Dan Gurney’s Ford GT40-Sebring 1966
Mar 29, 2019 17:34:12 GMT -5
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sandysixtysfan and racermagic like this
Post by 1961redlegs on Mar 29, 2019 17:34:12 GMT -5
I just finished this afternoon my replica of Dan Gurney’s and Jerry Grant’s Ford GT40 from the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring.
Ford came to Sebring after a dominant performance in the Daytona 24-Hour, eager to continue it’s success and prepare for LeMans.
On race day, Gurney started on pole, but trouble struck right at the start, as his engine wouldn’t fire right away as the rest of the field passed him by.
After starting the engine, Gurney raced through the field, soon finding himself in a fierce fight for the lead with Ken Miles.
Tragedy struck multiple times in the race, as the Comstock Racing GT40 of Bob McLean crashed and caught fire, killing McLean. Later in the race, Don Wester’s Porsche crashed into the crowd, killing four spectators.
The Gurney/Grant Ford came within an ace of winning, but the engine failed on the last lap. The Miles/Ruby Ford passed Gurney as he pushed it across the line in a vain attempt to finish. Gurney’s heroics, while appreciated, were illegal and the officials disqualified the car. In spite of the Gurney engine failure, Ford swept the top three spots.
This car is a Fujimi GT40, with one slight alteration. This car had a dome to accommodate the tall Gurney and Grant, but wasn’t yet the tear drop shape of the Le Mans GT40s. To accurately reflect what the dome looked like, I found a spare 1/72 scale Spitfire spinner back, cleaned it up and placed it on the roof. Other than that, I built the car box stock.
I painted the car Tamiya Deep Metallic Blue and used Indycals decals. I used a mixture of Tamiya Metallic Gray and Tamiya Gold to replicate the color of the wheels, and I like the result.
Thanks for looking!
Ford came to Sebring after a dominant performance in the Daytona 24-Hour, eager to continue it’s success and prepare for LeMans.
On race day, Gurney started on pole, but trouble struck right at the start, as his engine wouldn’t fire right away as the rest of the field passed him by.
After starting the engine, Gurney raced through the field, soon finding himself in a fierce fight for the lead with Ken Miles.
Tragedy struck multiple times in the race, as the Comstock Racing GT40 of Bob McLean crashed and caught fire, killing McLean. Later in the race, Don Wester’s Porsche crashed into the crowd, killing four spectators.
The Gurney/Grant Ford came within an ace of winning, but the engine failed on the last lap. The Miles/Ruby Ford passed Gurney as he pushed it across the line in a vain attempt to finish. Gurney’s heroics, while appreciated, were illegal and the officials disqualified the car. In spite of the Gurney engine failure, Ford swept the top three spots.
This car is a Fujimi GT40, with one slight alteration. This car had a dome to accommodate the tall Gurney and Grant, but wasn’t yet the tear drop shape of the Le Mans GT40s. To accurately reflect what the dome looked like, I found a spare 1/72 scale Spitfire spinner back, cleaned it up and placed it on the roof. Other than that, I built the car box stock.
I painted the car Tamiya Deep Metallic Blue and used Indycals decals. I used a mixture of Tamiya Metallic Gray and Tamiya Gold to replicate the color of the wheels, and I like the result.
Thanks for looking!
