1964: The Birth of the GT 40

In 1963, John Wyer, executive vice-president of Gulf Oil at the time was offered the post of residential manager, special vehicles activity, responsible for the GT40 program.

1964: The Birth of the GT40

It was designed under the direction of Roy Munn but in early 1964 the test at Monza revealed serious stability problems, Wyer believed it to be aerodynamic, however Lunn believed it could be cured by adjusting the rear suspension geometry, Lunn's opinion prevailed, proving to be disastrous for the GT40.

In April 1964, at the Le Mans test weekend, the two Gulf Ford GT40s that were competing both lost control and crashed, resulting in an inquest at Slough, and embarrassment for the company. Following the inquest Wyer was allowed more influence over the design of the car and immediately had spoilers fitted to the cars, much like upside-down plane wings forcing the air to pass over them pushing the car down into the track, and the effect was ‘electrifying', one driver reporting that he cold take his hands off the wheel at 170mph and it glided on with total stability.

Three Gulf Ford GT40s were entered into the 1964 24-hour Le Mans race, however none of them withstood the pressures of the race, none of them completing it. On one the engine bay dramatically caught fire, due to the fuel hose being made to the wrong specification, out of nylon not tygon, unable to bear the extreme heat and pressure, it melted, proving devastating with the engine up in flames. On the second Gulf ford GT40, the gearbox failed and on the third the transmission failed, a grave result for the GT40.

The program director Leo Beebe, unsurprisingly was not impressed and insisted on another race to redeem themselves. With only three weeks to prepare for the 12-hour Reims race, the outlook was bleak for the team. With no time to find alternatives for its weaknesses or modify the gearbox, the race proved disastrous once again, two of the cars dropping out with broken transmissions and the third with a broken crankshaft.

In an attempt to salvage what promise was left of the project, Wyer was summoned to a special vehicles committee in Detroit, with the Americans wanting to reform the chassis and install 7-litre engines in the Gulf Ford GT40s. Len Bailey designed the new front body for the GT40s which reduced the drag coefficient of the car from 0.41 to 0.35, however in the 1965 Le Mans, they fared no better and retired after two hours with cylinder head gasket failures and another with a broken ZF gearbox again, tragically, no Gulf Ford GT40s remained on the race by nightfall.

Although it had a rocky start the Gulf Ford GT40 went on to win four Le Mans races.