February 23, 2020
#419
Gentle reader,
There can be no doubt that the development and eventual dominance of the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance sports car racing of the mid to late 1960's is solely as a result of Enzo Ferrari backing out of a deal to sell his car company to the Ford Motor Company.
It is a story that has been told many times. I was born in the mid 1950's and was a car nut from early on. Our parents encouraged my brother and I by buying us an Aurora Model Motoring HO slot car set. One car I had to have was a Ford GT40.
Although I do not know the chassis number of this particular car, it IS a Mark I Ford GT, dubbed "GT40" by the press because the top of the roof was only forty inches high.
Note the wire wheels, narrow tires and chrome "wing" mirrors. Many Ford GTs were bought to be driven on the street by wealthy and daring men. There was even a Mark III GT.
Seven were built starting in 1967. Chassis numbers M3/1101 through 1107.
As you can see, they are QUITE different. Four round headlights, bumperettes front and rear, large hinged side windows, wing mirrors, lockable doors, F O R D lettering on the front and a much longer tail to provide an actual trunk, and of course exhaust mufflers.
I show you these, and especially this photo to highlight an engine difference between the two 1:18th scale models I will be discussing.
I have owned the bottom car, made by Universal Hobbies for MANY years.
The new Solido model which just arrived yesterday, was a surprise to me in that I had not seen them before. I had been desiring a better model but the ones I had seen were quite expensive. These Solido models are not.
In researching this article, I looked through many of my books on the Ford GT.
"The American Challenge" is a Ford Motor Company press office release from the 1960's.
The red light in the center of the radiator opening on the Solido model surprised me. While I could have scanned countless photos from these books for this article, I chose instead to find some online since the US Supreme Court had ruled that any photo put online does not have a copyright. A lot of very unhappy photographers out there upon finding that out.
Yet, there it is on the very same chassis #1075 during the 1969 Le Mans 24 Hour race. The photo below shows the Porsche 908 which battled this GT40 swapping the lead many times in the final hours of the race.
I have not determined the reason for that light nor the one on the right quarter panel you will see shortly. Both models have that, but only on the Solido is it obvious. You can see that light behind the rear wheel/tire on both, above and below, but the Solido's is a separate part.
Another thing I had not noticed were the openings in the body above the taillights. I have seen photos of people carrying the rear bodywork with their hands in those holes.
The rear bodywork on the UH model (right) opens, but it is not made to be opened on the Solido model. Which is a shame.
But, the 1970 Porsche 917K, number two does not have ANYTHING that opens.
Let's talk about color. Here are all four of my 1:18th scale Gulf liveried racers. Note that all three blues are slightly different. The #2 Porsche 917K is also a UH model, so it is closest to the GT40. The #20 917K is an AUTOart model and it is slightly different shade. But let's face it, the Solido GT40 is too green. Do I care? Not really. Does it bother the OCD part of my brain. YES. But, I will keep it nonetheless. I had actually ordered the model of THIS car, the 1968 winner. In case you did not know it, it is the SAME car. The ONLY car to win Le Mans outright twice. Note how the orange nose paint rises towards the wheel opening on it. Another thing I like about it is the two orange horseshoe stickers on it. That was part of Gulf Oil advertising in 1968. Plus, Pedro Rodriguez was one of the drivers in 1968 and I married a Rodriguez. She's Puerto Rican and Pedro was Mexican. But she also LOVES diecast cars and racing and collecting them. I just LOVE cutaway technical drawings! This is a Mark II car so it has the BIG block 427 Ford NASCAR engine with one Holley four barrel carburetor verses the 1968/69 JW Engineering Mark I cars which used Ford small block 302 (five liter) engines with four two-barrel Webber carburetors.
Note also how NARROW the rear tires are compared to the later raced GT40s which had widened rear bodywork to house the much wider tires.
See how WIDE the tires are and you can see the Webber carbs underneath a shield.
The Solido, as I said, does not have an opening engine cover chose to use the cover. The UH model, since it does open, shows the four two-barrel Webber carbs.
Here is a good view of the cover which is angled by a crease in the center. Note the aluminum cover/shield below the carbs which can also been seen below on another car.
THIS photo explains to me why UH made the openings of the Webber carbs look like they did. See the central tubes in the venturies of the carbs? The were apparently trying to replicate that. IMHO. Now, let's look at the shape of each car's body. For quite a while, I suspected the UH model was not quite right. Remember it was made before there was laser scanning that is often used nowadays. Back then, model designers simply used photographs to make their molds. OH, and the UH model NOT having door glass has always bothered me too. Here is a real Mark I which was modified to house the wider rear tires. Look at it and compare it to the two above.
NOTE: Clicking or tapping on ANY picture will open another window OVER this one where one can examine the photos without the distraction of text. A different view of the cars from above. Note the difference in the width of the orange stripes and the white number's circles. These two photos clearly show the stripe AND diameter of the white circles are more accurate on the Solido model.
Notice how back in those days the the cars always had DIFFERENT numbers from race to race?
That is because each racing venue assigned the numbers to the cars. Often by, but not always by their order in qualifying. In 1967, at Le Mans, they numbered the new Mark IV racers one through five. But come to think of it, the then new Mark II cars were numbered that way in 1966 as well. Note, the lack of a number above.
These three photos are from Canada's Legendary Motorsports. They restored this Mark I and painted it to match the 1969 winner.
Note the shape of the knock-off nuts that secure the wheels on this car. See the difference between the two model's knockoffs? Well, both types are correct. I saw simple almost triangular ones and ones with long "arms". To tighten or loosen them required a heavy brass headed hammer and strong arms. In 1970, racers switched to large hexagonal nuts and used large air powered impact guns instead. That greatly sped up tire changes.
For it's price point, the UM model's engine and what surrounds it is pretty accurate.
For comparison, here are photos of my 1966 Mark II and 1967 Mark IV models, both from Shelby Collectibles.This is number five which finished third in 1966. I chose it because I like it's color. Note the two luggage boxes on each side of the exhaust. The spare tire is under the "frunk" or front trunk. In 1967, they only require one smaller luggage space so the spare was moved to the rear as you can see. I chose number four Mark IV for the same reason and I like to be different. Which is one of the reasons I drive a turbo Volvo wagon with a six-speed manual transmission and not a SUV. I do not know why Solido cut off one side of the rear number circle. That number was angled in some races.
The bottoms of the cars. Solido on the left, UH on the right. Note that the UH chassis angled upward from behind the rear axles whereas the Solido is flat all the way. I do not know which is correct. These are two recently made superb digital renderings of the same car. I'm not sure what the one above is for, but the one below is for Sony's Gran Turismo racing simulation game.
Remember the wheel knockoffs I mentioned? Note the different shape each artist made them. And finally. three photos from the 1969 race. Did you know that by 1968 Ford GT40's were no longer considered prototype racers. They were simply sports cars to the ACO, since so many had been sold and many were street driven.
The JW Engineering (and every other Ford GT40) were considered as field fillers and not contenders for the overall win at any race.
Porsche was the up-and-comer at Le Mans and other races in 1968 and 1969. Ferrari was trying to make a comeback also by 1969.
Yet, in 1968 and 1969, those "little Ford GTs" kept winning races here in the US and overseas. At the 1969 Le Mans race there was only 100 yards between this winning car and Hans Herrmann's Porsche 980 after 3,123.75 MILES. The closest race finish in Le Mans history!
If you enjoyed this article, please take a look at this one I wrote back in 2016:
Here is an excellent video from six years ago at the Goodwood Festival of Speed:
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February 23, 2021
#419
See how WIDE the tires are and you can see the Webber carbs underneath a shield.
The Solido, as I said, does not have an opening engine cover chose to use the cover.
A different view of the cars from above. Note the difference in the width of the orange stripes and the white number's circles.
In 1967, at Le Mans, they numbered the new Mark IV racers one through five. But come to think of it, the then new Mark II cars were numbered that way in 1966 as well.
