A few things caught my attention
The design of the Ford GT was a combination of imput from from amongst other Roy Lunn and Eric Broadley. So both the Mustang 1 Concept and the Lola MkVI had imput.
The 1965/66 J car was the successor to the heavy MKII but since it was a failure it was never the next GT40 but a parallel design leading to the Ford MKIV .
The putting of the Big block into the Ford GT was called initially (Roy Lunn Kar Kraft)the X-car. Thats why the Can Am car was known as the X-1. The Ford GT40 project (backed fully by Ford) continued right up to the last version the 1967 MKIIB. There is no mention of Ford 1967 Can Am campaign the Jerry Titus T10 "King Cobra" I heared it was called the Cougar when one was sold a couple of years ago. These where all part of Fords Total Performance racing package which covered everything from Endurance racing, Can Am, NASCAR and Drag racing. Why the Ford GT was called a GT when it was often raced as a Prototype in its various forms? Even when it Homolagated in 1965 for Group 4 racing this was not a GT class. Every Ford entry could I supposed to be a GT more this being more applicable to the Cortinas, Fairlanes, Galaxies and Mustangs.
The Can Am Ford G7-A was never raced by Ford but by the Agapiou brother who bought the whole project off Ford in 1967 for $1. Ford hired teams to race its cars after FAV stopped.
Just how much help Ford gave JWAE after they pulled out of racing in 1967 when thew MKIV was ban by rule changes by the FIA we can speculate. If it was in there interest foir publicity and more car sales then it would happen. I would have thought the 1967 Mirage M1 would have been better backed by Ford if it was not counted as a a prototype because not enough had been built to qualify for group 4 or 6 entry.
The unsuccessful 1967 Can Am Honker II lead to the 1968/69 Ford 3 litre because it was designed by the same man Len Terry and probably the same team Alan Mann.
As for the Ford Galaxie "Banana" car I actually asked Parnelli Jones about this car. He told me it was a ruse to get Ford back into NASCAR racing when they felt hard done by because of the Plymouth Hemi engine being approved for racing but their own 427 lightweight not being allowed. He also said that rules were seen in different ways to gain advantage. In the case of his Indy cars side oil coolers also served as aerodynamic aids for downforce.
Regards Allan
