VERY IMP. NEW GT RACE CARS FOR LEMANS


gtjoey

gtjoey

Keep Smiling - GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 14, 2005
3,455
Well, ive never let you down before, so here WE go again,anyone faint of heart or your spouse makes the decisions go back to another thread on how to wax a gt tail light.
THAT LITTLE BIRDIE NAMED JOHNNY JUST FLEW IN MY WINDOW AGAIN, BRINGING MORE GREAT NEWS, HI JOHNNY WHATS THE SCORE? GT I JUST GOT WORD FORD WILL PRODUCE/TEST AND PREPARE 2 BRAND NEW GT'S FOR LEMANS 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!! BABY :banana .......... , BBBUUUTTT GT ,YES JOHNNY, THEY NEED THE FUNDING. :biggrin I HEARD GT ,THAT YOU WILL BE THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE TEAM AS USUAL WITH A MICROPHONE IN HAND AS ALWAYS. YES, SHOULD I WEAR MY BLACK PIN STRIPE SUIT JOHNNY? SURE GT BUT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HOW MUCH IN FUNDING FOR THE PROJECT YOU WILL NEED ,GT ? IF I HAD TO GUESS FOR 2 FULL TEAMS TESTED,PROVEN AND READY TO GO , ABOUT 8 TO 10 MILLION, :thumbsup WOW ! YOU HIT IT RIGHT ON THE NOSE.. AND YOU DIDNT EVEN KISS ME ON THE NOSE, BATTA BING.. OKAY JOHNNY FLY BACK TO DETROIT AND I WILL POST A LETTER TO ALL THAT HAS THE GUTS, STAMINA, DETERMINATION AND THE RAW FEELING OF DOING SOMETHING , NOT ONLY GOOD FOR THEM SELVES ,THE USA AND FOR FORD!!!!!!!!!! :usa
WELL THERE YOU GO MY FRIENDS EMAIL ME PRIVATE!!!!!! IM IN!!!! ITS ALOT OF DOUGH BUT THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!P.S POST YOUR THOUGHTS HERE TOO AS FORD CAN SEE WHAT EVERYONE THINKS!!!!!! LOVING LIFE AGAIN GTJOEY 1314 :thumbsup , TRYING TO KEEP THE FORUM FROM GETTING STALE :ack
 
tell me your serious about this and not just starting rumours
:banana :wink
neil
 
So what's the proposal here? Do we get to buy shares in Ford GT racing or what? How do we get in? Who needs to be schmoozed?
 
Will this info be shared with GT owners? Who would like to actually race their cars?
 
As a privateer? Good luck it would be cool to see. As for FORD officialy entering Le Mans.... Why would they ask for the funds? They run the two astons already and they have thought about pulling the plug on WRC many times. Too risky IMHO if the GT fails to win it could hurt the legend!
 
The current 2005 & 2006 GTs can't be raced in LeMans due to several violations (ie, superchargers aren't allowed). They would have to build them specifically for LeMans & I'm assuming they'd use pro racers (not the average GT owner who'd like to race but doesn't have the experience). Even if they didn't win, but finished in the top 10 or so, it wouldn't be a bad thing. However, if they were to race 2 of them & neither finished the race for mechanical or even driver error, that wouldn't be cool. Regardless, I'd love to see that happen!!! :biggrin :thumbsup
 
not hijacking this thread;

was contacted by a guy that is bringing 6 gt's over for racing; he ran a touring car team (ford) in the 70's+80's.
plans to keep a couple for road use.
 
GT Joey is getting ahead of himself. :lol

Look, the deal here is that a Ford GT could be built to be raced in ALMS for about $18-20 million dollars. I'm assuming either LMGT1 or LMGT2. I talked in depth with Gene Martindale, the ex-Team Oreca Viper team manager and man who would lead this effort on the track, about the situation. He's a fanatical racer, and virtually unbeatable behind the wheel of a stock production Ford GT. That Viper GTS-R team also consisted of Neil Hanneman (he of development fame) and Tommy Archer (he of excessively fast driving fame).

I've dragged this information to Ford Motor as best I can, but you can go to any financial website, check the latest press releases, and assess the likelihood of FMC dropping $18-20 mil on a race team of a car they will no longer produce (Look how active, or inactive, they are in racing now). If people are interested, it won't be an operation financed by 100 guys. It's going to take a privateer with a ton of a) cash b) time c) cash. I'm not trying to rain on the parade, but you have to be honest with people. I'll see what I can find out about how we can actually help make this happen, if at all.

Would I love to see a GT on a racetrack driven by Gene, whooping C6R ass? Sure. Is Ford going to pay for it? No. Is it going to take a lot more than $8 mil? Absolutely.
 
ALWAYS THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE STORY COMES FROM BY BUDDY FROM DETROIT!! :biggrin . DBK, your never going to see you social security check so pony up now my friend!!!! 500, a million , im putting you in my little black book. :thumbsup . The point here is there is something, a trick of light keeping the gt going. IMAGINE EVEN IF JUST SALEEN RUNS IN 07 ,AND WE GO AS SPECTATORS, MAYBE SHIPPING OUR GT"S!!!!! DRIVING THROUGH EUROPE FOR A WEEK OR 2 , NOW HOWS THAT BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR NEXT YEARS EVENT HHMMMMMM... BARTLETT WHERE ARE YOU DIDNT YOU DO THIS A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO WITH THE JAGS...........ENJOY GTJOEY 1314 AND NOT DRINKING THE DETROIT NEGATIVE COOLAID :thumbsup
 
TLP said:
As a privateer? Good luck it would be cool to see. As for FORD officialy entering Le Mans.... Why would they ask for the funds? They run the two astons already and they have thought about pulling the plug on WRC many times. Too risky IMHO if the GT fails to win it could hurt the legend!
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GT Joey, we all agree YOU ARE THE MAN! However....I hate to rain on anyone's parade but I agree that the days of the privateers at LeMans are long gone. With sufficient factory backing for R&D, testing, top drivers, etc. you can be competitive with a Gremlin. Look what AMC was able to do in the Trans Am during the waning years of the pony car wars. Even the mighty Aston Martins only occasionally beat the Corvettes. A former friend of mine who professionally races Mustangs tried to put together a Ford GT racing program 2 years ago. First you have to come up with a package that is acceptable to the sanctioning body. This is no simple task. But more importantly Ford decided it wanted to concentrate its sport car racing efforts on the Mustang instead. I don't think a privateer GT losing to a Vette would hurt the legend, but it wouldn't enhance it either. So if it happens I'll root from the sidelines and cheer the team on. :banana
 
Yeah its a tough road, but you never know. Some dumb ass named HENRY FORD II did it ,remember, whos laughing about that now...... BUT HOW ABOUT GOING AS CHEERLEADERS FOR SALEEN BUT BRINGING THE GT"S TO DRIVE THROUGH EUROPE. NOW THAT SOUNDS COOL. :thumbsup wELL THE WHEELS ARE ALWAYS SPINNING MY FRIEND, I JUST FIQUIRED BEFORE DBK SETTLES DOWN ,BUYS A HOUSE,HAS KIDS AND LOOSES ALL HIS HAIR IT WAS WORTH THE SHOT :biggrin . ENJOY MY FRIEND GTJOEY 1314 AND STILL LOVING IT!! :thumbsup
 
gtjoey said:
Yeah its a tough road, but you never know. Some dumb ass named HENRY FORD II did it...
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Remember, Henry and his empire also wrote a blank check and gave the team carte blanche to blow whatever amount it took to beat Ferrari.

The DBK empire...not so much. :lol
 
Hey , can we borrow maybe just one check out of the old mans account when he and edsel are on vacation? :biggrin . DBK i just got some great photos from gennadi on disc. give me a buzz tomorrow , im blowing one up of you and i ,see what you think. thanks buddy gtjoey 1314 :thumbsup
 
gtjoey said:
...... BUT HOW ABOUT GOING AS CHEERLEADERS FOR SALEEN BUT BRINGING THE GT"S TO DRIVE THROUGH EUROPE. NOW THAT SOUNDS COOL. :thumbsup wELL THE WHEELS ARE ALWAYS SPINNING MY FRIENDthumbsup
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Now that would be one helluva road trip that would be out of sight! Keep those wheels spinnin' :thumbsup
 
Ford GT wins at LeMans!!!

That headline is about as likely as a 50 year old guy with no astronaut training flying a 1 off 1 seat fiberglass rocket powered plane into space and returning safely to earth and then repeating the stunt 8 days later in the same plane!! IT CAN'T BE DONE!!!........anywhere else. But in America we can do anything, just like the California crew (Rutan & Paul Allen) did a few months ago with Spaceship One. That spaceshot stunt cost 6 to 20 million to win the 1 million dollar X Prize. A drop in the bucket to an Allen, Leno, Gates, Branson, and the list goes on. You can't take it with you and if I had the money, I'd do it just to say I did it. There are a lot of people who do have the money. You just need to find 'em and ask. Guys have spent over a hundred MILLION dollars trying to fly around the world in a balloon. I bet somebody with the means would love to take the GT back to victory lane at LeMans. DBK is right, cash, time, & cash. Get on the phone Joey. :cheers

Chip
 
Dear jay,bill and sophia loren :biggrin , she s always in the picture. Okay ill start the phone calls, dbk get ready your gonna get those late nite calls again :thumbsup . . Im starting with rupert down in florida first, then billy g. , then jay. will keep you all in touch , thanks gtjoey1314 :thumbsup
 
Well, as much as I would love to see the GT go over there and kick some tail again, I don't see any advantage in doing so. The automibile legend has been made, the car is now out of production, Ford is restructuring and losing money right now, the only thing that the GT could accomplish is a win. The absolute worse thing would be a loss, and I see no advantage for Ford to do so, take such a risk ..... for what? The car is a legend, leave it in that position. It would be like making "The Magnificent Seven" again with the likes of Clooney, Pitt, and a few other poofers, etc. Just isn't the time or the place to risk such a lofty reputation and heritage.

Now having said that, I would love to see the GT kick some major Eurotrash Butt and sit on top again. Would that be great ! :banana :cheers :biggrin
 
If Ford would have put the money into the GT 3 years ago, instead of the Aston Martin's, they might have had a chance. But the Corvette team is well funded and very strong so the wins would have been few and far between.

Today, you have to have big bucks and the best drivers. I sponsor a pair of Porsche 997's in the Grand Am series. We're in first place with the #49 car. The cost is unbelievable, even for a production class like Grand Am.

Also, the 1960's is not everything it was cracked up to be. The Ford and Ferrari wars were not won the first 2 years by Ford, and they they just flooded the field with GT40's in 1966 to get the win. Here's the history:

1964 Le Mans Winner: Ferrari 275P with a 3.2L V-12. All 3 Ford GT40's that entered did not finish the race. All the 1964 Ford GT40's were running 4.2L V-8's.

In 1964 Ford did win the GT class with a Cobra Daytona Coupe. If you don't know what a Daytona Coupe looks like, here's a picture of one of my FFR Coupes: http://www.ffcobra.com/POM/june2003POM.jpg

1965 Le Mans Winner: Ferrari 250LM with a 3.3L V-12. Ford entered 6, yes SIX Ford GT40's in the 1965 race and guess what? They were all DNF's. 2 of the cars were running 427's and 4 were using the new 289 (4.7L).

1966 Le Mans Winner: Ford GT40 with a 427. OK, but let's put this into perspective... Ford had 14 Ford GT40's entered into the 1966 Le Mans race. Yes, it took 14 cars. Yes, Ford had a 1-2-3 finish, but how could they lose? Eight of the Ford GT40's were running 427's and the rest had 289's. Ferrari had 8 cars entered in the prototype class.

Only 3 of the 14 Ford GT40's finished the race in 1966. The others were crashed or DNF'd. The Porsche 906's were becoming a real threat. They out did Ferrari.

1967 Le Mans Winner: Ford GT40 Mark IV with a 427. There were 12 GT40's entered in the race and just 2 finished; first and fourth place. 7 cars had 427's, 3 had 289's and 2 had 305's.

Ferrari finished 2nd with a 330P4 with a 4.0L V-12. A similar car finished 3rd.

1968 Le Mans Winner: Ford GT40 with a 4.9L V-8. Ford was not supporting the GT40's, so only 5 were entered. 4 of the cars had the 4.9L (302) and 1 had a 289. The FIA had limited the displacement to 5 liters for 1968. Ferrari had withdrawn from sports car racing to focus on F1, so no Ferrari team cars were entered.

1969 Le Mans Winner: Ford GT40 with a 4.9L V-8. This year 7 Ford GT40's were entered by private teams. They all ran 4.9L V-8's (302), except 1 289. NART had entered a Ferrari 250LM that had promise, but ended up 4th in class; 8th over-all.

That was the end of the Ford GT40 dominance at Le Mans.

- Bill
 
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Good info Bill!
 
LeMans attempt.

AtomicGT said:
Well, as much as I would love to see the GT go over there and kick some tail again, I don't see any advantage in doing so. The automibile legend has been made, the car is now out of production, Ford is restructuring and losing money right now, the only thing that the GT could accomplish is a win. The absolute worse thing would be a loss, and I see no advantage for Ford to do so, take such a risk ..... for what? The car is a legend, leave it in that position. It would be like making "The Magnificent Seven" again with the likes of Clooney, Pitt, and a few other poofers, etc. Just isn't the time or the place to risk such a lofty reputation and heritage.

Atomic,
While I agree that there is no advantage, I view that as irrelevant. No advantage is being sought as Ford would not provide major funding anyway. There is no advantage to climbing Everest, flying around the world in a balloon, bicycling across the U.S., or putting a man on the moon. You do it just to prove that you can. Regarding the moon shot Kennedy put it best when he said, "We do not seek to do this because it is easy, we seek to do it because it is hard." He did it for the prestiege of the nation and because he understood that all real happiness is the bi-product of accomplishment. The ability to say, "I did it". The absolute worst thing is not a loss to me, it's quitting, followed closely by failing to try because of fear of failure. Everyone who attempts something as difficult as summiting Everest or winning at LeMans does so against enormous odds. The risk of failure is not only far greater than the chance of success, more people have died trying than have won Lemans or made it to the top of Everest. To some, such long odds say, "It's not worth it". To a few, those same long odds draw them like a magnet and make the ultimate success, to those few who acchieve it, all the more satisfying. Last, as to tarnishing the GT luster with a loss, I disagree. The GT40 lost in 1964, 1965, 1970, and 1971 (the last time a GT40 raced at LeMans). I say put the GT back in the arena that made it famous. The triumph of high achievement is not possible without an ATTEMPT. In the end, if the more likely occurs with a loss or DNF, the GT will still have returned home and will have finished ahead of all other marks that know neither victory or defeat. And if you think the party in Detroit was something, just wait till about 100 of us ship our cars to France for a 2 week warm up before the race. You ain't seen nothing yet!!! :cheers
JMO
Chip
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