GT40 question

[nniemi]

There is something that looks like a filler cap of some sort behind the right rear wheelarch on the '68 Le Mans winning GT40. Does anybody have agood closeup photo, or even some information on what it is?

Also on some photos it looks like the rear wheelarches are flared, am i right?

Thanks in advance for any information
Niko

[dax65]

Hi Niko,

i found this...



g'bye

Dario

[nniemi]

Thanks for trying, but wrong car Ok, i did find apicture of a replica "1075", the "filler cap" is actually a some kind of additional red light:

http://images.kitcarmag.com/featured...+taillight.jpg

This pic shows the "flared" rear wheelarches:

http://lemans.slotracing.free.fr/le-...0-9-LM68-1.jpg

Optical illusion, dirt or real flares?

-Niko

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

It's an orange marker light (color in that photo is way off; Gulf orange stripes look red). The Fujimi part is a bit simplified compared to that photo.

Pics from LeMans do make it look like the car had slight flares. The Fujimi kit doesn't have them, and the rear wheels are too narrow. But I've built the kit w/o the modifications and it looks great. Depends on how accurate you make it, nobody is likely to argue with you if you're not 100% spot on...pics from LeMans back then aren't very good. I think someone makes a more accurate rear deck for the GT40, can't really remember who.

[Eric Cole]

Based on my research, pictures on the internet and pictures in my GT40 books, yes, the rear fenders of that specific car does have a very slight flare in both 1968 and 1969 Lemans.

[nniemi]

Thanks, so bit of styrene and putty is needed.

-Niko

[dax65]

Originally Posted by nniemi

Thanks for trying, but wrong car Ok, i did find apicture of a replica "1075", the "filler cap" is actually a some kind of additional red light:

http://images.kitcarmag.com/featured...+taillight.jpg

This pic shows the "flared" rear wheelarches:

http://lemans.slotracing.free.fr/le-...0-9-LM68-1.jpg

Optical illusion, dirt or real flares?

-Niko

Yes i know , Gt40 #2 is '66 le mans winner , but i have realized could it be this:

[dax65]

Originally Posted by nniemi

Thanks for trying, but wrong car Ok, i did find apicture of a replica "1075", the "filler cap" is actually a some kind of additional red light:

http://images.kitcarmag.com/featured...+taillight.jpg

This pic shows the "flared" rear wheelarches:

http://lemans.slotracing.free.fr/le-...0-9-LM68-1.jpg

Optical illusion, dirt or real flares?

-Niko

Yes i know , Gt40 #2 is '66 le mans winner , but i have realized could it be this:

[OutaFocus]

GT-40's are kind of a passion of mine, so I went back through my references on these cars.

In 1967 John Wyer Racing (JWR) entered two GT-40 based Mirage race cars in the 24hrs. The Mirage was basically a Gt-40 with a lightweight chassis and a modified, narrowed and rounded roof section. They were in Gulf colors in 67 and ran with small block powerplants as opposed to the big block powered MkIV's entered by Ford.

In 68 the rules were changed, some say after political wrangling by Enzo Ferrari, to outlaw the large engines used by ford the year before. Ford quickly needed a car that they could run under the new rules, so they went to Jwr and had the Mirage chassis converted to MKI GT-40 specifications. The 68 and 69 winning chassis 1075 was rebuilt from Mirage chassis M.10003 and it's sister chassis 1074 was rebuilt from Mirage M.10002. These cars featured the lightweight chassis from the Mirage, new lightweight roof sections and one-off front and rear body sections that used carbon fiber reinforcement n the fiberglass. These body parts were considerably widened to cover the 8.5" front and 11" rear BRM wheels. Yes, the rear bodywork did have a slight flare on the 68 version, but my pictures of the 69 versions, and the picture of the restored 1075 in the Indianapolis Museum, show no rear flare.

The front bodywork was also widened to the point that the rear of the wheel opening is several inches wider than the chassis. These cars also only have one fuel filler rather than the two of the earlier MkI GT-40's

Chassis 1076 was also entered by Ford/JWR in 68 and 69, but that car was a newly built chassis for those races.

[OutaFocus]

1967 JWR GT-40 based Mirage:



1968 version of 1075:



1969 version of 1075:

[F1Tommy]

Just to make it even more interesting, the 1969#1075 rear deck has larger flaring than the 1968 version. The only proper 1/24th 1969 #1075 Lemans model I know of is the Lemans Miniatures full detail kit. It has the wider 1969 rear deck.

Best,

Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2009 model/photography contest-Chicago

[OutaFocus]

Originally Posted by F1Tommy

Just to make it even more interesting, the 1969#1075 rear deck has larger flaring than the 1968 version. The only proper 1/24th 1969 #1075 Lemans model I know of is the Lemans Miniatures full detail kit. It has the wider 1969 rear deck.

Best,

Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2009 model/photography contest-Chicago

Yeah, good point and I should have pointed that out. You ca clearly see from the B&W pictures I posted that both the front and rear sections were widened in 69.

Actually, given the bodywork in the Fujimi kit, it would be easiest to replicate the 68 car. Someone needs to do a transkit for the 69 version.

[nniemi]

Thanks for the information. I'm building the '68 car from the fujimi kit. I did add flares, but i think that i need to get those wider wheels & tires also.

-Niko