Description
Further information on our site:
- details above
Chassis P/ 1033
One of the three GT40s ordered by Scuderia Filipinetti in 1965
Car displayed on the Filipinetti stand at the Geneva Motor Show in 1967
Tested by Car magazine and appeared on the February 1967 cover
Participation in Le Mans 1969
3rd in class at the 1000 km of Monza in 1969
Two runner-up finishes at the Rallye de l’Ouest and the Coupes de Vitesse at Montlhery in 1970
The Ford GT40 P/ 1033 was shipped to Geneva, Switzerland, from Ford Advanced Vehicles Ltd’s Slough, Buckinghamshire, England, plant on 14 January 1966. The car was delivered without paint and unfinished, as it was destined for Graber, where it would be finished and prepared as a special road car for Georges Filipinetti, patron of the famous Swiss team Scuderia Filipinetti.
As reported by FAV in the serial car registration sheet of the era, the “1033” was intended to be a road-going car. It was delivered with a standard race engine and transmission, which would be replaced later. Graber’s work was completed in early 1967: the car was finished in light metallic blue with minimal front over-riders, electric windows, full leather interior, and the most fitting option for a GT40: air conditioning.
The car appeared on the February 1967 cover of the British magazine “Car” and was shown at the Geneva Show the following month. Mr Filipinetti subsequently put it up for sale through the Geneva Ferrari dealership of Jean-Jacques Weber, through which a keen buyer emerged in Bolivian millionaire Jaime Ortiz-Patino, who at the time resided in Geneva. On 5 May 1967, the “1033” was registered in Switzerland with the plate “GE 136999”.
In a later correspondence, Mr Ortiz-Patino confirmed that he had driven the car quite often in Switzerland and France before removing all the special fittings and turning it into a pure racing car so that his godson, Dominique Martin, could use it in competition.
The young and ambitious French driver initially gained experience with the GT40 by taking part in a series of minor national hill-climb races, such as Col de la Faucille and the Beaujolais in 1968. He subsequently obtained a competition licence to race with the car at Montlhéry, near Paris. At the start of the 1969 season, Dominique Martin entered the “1033” in a programme of major international endurance events, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Paired with the more experienced French driver Jean-Pierre Hanrioud at the wheel, Martin took part in the Le Mans test weekend on 29–30 March 1969, the car still in light blue with the “ZITRO” sponsor lettering clearly visible on the nose to indicate Ortiz-Patino family backing.
On 25 April, the Martin/ Hanrioud pair raced the “1033” in the 1000 km of Monza for the FIA World Manufacturers’ Championship that year, finishing 15th overall. Their Le Mans hopes were dashed by an engine failure during practice, but on 12 October 1969 Martin and Pierre Maublanc managed to bring the car home in the 1000 km of Montlhéry, finishing ninth overall and fourth in class. The following weekend the “1033” competed in the Hockenheim 300-mile race in Germany, again finishing ninth.
In 1970 Dominique Martin sent the Ford to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the opening race of the new year’s world championship. In a 200-mile heat at the Autódromo de Buenos Aires on 11 January, Martin retired with a transmission failure. However, on 18 January he did manage to place twelfth in the qualifying race for the championship, the 1000 km of Buenos Aires. Returned to France in March of the same year, the “1033” took part in the Rallye de l’Ouest on public roads, where Martin finished second overall with navigator Chini by his side.
Dominique Martin later decided to steer his sport programme away, and the ZITRO Ford GT40, now surplus, was repainted in a pale non-metallic blue and put up for sale through Michel Berney, a former Filipinetti mechanic. Unfortunately, on 26 October of the same year, while he was driving it between his home and the workshop, Berney had an accident and the car caught fire. He escaped unharmed, but could do nothing as the flames engulfed it. The local fire brigade arrived in time to save the GT40’s steel chassis, which remained virtually intact, but almost everything else that could burn was destroyed.
This example can be considered perfectly eligible for world-class motorsport events such as Goodwood Revival, for road/ rally events across Europe like the Tour Auto in France, for significant American events, and for virtually any historic race in the United States.
