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Super Performance Ford GT40 Replica |
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Written by Justin
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Thursday, 23 October 2008 |
The first J-car was completed in March, '66 and set the fastest time at the LeMans trials that year. The tub weighed only 86 lbs., and the entire car weighed only 2,660 lbs., 300 lbs. less than the Ford GT40 Mk II. It was decided to run the Ford GT40 MkIIs due to their proven reliability, however, and little or no development was done on the J-car for the rest of the season. Following LeMans, the development program for the J-car was resumed, and a second Ford GT40 car was built. During a test session at Riverside International Raceway in August 1966 with Ken Miles driving, the car suddenly went out of control at the end of Riverside's high-speed 1-mile-long back straight. The honeycomb chassis did not live up to its design goal, shattering upon impact, bursting into flames and killing Miles. It was decided that the unique, flat-topped "bread van" aerodynamics of the car, lacking any sort of spoiler, were implicated in generating excess lift, and a more conventional but significantly more aerodynamic body was designed for the Ford GT40 Mk IV.
(Text From The World's Fastest Cars Website) Video From TV Episode of Fifth Gear
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 23 October 2008 )
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