Sebring 1965 heralded the arrival of the Ford GT40 as a genuine contender. Launched just one year earlier, it created headlines in the motoring press and beyond, its appearance being described as ‘futuristic’ and a portent for things to come; it was a business-like, compact sports car, no larger than it needed to be, with a 4.7-litre, 289cu.in. Ford V8 engine mounted inches behind the driver.
Following a year of trials and tribulation, due in no small part to the urgency of its creation and development that took place in public at race tracks in Europe and the USA, Ford’s multi-million-dollar GT project was handed over to the Shelby American team where ‘unpromising’ automobiles were knocked into shape by Carroll Shelby’s west coast ‘hot-rodders’ who knew how to make a slow car go fast.
The photograph shows the Shelby American team’s workshop at Sebring, housed in a huge aircraft hangar, and in the foreground is GT/104, the fourth GT40 built and the first to arrive at SAI, while in the background are two of the GT-category Daytona Cobra coupes. Built in June 1964 ‘104’ was initially painted white with blue sill and centre stripes and was finished in time to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours where, after four hours, it caught fire. It was rebuilt and sent to compete in the Nassau end of season races where it also retired; flown to Shelby American it underwent a complete transformation with its wire wheels swapped for alloys and new aerodynamic nose section fitted. Painted in the 1965 team colours of dark blue, it now looked more like a race car which was confirmed when finished third at the first race of the season at Daytona. However, reliability issues continued and it retired at Sebring with suspension problems but its sister GT40, GT/103, finished a strong second, beaten only by a Chaparral that was not competing in a point-scoring category. Following a crash at Monza, GT/104 came home 8th at the Nurburgring which was it final race prior to serving as a Ford show car. It was sold to a private owner in 1970.
