Ford (E.R.A.) GT40

Ford GT40 short introduction:

Undoubtedly the most important sports-racing prototype in Ford’s illustrious history, the GT40 began with the manufacturer’s intention to return to sports car competition. After a failed bid to acquire Ferrari, which only sweetened the allure of dethroning the vaunted Scuderia on the racetrack, Ford entered preliminary talks with three firms, including Lotus, regarding acquisition of a proprietary race car design.

Aware of the increasing success of rear-engine cars, Ford sought to field a model that could match Maranello’s 250 LM and soon focused on Eric Broadley’s revolutionary Lola Mk 6 GT, which employed a Colatti transaxle to absorb the immense torque of an American V-8. When the ink had dried, Broadley was paid to consult on development of the Ford race car, which was soon named the GT40 for its 40-inch height. A new subsidiary design and engineering studio, Ford Advanced Vehicles, was created at a British plant in Slough, while Broadley’s Lolas were independently built at a site within view.

Following the construction of a dozen prototypes, the GT40 entered Mark I production, with 50 examples required to meet the FIA’s homologation minimum. Many of these cars were trimmed as race cars and sold to privateers, some with substantial factory support, while others were appointed as road cars and sold through Ford’s dealer network.

After the GT40 suffered a series of disappointing retirements during the 1964 racing season, Carroll Shelby was famously recruited to lead the 1965 campaign under his Shelby American team, though the factory also provided substantial support to the Holman-Moody and Alan Mann teams, among others. A variety of eventual tweaks, including a larger seven-liter engine, as well as continued chassis development from Detroit’s Kar Kraft (the new American equivalent of FAV), propelled the GT40 to a 1-2-3 finish at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the Shelby American team showcasing star names like Bruce McLaren, Ken Miles, and Dennis Hulme. The GT40, of course, went on to win Le Mans for three more consecutive years, and it remains an American motoring legend, breathtaking in its performance, design, rarity, and historic cachet.

Ford (E.R.A.) GT40  #2066 Facts:

This car is a 1965 E.R.A. GT40 Mk1, factory built by E.R.A. in New Britain CT USA, chassis ERA #2066, delivered on 13.01.2012 in black/black with crème white stripe package (this GT40 is not a kit car it's a 1:1 recreation from original).

Chassis:

Semi- stainless monocoque chassis as original, fiberglass coachwork with pressed steel roof, John Wyer wide body (Gulf car style), center section are the same as original GT40 # P1075, left-hand driver position, two cross-linked impact-resistant foam-filled Header tanks (polyethylene  tanks), as original in the right and left sill areas of the chassis with a total capacity of 16 Gallons (60 ltr.).

Engine & Cooling:

Under the rear deck works a 475 hp Ford motorsport 347 cid small-block V8 with 4 dual Weber carburetors supplied from two electrical driven boost pumps, Ford 302 Windsor cylinder heads and an Aviad oil pan, Engine oil dry sump cooler system complete with cooling fan, Bundle-of-snakes exhaust system set up for 289/302 Windsor ports, ceramic-silver coated exhaust system, Aluminum water pipes to replace hoses for the front Die-cast aluminum water radiator with an twin electrical cooling fan.

Transmission:

The Gear train includes a German 5-speed ZF 5DS gearbox as original, custom bell housing, custom half shafts.

Rolling stock:

Set Halibrand GT40 6-pin drive Aluminum wheels with 3 inch center lock as original, front 8x15, rear 10x15, powder coated in titanium gold for street legal certified rides, fitted with Avon CR6ZZ tires 225/50 R 15 front and 295/50 R 15 rear with “E” number (in progress to edd it into the German vehicle papers).

Additional we offer a set of BRM GT40 6-pin drive Magnesium race wheels with 3 inch center lock as original, front 10x16, rear 12x16, powder coated in titanium gold, for the race track fitted with Goodyear Eagle tires 23.5x10.5-16 front and 27.0x14.0-16 rear G18 Semi Slicks and optional on request we can offer additional Goodyear Eagle tires 23.0x11.5-16 front and 25.5x14.5-16 rear WG18 Rain (both tire size and the rim size are in the German vehicle papers).

Brakes & Suspension:

GM 4 pistons calipers brakes with ventilated discs cooled by ram air system out of the front inlets, dual brake master cylinders with balance bar, left hand handbrake lever,  Spax Suspension including  front & rear double-adjustable  shocks &  Eibach springs, suspended  with front & rear sway bars / adjustable anti-roll bar.

Interior fittings:

In the cockpit panel is Stewart Warner instrumentation installed, air conditioning, heater and defroster, black leather Hammock type seats including the brass rings and fitted with seat sliders, Four-point safety harness, custom sound proofing on floor and in the doors, competition type door pulls inside door panels, acrylic race side windows with hand flap door as original, black carpet, leather steering wheel detachable (quick relies), windshield washer system and wiper motor.

Other particulars:

Rust proofing & undercoating, radiator stone guard, Deltron-painted chassis, rack & pinion steering, Cibie headlamps as original, custom aluminum heat shields for underside of rear of coachwork, custom SS (stainless steel) head shielding for rear bulkhead, custom heat shielding firewall, heat shielding on upper portion of rear deck.

This fabulous Forty stays with a current mileage of  6.000 miles only for sale, first registered in Islip New York USA as a 1965 E.R.A. GT40, two pre owners in the USA , imported in October 2016 to Germany , for sale with the German papers & classic registration (H - number plate, appraisals according German  § 23 StVZO).