The Ford GT-40 was designed by Ford to be an endurance racer to beat the European car builders in the 1960's. During the early 1960's endurance races such as the infamous Le Mans 24 Hour in France were dominated by the European manufacturers, particularly Ferrari. Ford had made a bid to buy Ferrari and at a late stage Ferrari pulled out of negotiations. To this end Ford decided to show Ferrari that they could built competitive race cars and out of spite built the outrageous GT40. The rest is history!

The GT40 was the coming together of Ford US and Ford Europe. The engine was designed and built in the US, hence it was a V8, with the body coming from Europe.

Hence the Ford GT-40 was born, so named for its incredibly low roof height of just 40 inches!

Over the life of the GT-40 there were a number of evolutions and even an amazing road going version, some of which found there way onto UK roads.

The first GT-40s, the MK-Is, were designed around Eric Broadley's Lola prototype, which was designed in England.

• Ford GT-40 Mark I

Among the many engines available in the First GT-40s: A 4031cc indy 4-cam, a 4568cc small block, a 4773cc small block and into 1968 and 1969 a montser 5548cc Windsor engine. The 4568cc was the most popular of the blocks, and was designed to develop between 380 and 400 BHP in 24 hour endurance form.

• Ford GT-40 Mark II

The second GT-40s were aptly named the MK-IIs and were again built at Lola, England.

Engines for the MK-II include: Exclusively a NASCAR 427 (6750cc). These cars won at Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans all in 1966.

• Ford GT-40 Mark III

The Mark III was converted to be road legal in the UK and the ones normally seen at Ford shows and exhibitions. All used the 4568cc capacity engine.

• Ford GT-40 Mark IV

There were 12 of these built by Kar Kraft in Michigan, US. The engines were 4568cc in capacity. These were American cars and an American team won the 1967 24 hours of Le Mans. It was a two man team of Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt driving MK-IV serial number J-6. This was the last mark of the GT-40 to be build by Ford.

Further Notes: The Mirages were a redesign of the MK I's and used Ford small blocks and engines from BRM. In 1968 and 1969 the MK I's had to be raced again as the engine size restriction came into force. Despite this they moved on to win Le Mans twice more.

Cammer is the name pinned to the little known engine produced by Ford starting in 1964. The Cammer's factory rated output was 616 BHP for the 6750cc (at 7500rpm) with a single carburator, or 658 BHP (again at 7500rpm) with twin carburators. Each bank of four cylinders on the V8 had a single overhead camshaft.

The GT-40 used double wishbone supsension on all four corners with coil springs. Solid brake disks were fitted to all four wheels.

The GT40 remains today one of the rarest Ford marques along with the Ford RS200. and Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500. Due to its extreme rarity, no up to date pricing information is available, but expect to pay around 40,000 Sterling for one of the less rare models.

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