Le Mans 1966 to 1969. Four times in a row, a GT40 won the grueling 24 hour endurance race. Who do we have to thank for the creation of Ford’s original supercar? Enzo Ferrari. Yup, il Commendatore was the man that spurred the Blue Oval into creating the most celebrated and successful racer of the 1960s.
To make a long story short, Enzo proposed Ford to buy his company for $18 million in 1963, but Ferrari backed off late through negotiations once Enzo had realized that he would not have been able to retain independent control of the racing program. Ferrari became joint-stock, allowing Fiat to take a share in 1965 and then in 1969 they increased their holding to 50 percent of the Italian automaking company.
Because of this late change of heart, Ford wanted to teach Enzo a lesson, thus employing the British arm of the Blue Oval into creating the Ford GT40. Fun fact: the iconic nameplate isn't 100 percent built in America. With the exception for the Mk IV cars, all other GT40s were assembled in Slough, United Kingdom. One of them is the one you can admire in the gallery and video below, the P/1046 Ford GT40.
RK Motors Charlotte acquired the winning racer of the 1966 Le Mans, the car that set the pace for Ford in 1967, ’68 and ’69, in order to restore it to its former glory. The 20-month-long resto job will culminate with a formal reintroduction at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, California.
That particular event will mark the 50th anniversary of the P/1046’s win at the '66 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Crashed at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona due to a gearbox failure, Ford GT40 P/1046 went through multiple hands through a series of private party owners and has made an appearance at the race’s 40th anniversary celebration at the 2006 Le Mans Classic. We will be rooting for RK Motors Charlotte and its restoration team until the finished product will be presented to the public two years from now on.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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