1968 Ford GT40 sports car
This 1968 Ford GT40 Competition Coupe has chassis number GT40P/1073 and was first owned by racing privateer Terry Drury from Rainham, Essex. Drury had been racing chassis number 1005 and in the winter of 1967-1968, was able to purchase this example from JW Automotive Engineering Limited of Slough, Buckinghamshire. The vehicle was purchased as a bare GT40 monocoque chassis plus components. The car was assembled by Drury to his racing specifications. The car was given a tail body section with a design that was taken from a Paul Hawkins mould. Mounted mid-ship was a Ford 289 cubic-inch V8 engine with Weslake heads and Tecalemit-Jackson fuel injection. There engine was mated to a ZF gearbox. The exterior of the car was finished in an 'orangey-gold colour.'
The car made its racing debut on April 7th of 1968 at the British BOAC '500' World Championship. The car was driven by Keith Holland during the first part of the race, until he brought it into the pits due to a potential problem with the engine. Drury took over the reigns and determined the car required a plug change. The car was raced for 91 laps before it retired prematurely due to a loss of oil pressure in the engine.
1968 Ford GT40-American Racing car
The next race for 1073 was at Monza in the 1000 Kilometers race. For this race, the car had been fitted with 48IDA twin-choke downdraught Weber carburetors and the fuel-injection system was removed. This race was also short for the 1073, as it again experienced mechanical difficulties. The car as spun by Drury and it crashed into a barrier.
The car was rebuilt and repaired and brought to Sicily for the Targa Florio. This time, the newly fabricated body panels were painted in white. The car ran five of the ten laps.
At Nurburgring, driving duties were shared by Drury and Terry Sanger. The car made its first racing finish, and was able to secure a 34th position overall. A week later, the car was competing at Spa in torrential rain. The car performed magnificently for twelve laps before a clutch failure side-lined the car for the day. All of the twelve laps had been driven by Drury.
1968 Ford GT40 sports car
In June, the car was sold to Ron Fry who added the car to his magnificent collection of racing pedigree. The purchase was intended for club-racing, which would undoubtedly overwhelm the rest of the racing field. The car was repainted in red and brought to the Castle Combe aerodrome circuit on July 13th of 1968. It easily finished ahead of the competition. A month later, it was driven to a 2nd place finish at Thruxton. On August 31st, the car finished in 1st place at Silverstone. At Brands Hatch, the car was overturned and required a rebuild.