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It’s well-documented that Ford dominated the 1966 Le Mans endurance race with their now-iconic trio of GT40 race cars. Wind the clock back a few short years from that all-important victory, though, and we discover exactly where the GT40 name came from. GT is simple – this Ford was designed as a GT car, which stands for Grand Touring. The first seven examples built by Ford carried VINs starting with ‘Ford GT’, whereas every example that followed sported ‘Ford GT40′. It’s the ’40’ part of the GT40’s name that carries more significance, and the reason behind it can be traced back to Lunn’s earliest of designs.

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A gentleman and designer by the name of Roy Lunn began designing the GT40 by building upon an existing design — specifically, a design penned by Eric Broadley. His MK6 Lola GT racer sat at around 42 inches tall –  Lunn lopped two inches from this, thus creating a 40-inch taller racer. Hence, the car was dubbed GT40.

Lunn also had to consider what the GT40’s body had to encompass. Being a midship racer, the highest point would naturally be central, as this is where a powerful V8 would be housed. According to the 1966 Le Mans victory press release, “the essential components could be installed in a vehicle silhouette of 156 inches long, 40 inches high (hence the name – Mark 1 (GT40)) and 95 inch wheelbase and still meet the FIA requirements”. Therein lies the secret behind the GT40’s globally famous name.

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Now that we’ve established the origins of the Ford GT40’s iconic name, it would be beneficial to explore the car’s actual origin story. When did the GT40 come about, why was it created, and how did it manage to develop such an inspiring legacy?

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Rumors were circulating in the early 1960s that Ferrari was in trouble financially. Sure, the Italian sports and racing car manufacturer had enjoyed immense success on the track, but creating winning cars had left Enzo almost bankrupt. Ferrari needed a buyer.

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Among the more serious interested parties was Henry Ford II — grandson of automobile pioneer Henry Ford, also a wealthy businessman with a booming company and the funds to pull Ferrari out of dire straits. Negotiations between the two automakers progressed swiftly. However, a newswire released on May 22, 1963, confirmed that “such negotiations have been suspended by mutual agreement”.

Ferrari had leveraged Ford’s interest and secured an offer from Fiat — a fellow Italian automaker who understood Enzo’s passion and direction for racing. Keen not to be undermined, Henry Ford II instructed a crack team to develop a racing car with this simple brief: “A racing GT car that will have the potential to compete successfully in major road races such as Sebring and Le Mans.”

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Among the team responsible for developing this racing GT car was none other than Caroll Shelby, the legendary racer, car builder, and race team boss. Working alongside him were the aforementioned car designer Roy Lunn, Eric Broadley, who developed the Lola MK6 GT racer, and John Wyer, who had won at Le Mans with Shelby as team boss.

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Lunn had already been busy developing visions for the new GT car, using Broadley’s Lola as a solid starting point. While the Lola was certainly an impressive sports car, Ford needed to develop something revolutionary – they had just 10 months to build a car that could trounce Ferrari at their own game, and Enzo had a decade-plus of experience already under his belt.

Ultimately, after many suspension failures, blown transmissions, poor aerodynamics, Ford finally perfected the recipe, and developed a racer that could beat Ferrari on the streets of France. In 1966, Ford secured a 1-2-3 victory at Le Mans – a result that would inspire gearheads for decades to come, and was recently reimagined with great detail in the Oscar-winning “Ford Vs Ferrari” film.

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