Austin Ford GT Event

[Rickmustang]

A Ford GT was held today at the Petrol Lounge in Austin. Amazing cars in the lounge, but not allowed to post. But here are the FGTs that attended.

[Rickmustang]

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[98SVT - was 06GT]

I'm always amazed by how many people prefer the Gulf colors of the Mirage on their Ford GTs.......
When Ford bailed out of racing the MKII GT40s in late 1966 (to build a new J class car completely in the US) they basically gave Ford Advance Vehicles to John Wyer and John Willment. Their JWA revamped the original GT MKI small block car and created the Mirage. It was those Gulf sponsored JWA cars that won LeMans in 1968 and 69. After 69 FIA had again played with the rules so JW took is Gulf money and bought Porsches.

On January 1, 1967, John Wyer―master strategist and veteran of many of the world's great racing battles―opened the doors of a new racing organization, J.W. Automotive Engineering (JWA). The purpose of the new firm was to fill a recent void in the FIA World Manufacturers' Championship caused by Ford's withdrawal from international sports car racing. With modest sponsorship funding from Grady Davis of Gulf Oil Corporation, Pittsburg, JWA built three Prototypes to contest the Championship.

Called M1s, the new Mirages retained much of the successful Ford GT40 concept but utilized a revised roof section featuring a narrower windscreen, with a lightweight, more aerodynamically efficient body. Just four months after the opening of J.W. Automotive the M1s made their debut at Monza in April 1967 with encouraging results. At the following race, the Spa 6 Hours, Jacky Ickx and Dr. Dick Thompson drove their Mirage to victory in the rain at an average speed of 120.5 mph beating the works Ferrari P4 by two laps.