About this design
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. It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari, and to rub Ferrari`s nose in it after a major cooperative deal between the two went sour. The GT40 GT-40P 1075 was the first car to win at Le Mans twice (in 1968 and 1969). The car was named the GT (for Grand Tourisme) 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. Even after 40 years the Ford GT40 is still a stunningly beautiful automobile, and an absolute beast of a car. All the above will be a little understated for anyone who watched the 1969 LeMans. 1969 was meant to have been Porsche`s year, they entered two works 917 and three 908s. As well as the works entries, Porsche had also decided to sell the 917 to privateers, in part to circumvent a restriction on these superfast and hitherto "prototype" cars. One of these was in the hands of John Woolfe a British car parts entrepreneur most noted for popularising alloy wheels in the UK. How fast was superfast? The GT40 MkIV had been doing in excess of 220mph on the pit straight at Le mans in 1967. The 917s were extraordinarily fast - ultimately capable of something over 250mph - and aerodynamic but difficult to handle. Woolfe crashed and died instantly on the first lap. It was said he died because in the frenzy of the start, drivers did not fasten their seat belts. Certainly he had not fastened his. 1969 was the last year drivers ran to their cars in this manner. The finish of the 1969 race was so close that had the GT40 not crossed the line ahead of the 908L the plan had been to measure the distance of the cars start from the line in order to get an accurate record of how far they had travelled. The GT40 was an extraordinary car, the car assembled by JWA that won in both '68 and '69 espescially so. Express your appreciation by wearing our GT 40 t shirt.