,9O Accord: tlotsred viclor BORN IO SUCCEEDA]IID Sfltt DRIITEN AT 25 Many of the Ford GT40s thnt won fame and glory at LeMans gather for a siluer anniuersary reunion marhed most fittingly - by racing By Cynthia Claes ime allows us to modify our 30 years ago, have helped keep the cars memories, to enhance the past, on the racetrack. to make events fit our recollec- "The SVRA believes that past Ecing tioos. Even so, maybe it was history should not be a static display in a the Septembq sun that put a museum," said Quattlebaum. "Our goal glow on our remembrances. After all, is to encouage the restomtion, preserva- Watkins Glen is not a place noted for tion and use of historically significant race abu[dant sunshine. Especially in autumn. cars. ' Quanlebaum s emphasis is on lrJe. Watkins in the fall is a place where you And SVRA'S president sets a good ex- can feel the wind lising, and where the ample. He recently retumed from Europe, rain falls hard and cold. And often. where he competed in vintage races-at But this was a silver anniversary. And Spa and Nurburgring-his Devin SS a The Glen rewarded us with sunshine, surprise winner at the Belgian event and Stirling Moss and old Fords. Very spe- on hand to compete again this weekend. cial old Fords. The GT40 was a quarter "The Europeans are very serious about of a century young. vintage racing," he said. "All manner of To celebrate, the Sports Car Vintage cars tum up. Imagine five 250 Maseralis Racing Association (SVRA) organized a rounding the La Source hairpin at Spa. reunion. As part of its traditional Seren- Five! And Aston Martins. handfuls of geti Drive6 Cup weekend, SVRA, with Ferraris. That's what we're (SVRA) try- help from Ford Motor Company, Aston ing to do here. And part of what we want Manin Vintage Racing (AMVR) and the to do is to tie significant automobiles with Shelby American Automobile Club, de- significant venues, like Watkins Glen. signed a salute that included an all-GT4o "Iis so neat to come out to The Glen or exhibition race, parade laps, a GT40 and Road Atlanta and race these things," said Shelby concours and a two-hour endurc Quattlebaum, pointing to William Won- race which pitted the Fords against the der's burgundy GT40, its nose removed, cars that faced them at l-eMans in the '6Os- The reunion celebrated the fust race ap- the mechanics fittins a new fire bonle- Moss was invited. So was six-trme pearance of the GT40, 25 years ago at the "lt's addictive-for the racer and the l,eMans winner Jackie Ickx. Brian Redman Nurburgring. But the Ford GT program really spectator. Wonder there has owned his was on hand to team again with Ickx in a was bom on May 21, 1963, the day Enzo CT40 for over 20 years. It's the oldest GulflJWA Ma* [I for the enduro on Sun- Ferrari rejected Henry Ford I['s offer to buy GT40 left, and he's raced it continuously day. while Bob Bondurant shared driving his sports car firm. Within a week the re- since 1966. " duties with Moss in a red Ma* IV. identical buffed Ford chairman had Deadom working But while Ford, Chevrolet, l-otus, Porsche, to the '67 Gurney/Foyt IfMans winner. on proposals for a car built to one purpose Jaguar and Aston Martin were well repre- By the evening of Friday, Sept. 8, al- to vanquish Fenari on the racetrack. sented, there was one marque conspicuously most a third of the total GT40 production And it did. outnumbered. A quick scan of the 250-car was parked in the Watkins Glen infield-the "This car changed the face of LeMans," entry list for the Serengti Drivers Cup week- largest gathering of GT40s ever. By Sun- said Quattlebaum. "lt won the 24 Hours end revealed only tkee Fenaris-a '69 512, day, this too, was history. four straight years-1966, '6'7, '68, '69. ln a '69 312P and a '70 365GTB. "I don't think most people actually be- fact, the cars were so successful that they What's happening? According to Quattle- lieved it was really going to happen," said triggered a rules change (when the ?.o.liter baum, too many Ferrari owners have suc- Alex Quattlebaum, president of SVRA. cars were banned at LeMans after 1967). " cumbed to the tyranny of figures. Six- and "But we've had calls about the reunion for It's been almost two decades since the seven-digit figures. over a year. There are cars here from all last GT40 competed in an intemationally- "Ferrari participation? It's gone away," across the U.S., from England, from Scot- sanctioned event. But vintage racerc, who said Quattlebaum. "And yet the price of re- land. The eventjust took off." began operating on a limited scale almost pairing a Fenari hasn't increased proportion- AUTOWEEK SEPIEMBER 25. 1989 loan since 1976 to the lndianapolis Motor atelv to the cosl of buying one lt doesn t cosl Speedway Museum, the winningest GT40 more to rcpair a Ferrari lender or :ignilicantly in history was purchased recently by noted tdreplace a gearbox or even an engine. than Ferrari collector and GT40 enthusiast Har- it did-a few years ago. ll il was $15.000 for a r,ricev than their Italian counterparts. paddocl was ley Cluxton. panel flve years ago, it's not much more Th'e consensus in The Glen body Cluxton has owned a series of GT40s, But the same car that five that there wasn't a single Ford GT present than ihat today. if including one he bought and sold three yeaA ago \\as wonh $50.000 may now be which would b ng less than $1 million, specu- times. If paddock gossip was accurate, he wonh $J00.000. So lhe o$ners don l bring its owner cared to seil. Some owners Mark IIs could now owned not only the winningest GT40, anymore. Not to race." lated that the few remaining them out but the pric'esl- # 1075 s value was esti- that malady doesn't appear to command close to $2 million, more if the Luckil). mated at $6 million to $7 million. have alfected lhe CT40 owners. Fifteen car had a siqnificant race history. Friday evening, 38 GT40s gidded along 34 cars competing in the Group 5 And thei there was GT40 # 1075 lf oi the the pit straight. The crowd, theorizing the were Ford GTs-GT40s, Mark there was a superstar among all this mar_ category collection's combined net wofth, settled on Mark lls or Mark lvs. The Ford GT velous machinery, the No. 6 GT40 made Is. million for this gaggle of "old Fords.' race had 16 entries, including a srrong bid. Still rn its light blue livery $50 exhibition to that the 250 other vintage and an- 68- 69 LeMans winner lchassis and orange "moustache"-the John Wyer/ Add rhe tique cars parked in the paddock ald across 1075), lhe last Alan Mann chassis Gulf racing colors-this car possessed a # the infield the concours entries gridded be- (# XGT3), the only remaining GT40-based most incredible log book. BOAC hind the pit buildings, the Peterbilt dgs and Mirage (# Ml000l) and the oldest remain- In 1968 it won outright at the Watkins Glen and ransporters colorfully aliSned behind the ga- ing GT40 (# 103). 500. Soa. LeMans and ln '69 il rages--and the dollar figure soared into the Some significant racing history was at risk took iri class at lhe Nurburgring. unprece- hundreds of millions. on the 3.3-mile Watkins road course. But fol won at Sebring and then anothel, But, regardless ol value, they raced. the GT40 crowd. the choice-risk versus dented, win at LeMans-the first car ever to The scene from the pit roof Saturday revs, price versus passion-was easy. win the French classic twice. and on moming could have been the start of the And not because the cars were any less Owned for Years bY Gulf Oil AUTOWEEK SEPTEMBER 25, 1989 Marty Yacobian pilots the JWA/Gull car (below) which raced twice at LeMans and now competes in vintage events Six Hours of Endurance, circa 1968. Be- hind the pit lane, on the false grid, staged for a practice session was a butterscotch N1claren M8, a Porsche 908, a red Lola T-70, a cream-colored Porsche 906, two GT40s, another Lola (white), three more GT40s, a Lotus 23, a Chevron and a tri-col- ored Corvette Gran Sport-a view through a time warp into the '60s. But the Testarossa and Oeo Metro parked in the infield near the skidpad were a con- stant reminder. This wasn't 1968. The ar mosphere was too casual. It was less urgent than 1968. But no less mesmerizing. The GT40, without questioo, is one of the most purposefully beautiful race cars ever built. Like a modem Group C car, it when the confusion began. "Where did that come from? That's has a squared nose. doors lhat bite into But Spain confirmed its authenticity. # l02ll" Spajn shouls Bleefully. l lives in its roof and wide, rounded hips. "Here, right here," he said, reaching into Scotland. It's the closest one to my house and Only 40.5 inches high (hence the name), the side duct. "Ah, yes. There it is." Spain I ve never seen it up close. His eyes lit up its stance----at speed or at rest-is threatening looked like a proctologist as he probed the like a miner uncovering his first gold nugget.