In 1964 the giant automotive company, Ford USA, unveiled a sports car designed to beat the established teams – specifically Ferrari – at the Le Mans 24-Hour endurance race. With barely any experience of racing outside of America, lessons were learned the hard way as the Ford GT40 was developed in public at race tracks on both sides of the Atlantic.
Even as the GT40 was evolving, Ford’s designers were working on its replacement. Aware that the GT was a relatively heavy car, a controversial new chassis concept was being developed, following an aerospace design that used honeycomb aluminium sheets bonded together with glue. The new prototype was referred to as the J-car (in reference to the FIA Appendix J category) and just two years after the launch of the GT40, the first prototype, J-1, was revealed at the 1966 Le Mans Trials where it was due to be tested by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon. As the photograph shows, its ‘aerodynamic’ bodywork divided opinion and proved to be less than efficient as the car was slower and unstable at speed. Shortly afterwards its was reshaped by the Shelby American team and renamed the MkIV. It is seen in the Le Mans pit lane, raised on quick-lift jacks, awaiting a new set of wheels and tyres while in the background its tired mechanics try to keep awake. J-1 was never raced although it took part in several test sessions before being returned to Kar Kraft where it was reportedly broken up; the honeycomb chassis was considered unsafe following further test crashes and reports of suspension mounts pulling away from the chassis.
From the book ‘Moments in Motorsport’ by Trevor Legate
