218 | THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL SALE
178
1987 SAFIR GT40 MARK V COUPÉ
Registration no. to be advised
Chassis no. GT40-P-1119- One of only 40 Mark V cars made
- First owned by Lord Beaverbrook
- Two owners from new
- Recently restored
Based on Eric Broadleys Lola GT, the Ford GT40 was spawned by
the Dearborn giants ambition to beat Ferrari at Le Mans, a feat it duly
achieved for the first time in 19 . The GT40 proQect had commenced
three years previously following Ford's failed attempt to buy into Ferrari,
and was based at the Ford Advanced Vehicles plant at Slough. The man
in charge of the predominantly ex-Lola team was John Wyer, architect of
Aston Martin's 1959 Le Mans victory.
The GT40 first ran competitively in 19 4, but failed at Le Mans that year
and in 19 5. That first sweet Le Mans victory would fall to the 7-litre Mark
00, with victory the following year going to a <S-built Mark 0V J car. (The
GT40 Mark 000 was the British-built road-going version). Wyer and John
Willment had taken over the Slough factory in January 19 7, forming J W
Automotive Engineering, and with backing from Gulf Oil further developed
the GT40, winning Le Mans in 19 7 and using chassis number
P1075, the first car to win Le Mans twice.
A decade on, and the GT40s status as an all-time great classic sports
car had been firmly established, leading to an increased demand for
unmolested originals and the start of a replica-building industry. One
enthusiast on the lookout for the genuine article at that time was Peter
Thorp of Safir Engineering, whose frustration at not being able to find one
led him to John Willment.Willment retained a large stock of GT40 spares, tools, Qigs and original
plans, while Thorps company Safir had constructed Formula 3 cars.
Their discussions led to the obvious conclusion: resources could be
pooled and production re-started. Negotiations with Ford in Dearborn led to agreement that further
examples could be built, with Safir continuing the run of chassis numbers
from the point of completion, but allowing for a further three 'original'
chassis to be completed and registered, since Willment was intending
to, one day finalise the GT40 build programme by finally constructing
the three chassis and boxes of parts he still held in storage. As the final
chassis had been GTP10 , he retained 10 7, 10 and 10 9.
The first Safir chassis would therefor be 1090. - Trevor Legate, Ford
GT40, Production Racing History.