Amazing Ford GT40 Onboard Footage Shows What Classic Racing Was Like
Thanks to The Revs Institute, we can ride along in the Ford GT40 that used to belong to the VP of Gulf Oil, Grady Davis.
If you aren’t already following The Revs Institute on YouTube, you really owe it to yourself to do that right now. Their feed is chock full of excellent vintage race car footage, including onboard helmet cams and dyno runs. They pride themselves in preserving the character of a car and not committing the cardinal sin of over-restoring vintage race cars. They keep a cadre of vintage race cars in tip top, and have them ready to campaign at practically a moment’s notice.
In this video, they’ve called upon the massive talents of pro racing driver Gunnar Jeannette to give this GT40 a shakedown at Palm Beach International Raceway in preparation for the Lime Rock Historic races at the end of August. The video shows the team getting the car ready for the test, and then provides a few full-bore laps of onboard footage straight from Gunnar’s lid. The car’s roaring Ford engine sounds absolutely stellar in the close confines of the ostensibly two-seat road racing legend.
This is Ford GT40 chassis number 1049, which was owned and campaigned by Gulf Oil vice president Grady Davis in the late 1960s. In 1967 he entered the car with a 289 V8 at the famed Daytona race with Jackie Ickx and Dick Thompson driving, where it finished first in class and 6th overall. This car is famous for being the first Ford GT40 in history to wear a Gulf Oil livery (albeit with a different shade of blue), and kicked off an extraordinarily successful racing relationship between Grady Davis and John Wyer’s racing team.
1049 went on to race a few more times, including the 12 hours of Sebring in 67 and 68, but never matched the success of it’s original Daytona outing. Therefore, the car has been restored to its original Daytona livery with a “point in time” restoration that keeps in mind the car’s slapdash build quality, being a mid-60s racing car and all.
We look forward to more videos like this, perhaps from the Lime Rock Historics themselves.
[Source: The Revs Institute on YouTube]