Very yellow
The great career of the Ford GT40 was actually already over by 1968. But Ford Advanced Vehicles continued to build a few vehicles, most of them road-legal for good customers. However, a few racing versions were also built according to Group 4 regulations; P/1079 is one of these examples. These racing cars differed significantly from the road versions: a sharper 289 engine, better clutch, 140-litre fuel tank, better chassis. The bright yellow P/1079 was sold to the Belgian Jean Blaton (better known under his racing pseudonym ‘Beurlys’) on 20 April 1968 – and just a few days later it was at the starting line of the Monza 1000 kilometres. Beurlys/Mairesse were still classified in 7th place, although they had to retire after 89 laps with tyre problems. Beurlys/Mairesse also had to retire from the 1000 kilometres of Spa. The 24 Hours of Le Mans was to be a real challenge: Dubois/Beurlys/Mairesse only qualified in 16th place after technical problems, but Mairesse got off to a good start in the pouring rain, moving up to fourth place – and then lost control of his car at around 250 km/h on the Mulsanne in the first lap. He escaped with head injuries, but P/1079 was a write-off: it is assumed that Mairesse had not closed the driver’s door properly at the start.
But scrap is always relative when it comes to a racing car. Somehow the wreck ended up with Franco Sbarro, who repaired the GT40 in a makeshift manner. When P/1079 came into the possession of a French investment fund in the early 1990s, the vehicle was extensively restored – and later used very successfully in historic races over many years. The yellow GT40 is definitely an eye-catcher and was last sold via Fiskens.
We have more Ford GT40s here – and then there is also the series about the context of its history. And finally, there is always the archive.
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