Where’s the Victory in That?
All possible performance variables — tires, suspension, horsepower, and aerodynamics among them — were assessed. A prototype was quickly built and taken to Riverside Raceway in California for testing by the Shelby American team. That was clearly beyond the “small” V-8, but another Ford engine, the 427-cid V-8 used in the company’s NASCAR efforts, could churn out some 500 bhp for extended periods. The team quickly found that top speed was the critical factor and began looking for ways to push the GT toward 250 mph. This more than compensated for 120 or so pounds of extra weight it added to the already plump Ford GT.
Then, as the final pit stops were being made on Sunday morning, a Ford official — said to have been racing chief Leo Beebe — decided he wanted a photo finish, and ordered Miles to slow down and allow the other two surviving 427s to catch up. For more information on the the 1964-1967 Ford GT classic car, continue on to the next page. Not all Ford GTs were racers.
After seven GT Mark IIIs were built, the project was called off. According to one inside source, the reason for the abrupt cancellation had much to do with a road test published in Car and Driver. There were other gripes about uncomfortable seats and uncooperative clutch and shift linkages as well, enough in fact to fill more than the first third of the story with complaints. If that wasn’t enough, numerous quality-control problems were reported, ranging from electrical failures, to ineffective shoulder-harness reels, Condo for sale Bangkok near BTS to a right-side door that would not remain shut.
For more information on the the 1964-1967 Ford GT classic car, continue on to the next page. Before Negstad, Lunn, former Aston Martin team manager John Wyer, and other figures in the making of the 1964-1967 Ford GT took up residence at Lola and moved the operation to new, more modern premises, Broadley went racing with the Mark 6. It showed potential — any lightweight car with plenty of horsepower had at least some potential — but was bedeviled by problems.
He agrees that the impetus for the project came in part from Ferrari’s refusal to join Prancing Horse to Blue Oval. Lola was brought into the project, Negstad asserts, because Eric Broadley was a “brilliant fabricator.” He ended up doing much of the construction and assembly work on the Ford GT prototype. But he is adamant that the similarities between the Lola Mark 6 and the Ford GT are largely coincidental.
