Description
1966 Ford GT40 MK III Prototype The LHD prototype MK III; one of the four LHD MK IIIs of a seven-car production run New York Motorshow car, featured in countless articles and press releases - the face of the MK III Reunited with original MK III production 302 engine during painstaking concours restoration to prototype form Continuous history thoroughly documented in lengthy Ronnie Spain dossier The Ford GT40 debuted in 1964 with the first generation referred to as the MK I. Since the early 1960s, Henry Ford II had wanted a Ford to race at Le Mans. When a deal to takeover of Ferrari fell through, the GT40 was developed with the unilateral goal of beating Ferrari at Le Mans. The MK I’s initial attempt at Le Mans was short lived, with all three entries retiring, although the Ginther/ Gregory car led the field for a section of the race. The lessons learned from the 1964 and 1965 seasons allowed for the 7-litre MK IIs to dominate, achieving a 1, 2, 3 win at Daytona and finally realising Fords dream with the marque’s first win at Le Mans in 1966. 31 MK I GT40s had been built at the Slough factory and fitted with “road” trim, but Ford saw the potential for a purpose-built GT40 road car. Initially planned for a 20-car run, the MK III was launched off of the back of, and with the momentum from the 1966 win, promising Ford’s wealthiest customers a Le Mans car they could daily. The MK IIIs were built to US road legal standard and featured four high sitting headlamps, an extended rear with luggage room, softer shock absorbers, a centre mounted shift lever and importantly, an ashtray. With an eyewatering price of $18, 000 aimed at only the very top of Ford’s customers, it is no wonder the production run was eventually reduced to seven making it Ford’s rarest production car ever. Almost an entire year before being shown to the public, this GT40 MK III prototype was photographed at FAV in Slough, at this stage, as a RHD GT40 chassis but with LHD driving set up in standard MK I body trim but with aluminium overlays of the proposed MK III body modifications. Development on the MK III in the FAV workshop continued for months alongside busy preparation of private cars for Le Mans and was eventually completed in August 1966 just after the marque’s inaugural Le Mans win. Following completion, XP 130/ 01 was shipped out to Ford Division in Dearborn Michigan. A photoshoot was carried out on the 3rd of October at Ford’s Romeo Proving Ground that would be used later in many promotional articles. The new GT40 MK III model was unveiled in November of 1966 with XP 130/ 01 on a tour of the Texas Neiman Marcus stores. Local Newspaper the Fort Worth Star Telegram noted that customers could see the MK III in the Dallas store, Fort Worth Suburban store and in the downtown Houston store. The Texas-founded department chain would go on to showcase a number of other GT40s including P1018, before offering “his and hers” Thunderbirds in the 1970s and later, special editions and OEM partnerships through their famously outrageous Christmas Book. Ahead of XP 130/ 01’s New York Motor Show appearance in April, it was placed in the care of Bill Kolb Jnr. whose Gotham Ford Inc. in New York was one of the Ford dealerships earmarked for the distribution of the MK III. Whilst in Kolb’s care, XP 130/ 01 was lent to various press organisations including Car and Driver, American Rodding, Motor, and Hi-Performance Cars, the latter of which featured the “dynamic young high- performance sales specialist.” At some point between between the date of the press loans and April, XP 130/ 01 was resprayed dark green and adorned with sill lines. It is in this striking combination that she was displayed at the New York Motor Show, despite the articles, published after the show, showing the original plain blue colour. XP 130/ 01 continued to be used for promotional work until early 1968 when it was shipped back to John Willlment Automobiles (now in charge of the factory) to be rebuilt to full production Mark III specification. The letter on 02. 05. 1968 from Len Pounds to John Wyer outlines the updates on the seven Mark IIIs and is the first reference of XP 130/ 01 as chassis 1101. 1101’s description is as follows - “Already owned by Ford U. S. JWA will complete updating, paint car bright red and ship to Dearborn by sea freight.” Another later letter from Pounds to Wyer on 24. 06. 1968 provided a further information on engine allocations for the seven cars and saw the 289 (SGT/ 9) originally in this car reassigned to M3/ 1105. Pounds wrote: “We did not refer to it on the telephone but it looks as though the above arrangements will leave the L. H. prototype without an engine. If so, I assume you will fit the 302 CID 230 HP engine in it.” En route to Dearborn, M3/ 1106 was stored above M3/ 1101 in the sea freight container. 1106 somehow dropped down onto the car below...
