Shelby Collectibles 1:18 1966 Ford GT-40 MK11 #98: Daytona 24 Hours After Race Edition

The Ford GT40 is an American high-performance endurance racing car. The Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III variants were designed and built in England based upon the British Lola Mk6. The Mk IV model was designed and built in the United States. The range was powered by a series of American-built Ford V8 engines modified for racing. Initially the GT40 wasn't a racing success until the project was moved to the US were further development vastly improved the car's performance.

The GT40 effort was launched by Ford Motor Company to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari, which won every 24 Hours of Le Mans race from 1960 to 1965. The GT40 broke Ferrari's streak in 1966 and went on to win the next three annual races. The Mk II's victory was the first win for an American manufacturer in a major European race since Jimmy Murphy's triumph with Duesenberg at the 1921 French Grand Prix. In 1967, the Mk IV became the only car designed and built entirely in the United States to achieve the overall win at Le Mans.

The Mk 1, the oldest of the cars, won in 1968 and 1969, the second chassis to win Le Mans more than once. (This Ford/Shelby chassis #P-1075 was believed to have been the first until the Ferrari 275P chassis 0816 was revealed to have won the 1964 race after winning the 1963 race in 250P configuration and with a 0814 chassis plate). Using an American Ford V8 engine, originally of 4.7-liter displacement capacity (289 cubic inches), it was later enlarged to the 4.9-liter engine (302 cubic inches), with custom alloy Gurney–Weslake cylinder heads.

Early cars were simply named "Ford GT" for Grand Touring), the name of Ford's project to prepare the cars for the international endurance racing circuit. The "40" represented its height of 40 inches (1.02 m), measured at the windshield, the maximum allowed. The first 12 "prototype" vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 to GT-112. The "production" began and the subsequent cars: the MkI, MkII, MkIII, and MkIV were numbered GT40P/1000 through GT40P/1145, and thus officially "GT40s". The Mk IVs were numbered J1-J12.

The contemporary Ford GT is a modern homage to the GT40.

The Mk.II was very similar in appearance to the Mk.I but used the 7.0-liter FE (427 ci) engine from the Ford Galaxie, used in NASCAR at the time and modified for road course use. The car's chassis was similar to the British-built Mk.I chassis, but it and other parts of the car had to be redesigned and modified by Shelby to accommodate the larger and heavier 427 engine. A new Kar Kraft-built four-speed gearbox replaced the ZF five-speed used in the Mk.I. This car is sometimes called the Ford Mk.II.

In 1966, the three teams racing the Mk.II (Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme and Ken Miles, and Dick Hutcherson and Ronnie Bucknum) dominated Le Mans, taking European audiences by surprise and beating Ferrari to finish 1-2-3 in the standings. The Ford GT40 went on to win the race for the next three years.

The 1966 24 Hours of Daytona was a key race in Ken Mile's 1966 racing season. After winning the 24 Hours of Daytona with the #98 GT40 and the 24 Hours of Sebring, Miles only had to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans to become the only driver to win the Triple Crown in a single racing season. But after the controversial result at Le Mans, Ken was robbed of the Triple Crown