ManicSlots' slot cars and scenery: NEWS: Slot.it Ford GT40 Le Mans 1968

Slot.it Ford GT40
CW16, 'Winners Collection' Le Mans 1968

Slot.it have published some of the next release in their 'Le Mans Winners' limited edition collection series, the GT40 that won the 1968 running of the greatest endurance race on the earth. In excitement, I showed my wife this latest release. Her response was a little along the lines of, 'don't you already have several of those'. Gulf Motorsport and the Ford GT40, what an epic combination and yes Slot.it have releases a Gulf liveried GT40 in the Winner's Collection before, the number 6 car that won Le Mans in 1969. Will this be stopping me from adding the number 9 car that won Le Mans in 1968, hell no!

I've always been a huge fan of Slot.it, they were one of the manufactures (along with Fly) that got me back into slotting in a big way. Releases like the McLaren M8E/D, Porsche 911 GT1, Nissan 89C, Audi R8, Matra MS670 and working with companies such as Policar will guarantee Slot.it are around for another decade producing the slot cars we love to race.

From Wikipedia: 'The Ford GT40 is a high performance American-British endurance racing car, built and designed in England (Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III) and in the United States (Mk IV) respectively, and powered by a series of American-built engines, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four consecutive times, from 1966 to 1969 (1966 being the Mk II, 1967 the Mk IV, and 1968-1969 the oldest chassis design, the Mk I).

In 1966, at the attendance of Henry Ford II himself in Le Mans, the Mk II GT40 provided Ford with the first overall Le Mans victory for an American manufacturer and the first victory for an American manufacturer at a major European race since Jimmy Murphy´s triumph with Duesenberg at the 1921 French Grand Prix.

The Mk IV GT40, which won the race in 1967, remains, to this day, the only car designed and built entirely in the United States to claim an overall win at Le Mans.'

From the Slot.it sales team: 'The Ford GT40 is one of the most famous cars in Le Mans history, having won the 24 Hours four times in a row. In 1966 it was with the MK II version, in 1967 with the MK IV, in 1968 and 1969 with the first one, MK I. It was built to compete against Ferrari, who had won Le Mans six times in a row from 1960 to 1965. The development of 'Mk I' was carried mainly by Ford Advanced Vehicle in England, joined in 1965 by Carroll Shelby. It was a car built for racing, but also for road circulation; the name 'GT40' comes from the height from ground, which is 40 inches.

The car had a steel and aluminum semi-monocoque chassis, a body made of fiberglass and a V8 engine, originally 4.7 liter, than enlarged to a 4.9 liter. The blue and orange car managed to win the race with a 5-lap lead (67 km) after 24 hours of racing.

The GT40 was also the first car in Le Mans history to win the race more than once, with the same chassis #1075, in 1968 and 1969. In 1968 the Ford GT40 achieved its third consecutive victory, with car n.9 driven by Mexican Pedro Rodriguez and Belgian Lucien Bianchi.'