A great man, a great auto

---- Ford Gt40 "History"----

The GT40 has been a famous sporting car had produced by the Ford since 1964 to 1969. Thought as rival of the Ferrari of the competitions of duration, it won for four times following, from 1966 to 1969, the 24 hours of Her Mans. The Ford GT has been a homage to this car.


Henry Ford II wanted a car able to win the 24 Hours since the beginnings of the years '60. In a first time the Ford tried to purchase the Ferrari but, after the interruption of the negotiation happened in 1963, you/he/she was decided to produce an own car. For this purpose a small was created subsidiary in Great Britain, the Ford Advanced Vehicles, with center to Slough. You also started to treat with the Cooper, the Lola and the Lotus. The Cooper had not matured experiences in the runs Gran Tourism and in the realization of prototypes. Besides in that period his performances in Formula 1 were lowering. The Lotus proposed his project Europe. At the end the proposal of the Lola was chosen. The veterans of the American runs were to effect the tests Carroll Smith and Carroll Shelby that they preferred in project of Eric Broadley that it aimed V8 to the adoption of a motor.





The Ford started to work to narrow contact with the Lola and at the end he resulted a car that GT was denominated 40 of it. The acronym "GT", in how much thought for the new Gran Tourism, although then he will never be confirmed for this category and the number "40" equal to the thumbs of height of the measured car to the windscreen (1,02 ms), as required by the rule. To motorize the auto they were available many motors with capacities that went from 4,7 Ls up to 7 Ls.The new sporting of the Ford was introduced to the "Auto Show" of 1964 New York, while to the Lola the job was fervent for the two cars to line up to the "1000 km of the Nürburgring", then courses to three for her "24 hours of Her Mans"; in both the occasions without success.With the experience also acquired during the following year in 1966 the GT40 Mk II it dominated the competition and it conquered all and three the steps of the platform. The following year participated in the competition the version Mk. IV. This version represented a new project with loom and body shop different in comparison to the preceding cars.





To the competition they participated, besides 4 Mks IV, also 3 MKs II and 3 MKs I. In 1968 a change in the rule limited the capacity of the cars Sport to 5 Ls asking for the construction than at least 50 samples. In 1968 it participated, and it won, to the 24 hours a Mk. The motorized one with a motor from 4,7 Ls of capacity that competed against the autos of the category prototypes that however they were revealed fragile. The following year the challenge renewed him between the GT40s and the prototypes. The motor 12 cylinders employed by these last ones it still revealed however him few reliable for which it was awarded once more the GT40, for few second, the victory with the crew Ickx / Olivier. In the following edition, dominated by the Porsche 917 the car it showed him by now obsolete.

The GT40, version MK II also participated in the 1967 Daytona competition with the mark Mercury, another house checked by the Ford, and endowed with the motor from 7 Ls. For the rest it didn't differ, if not in the aesthetics, from the other GT40s of the same version.

The Ford Mustang according to Giugiaro

Ford Mustang Giugiaro ...

According to the designer of Moncalieri (Turin) "with our concepts, pure exercises of style, try to show to the world of the auto our ability in to interpret models that reflect the history and the image of the mark." Ford has left white paper to Giugiaro, but he has pretended that the body shop was "realistic." The result doesn't disappoint: the last creature, despite is completely new, it is clearly one "Mustang."

According to who has drawn her, the sight more succeeded is the three quarters back, that underlines the complicated geometry of the tail; the separated optic groups in three sections are a call to the first one "Mustang" of 1964. To also notice the cleaning of the lines, gotten thanks to the elimination of the small mirrors retrovisori, replaced by television cameras, and of the handles: the doors, of fiber of carbon, they are electrically openable to the way of the prototype of the alpha "Brera" of 2002.



The lines tapered damage the impression that the prototype is more compact than the actual model of series, but the measures are of everything respect however: this "Mustang" long 4,7 meters it is wide almost two meters, tall 1,36 and it weighs around 1500 kilograms. The body car is a monoblocco of fiber of carbon, what he/she also understands the seats; the roof, the windscreen and the lunotto are constituted by an only panel of glass.
Shown up at the Saloon in Los Angeles, her "Mustang" by Giugiaro is inclined from the same propeller of 4.6 liters V8 that equips the version "GTS", strengthened to 500 CVs; the change is manual to five relationships, the traction, obviously, back.

The auto is visually more compact, thanks to the widening of the body car of around 30 mm to the anterior one and of well 80 mm to the back one. An evolution that aesthetically makes it tidier and attached to the asphalt thanks also to the gommatura from 20 extra thumbs large with ransoms of tire 275/40 to the front-axle assembly and of 315/35 to the retrotreno. Stylistic peculiarity of this prototype is also the roof in panoramic crystal that continues ideally on the long chest motor. The employed glass is naturally type special, in degree to filter until to 100% of the rays Grape. Other element scenograficos are the doors to opening to wing of gull that together to the orange shade of the body shop, they make a lot of supercar.