Roaring GT40 into life

The Ford GT40 only came into existence because Enzo Ferrari refused to sell his company to the Blue Oval.

To punish him for that, Henry Ford II demanded his engineers develop a car to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.

The GT40 was designed to do the job and it won every race between 1966 and 1969.

Nowadays the legend of the GT40 is greater than ever … and the driving’s pretty cool too.

But there can’t be too many more beautiful examples of a reborn GT40 than this one.

Owned by a Melbourne businessman, it’s a $300,000 labour of love built to the original template with the assistance of renowned GT40 replica specialists Roaring Forties.

There have been some nods to the current day that just add to this car’s appeal. Primary among them is the 650hp Ford Coyote V8 that fires it forward like a bullet out of a gun.

There’s also a six-speed Getrag manual gearbox and some refinements to the rear-end including wheel-arches tubbed by 20mm and bodywork that pays tribute to the current-day Ford GT.

But just like the original there is no anti-lock braking system, no traction control and no power steering.

While the owner wishes to remain low-key (we’ll call him Terry), he was happy to chat about his labour of love.

It was a new branch in a lifelong mechanical journey for Terry, who mostly feeds an addiction to motorcycles, which he has raced in the past and nowadays still spends weeks at a time riding in outback adventures.

So why a high-performance car and why this one in particular?

“The GT40 to me had a history and that’s the first thing I loved about it,” says Terry.

“It had the history of how it was built and that it was built to take on Ferrari."

“Henry Ford II wanted to buy Ferrari out and Enzo Ferrari pulled the pin at the last minute. Ford cracked the shits and said ‘I am going to beat you no matter what and a huge amount of money and development went into this car."

“And when you look at it, for something that was designed in the early 1960s, it was just way ahead of its time.”

This car looks beautiful sitting there ‘fully clothed’. But flip up the front and rear fibreglass bodywork and you appreciate the amount of work that’s gone into this project.

There’s a steel spaceframe chassis, fabricated double wishbone suspension with cast alloy uprights, custom-built Shockworks coil-over dampers, AP Racing brakes, BRM 17-inch cast wheels shod – at this point -- with 225/45 (front) and 315/35 rear Kumho rubber … and that 5.0-litre Coyote V8.

Terry’s GT40 is the first in Australia to be fitted with a Coyote V8. Not only has it been tuned by the engine shop at Ford Supercars team Prodrive Racing Australia, Roaring Forties has gone through the process of developing and manufacturing injection trumpets to sit under the glass behind the cockpit.

“If you put an injected motor in there with a big plastic cover it would kill the look of the GT40,” says Terry.

Put it all together and the GT40 weighs in at just 980kg! It took 1870 man-hours to build and, yes, the top of the windshield sits 40 inches off the ground, just like the real thing.

From the pits Luke looks like he’s putting in. The car makes an incredible sound, its Kumhos yowling as he puts the pressure on in the corners. Then it absolutely jets along the straights.

“I feel like I am strapped into a hellfire missile,” he reports as he laps. “I am sitting about three inches off the ground, I have 650 horsepower strapped behind me and the car only weighs about 980 kilos.

“It’s a proper race car. You look at this car with the skin off it and you swear it’s a Le Mans racer.

“What a blast this thing is.”

Later, after taking Terry for a couple of laps at speed, Luke’s slightly more analytical.

“It puts its power down really well. It doesn’t need traction control or anything, but I reckon trying to get the ultimate out of it needs power steering.

“You feel like you are holding on to it more than driving it. It’s pretty cool.”

Now it’s my turn. Jeepers, this is going to be interesting. Just getting in is challenge enough. You sort of step into the seat and then slide down. I ask Terry if there is any seat adjustment.

“Slide your arse forward,” he laughs.

I am struggling to reach the pedals as they are set up for Terry, who is maybe 186cm versus my 180cm.

Toggle the switch and the GT40 rumbles into life. It rolls up pitlane in first without any real help from me -- just ease out the clutch and away you go.

By the way, the gear shifter is on the right just like the real thing. The dashboard is a simple, erm, board completed by traditional analogue dials.

Redline is 8200rpm. I doubt I am going to get there.

With no power assistance of any kind, the challenge is simply to drive it around Winton, let alone have a crack. It’s so primal, there’s so much going on. It’s noisy, clunky, vibratey.

Then hit the loud pedal and things get fast so quickly it’s equal parts brilliant and scary. The noise is ferocious. I try for a bit more pace. Luke’s right: there’s no drama with corner exit traction. The rear simply hunkers down and propels.

Just when I think I am starting to get the hang of it I lock a brake at the end of the back straight. RURT-RURT-RURT. Jeez it’s been a while since I’ve felt that sensation.

I ease off and reapply. Nope it’s rurt-rurting again. OK, ease off, forget about the apex, use the bitumen apron on the outside of the corner and just roll around. Did it have to happen right opposite the pits?

Then at the next corner I mangle the heel-and-toe gearshift and elect to coast through in neutral. Time to call it quits. Don’t want to damage Terry’s pride and joy. This bloke has many ways of exacting revenge…

He enjoys his own laps and is thrilled by his hot-laps with Luke.

Even before the day ends he’s pondering the next steps … power steering and ABS.

It’s all part of the process, he says.

“Building something like this, I am looking forward to giving it a hard time, and the reason I want to give it a hard time is I want to see what’s not perfect.

“The amount of things I have found like the wiring loom in the wrong spot and things rubbing against each other. Driving along and you hear that little ‘rub rub’ and you think ‘what’s that?’.

“But I love it, I really do. It’s a passion now.”