zylmex '67 Ford GT MK IV
Topic Started: Oct 22 2009, 03:20 AM (290 Views)
Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Today's car of the day is Zylmex's 1967 Ford GT MK IV.

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Wikipedia
 
The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969 (in 1967 with a different body, though). It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari (who won at Le Mans six times in a row from 1960 to 1965). That car used the Gurney Weslake engine with the special alloy heads made by Weslake.

The car was named the GT (for Grand Touring) with the 40 representing its overall height of 40 inches (1.02 m, measured at the windshield) as required by the rules. Large displacement Ford V8 engines (4.7 L and 7 L) were used, compared with the Ferrari V12 which displaced 3.0 L or 4.0 L.

Early cars were simply named "Ford GT". The name "GT40" was the name of Ford's project to prepare the cars for the international endurance racing circuit, and the quest to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first 12 "prototype" vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 through GT-112. The "production" began and the subsequent cars, the MkI, MkIIs, MkIIIs, and MkIVs, numbered GT40P/1000 through GT40P/1145, were officially "GT40s". The name of Ford's project, and the serial numbers dispel the story that "GT40" was "only a nickname."

The contemporary Ford GT is a modern homage to the GT40.


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For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GT40

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A decent enough replica of the MK IV from Zylmex. Not perfect, but good enough for it's time period.

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Wikipedia
 
The Mk I was the original Ford GT40. Early prototypes were powered by 4.2 L (260 cu.in) engines; production models were powered by 4.6 L (289 cu.in) engines, also used in the Ford Mustang. Several prototype models had roadster bodywork.

The Ford X1 was a roadster built to contest the Fall 1965 North American Pro Series, a forerunner of CanAm, entered by the Bruce McLaren team and driven by Chris Amon. The car had an aluminum chassis built at Abbey Panels and was originally powered by a 4.6 L (289ci) engine. The real purpose of this car was to test several improvements originating from Kar Kraft, Shelby and McLaren. Several gearboxes were used: a Hewland LG500 and at least one automatic gearbox. It was later upgraded to Mk II specifications with a 7.0 LC (427ci) engine and a standard four ratio Kar Kraft gearbox, however the car kept specific features such as its open roof and lightweight chassis. The car went on to win the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1966.

The Mk II used the 7.0 L (427 CID) engine from the Ford Galaxie.

For Daytona 1967, two Mk II models (chassis 1016 and 1047) were fitted with Mercury 7.0 L engines. Mercury is a Ford Motor Company division, and Mercury's 427 was the exact same engine as Ford's with different logos. A batch of wrongly heat treated input shafts in the transaxles sidelined virtually every Ford in the race, however, and Ferrari won 1-2-3.

The Mk III was a road-car only, of which 7 were built. The car had four headlights, the rear part of the body was expanded to make room for luggage, the 4.6 L engine was detuned to 335 bhp (250 kW), the shocks were softened, the shift lever was moved to the center and the car was available with the steering wheel on the left side of the car. The most famous Mk III is GT40 M3 1105, a blue left hand drive model delivered in 1968 in Austria to Herbert von Karajan. As the Mk III wasn't very appealing aesthetically (it looked significantly different from the racing models), many customers interested in buying a GT40 for road use chose to buy a Mk I that was available from Wyer Ltd.

In an effort to develop a car with better aerodynamics and lighter weight, it was decided to retain the 7 liter engine, but redesign the rest of the car. In order to bring the car more "in house" and lessening partnership with English firms, Ford Advanced Vehicles was sold to John Wyer and the new car was designed by Ford's studios and produced by Ford's subsidiary Kar Kraft under Ed Hull. There was also a partnership with the Brunswick Aircraft Corporation for expertise on the novel use of honeycomb aluminium panels bonded together to form a lightweight but rigid "tub". The car would make full use of the new and more liberal Appendix J regulations for race car construction, and was therefore known as the J-car.

The first J-car was completed in March, 1966 and set the fastest time at the Le Mans trials that year. The tub weighed only 86 lb (39 kg), and the entire car weighed only 2,660 lb (1,210 kg), 300 lb (140 kg) less than the Mk II. It was decided to run the MkIIs due to their proven reliability, however, and little or no development was done on the J-car for the rest of the season. Following LeMans, the development program for the J-car was resumed, and a second car was built. During a test session at Riverside International Raceway in August 1966, with Ken Miles driving, the car suddenly went out of control at the end of Riverside's high-speed, 1-mile-long back straight. The honeycomb chassis did not live up to its design goal, shattering upon impact, bursting into flames and killing Miles. It was decided that the unique, flat-topped "bread van" aerodynamics of the car, lacking any sort of spoiler, were implicated in generating excess lift, and a more conventional but significantly more aerodynamic body was designed for the Mk IV. The Mk. IV ran in only two races (Sebring 1967 and Le Mans 1967) but won both events.

The Mk IV was built around a reinforced J chassis powered by the same 7.0 L engine as the Mk II. Excluding the engine, the Mk IV was totally different from other GT40s, using a specific chassis and specific bodywork. As a direct result of the Miles accident, the team installed a NASCAR-style steel-tube roll cage in the Mk. IV, which made it much safer but negated most of the weight saving of the honeycomb-panel construction. Dan Gurney often complained about the weight of the Mk IV, since the car was 600 pounds heavier than the Ferraris it raced. The installation of the roll cage was ultimately credited by many with saving the life of Mario Andretti, who crashed violently in a Mk. IV during the 1967 Le Mans, but escaped with minor injuries.

The Ford G7A was a CanAm car using the J chassis. Unlike the earlier Mk.I,II and III cars, which were entirely British, the Ford J and Mk. IV were built in America by Shelby.


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bangerkid45
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Ultimate American Banger Enthusiast!
Nice,I have the one with the Older Zlymex wheels
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Ford theme week? Could be a racing week as well.

For the time period and original cost, it was a good model. Nothing speciall by today's standards though, but still holds character.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
craftymore
Oct 22 2009, 10:51 AM
Ford theme week?
I was wondering when someone would notice! I almost made it the whole week... ;)
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

I'm slow, what can I say!
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
craftymore
Oct 22 2009, 10:51 AM
For the time period and original cost, it was a good model. Nothing speciall by today's standards though, but still holds character.
Congrats, Crafty. You'd make a good politician with that assessment. Finding this casting is not on my priority list, but it's worth a consideration in one's collection, for whatever reasons.
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