“Bruce McLaren drove the GT, commenting, ‘It’s starting to feel right’”
THE ARCHIVES
I have just unearthed a part-forgotten 60-year-old Ford GT file covering the original development programme of 1963-64. The basics are familiar. America’s Ford Motor Company had been rebuffed in its 1962-63 attempt to take over Ferrari, so launched its own Le Mans 24 Hours-targeted programme in conjunction with Eric Broadley and his British Lola-Ford GT concept. The document grandly entitled Advanced Concepts Department – Special Vehicle Activity was compiled by engineer Roy Lunn and minuted the following:
“The design of the Ford GT race car is nearing completion and it is now entering the procurement stages… A major factor in the development was the installation of experimental components in the Lola car which determined the final design ingredients… all efforts are being directed towards completing the first car in an unpainted and untrimmed condition, ready for shipping to Dearborn, prior to the end of February, 1964.
“It has been arranged with Styling that at least the first prototype should be painted and trimmed by them at the end of February, 1964… It is aimed to ship the first vehicle to Sebring for testing at the end of the first week in March, 1964. Private testing is scheduled for the second week in March. It will be the results of this testing that will determine whether we enter the actual Sebring race…” – on March 21.
After the original programme and its objectives had been finalised as early as June 1963 the file traces initial development testing – using two Lola GTs – initially at Brands Hatch, then Goodwood, then Monza and… Snetterton.
“Mr Bruce McLaren was engaged as development driver in October, and Mr Eric Broadley and Mr Roy Salvadori also participated in the test driving. The test program [sic] was directed at establishing component principles for incorporation in the final design…”
On August 31, 1963, the first test session at Brands Hatch saw Lola head and designer
Eric Broadley driving two cars, No1 being (surprisingly for Ford) “the Chevrolet-engined
John Mecom car”, and No2 “the Cobra Fairlane
-powered version of the same design”. Both used Colotti transaxles, No1 running Dunlop
R6-pattern D12 compound tyres and No2 R6 D9s. Using the short circuit Eric’s best
time was 59.5sec in No2 but “the car was felt to be improperly geared for this course.
Second gear was used almost entirely, with only one opportunity to use third gear…
rev limit 5800”.
Before th
