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Car of the Day: February 12, 2016; Ertl '67 Ford GT40 MkIV
Topic Started: Feb 12 2016, 02:27 AM (620 Views)
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Today's car of the day is Ertl's 1967 Ford GT40 MkIV

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Wikipedia
 
The Ford GT40 is a high performance American-British endurance racing car, built and designed in England (Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III) and in the United States (Mk IV), and powered by a series of American-built engines, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four consecutive times, from 1966 to 1969 (1966 being the Mk II, 1967 the Mk IV, and 1968-1969 the oldest chassis design, the Mk I), Including a 1-2-3 finish in 1966. In 1966, with Henry Ford II himself in attendance at Le Mans, the Mk II GT40 provided Ford with the first overall Le Mans victory for an American manufacturer and the first victory for an American manufacturer at a major European race since Jimmy Murphy´s triumph with Duesenberg at the 1921 French Grand Prix. The Mk IV GT40 that won LeMans in 1967 is the only car designed and built entirely in the United States to win the overall title.

The GT40 was originally produced to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari (who won at Le Mans six times in a row from 1960 to 1965). FORD/Shelby Chassis # P-1075, which won in 1968 and 1969, is the first car in Le Mans history to win the race more than once, with the same chassis. Using an American Ford V-8 engine originally of 4.7-litre displacement capacity (289 cubic inches). It was later enlarged to the 4.9-litre engine (302 cubic inches), with custom designed alloy Gurney-Weslake cylinder heads.

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 (4.2 litre, 4.7 litre and 7 litre) were used, compared with the Ferrari V12 which displaced 3.0 litres or 4.0 litres.

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, MkII, and MkIIIs, (with the exception of the MkIV, which were numbered J1-J12) were 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."


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For more information and pictures on the real car, please visit: Ford GT40

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The Ford GT40 is one of my all time favorite cars. While the MkI and MkII are more recognizable, and better represented in diecast, the MkIV is still a worthy chapter in the GT40 history books. For a very nice and comprehensive rundown on the various GT40 models done in small scale, please see this thread:
http://swiftysgarage.net/topic/6931230/1/

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Wikipedia
 
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, gearbox, some suspension parts and the brakes from the Mk.II, the Mk.IV was totally different from other GT40s, using a specific chassis and specific bodywork. It was undoubtedly the most radical and American variant of all the GT40's over the years. 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 the roll cage was so heavy that it negated most of the weight saving of the then-highly advanced, radically innovative honeycomb-panel construction. The Mk. IV had a long, streamlined shape, which gave it exceptional top speed, crucial to do well at Le Mans in those days (a circuit made up almost entirely of straights)- the race it is was ultimately built for. A 2-speed automatic gearbox was tried, but during the extensive testing of the J-car in 1966 and 1967, it was decided that the 4-speed from the Mk.II would be retained. Dan Gurney often complained about the weight of the Mk.IV, since the car was 600 pounds (270 kg) heavier than the Ferrari 330 P4's. During practice at Le Mans in 1967, in an effort to preserve the highly stressed brakes, Gurney developed a strategy (also adopted by co-driver A.J. Foyt) of backing completely off the throttle several hundred yards before the approach to the Mulsanne hairpin and virtually coasting into the braking area. This technique saved the brakes, but the resulting increase in the car's recorded lap times during practice led to speculation within the Ford team that Gurney and Foyt, in an effort to compromise on chassis settings, had hopelessly "dialed out" their car. The car proved to be fastest in a straight line that year thanks to its streamlined aerodynamics- it did 212 mph on the 3.6 mile Mulsanne Straight.

The Mk. IV ran in only two races, the 1967 12 Hours of Sebring and the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans and won both events. Only one Mk.IV was completed for Sebring; the pressure from Ford had been amped up considerably after Ford's humiliation at Daytona 2 months earlier. Mario Andretti and Bruce McLaren won Sebring, Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt won Le Mans (Gurney and Foyt's car was the Mk.IV that was apparently least likely to win), where the Ford-representing Shelby-American and Holman & Moody teams showed up to Le Mans with 2 Mk.IV's each. The installation of the roll cage was ultimately credited by many with saving the life of Andretti, who crashed violently at the Esses during the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours, but escaped with minor injuries. Unlike the earlier Mk.I - III cars, which were built in England, the Mk.IVs were built in America by Kar Kraft. Le Mans 1967 remains the only truly all-American victory in Le Mans history - American drivers, team, chassis, engine and tires. A total of 6 Mk IVs were constructed. One of the Mk IVs was rebuilt to the Ford G7 in 1968, and used in the Can-Am series for 1969 and 1970, but with no success. This car is sometimes referred to as the Ford Mk.IV.


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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

This is a model I've never seen in person. Was this an 80s era Hong Kong release?
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zzziippyyy
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Drive it like you stole it!
Beautiful older model, is there a pic with the canopy opened?
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
craftymore
Feb 12 2016, 02:53 AM
This is a model I've never seen in person. Was this an 80s era Hong Kong release?
Yes, this one would be from the '80's and most likely a Hong Kong casting. It is from those years when ERTL was trying to move away from just farm toys and add cars and light trucks to its lineup. I can't recall if it also showed up with a Lintoy base or not. I have not seen this white version before. I keep thinking the one I had was in green.
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Hobie-wan
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SUV
Mine is a white HK release, FWIW. I need to make a replacement rear window though. Cool choice for COTD.
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Pardon the poorly lit cell phone shots, but here are pictures with the engine cover raised. There's not much to it detail wise, but it's still always a nice feature and wish more diecast now did it.
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Mine does say Hong Kong on the base, and it came from this 6 pack:
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thelostcleric
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TheLostCleric
That reminds me very much of the Coyote kit car from Hardcastle and McCormick...but it's obviously not

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Edited by thelostcleric, Feb 16 2016, 10:59 PM.
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