The car looked like a box on wheels.

[Mclaren]

sure it had a 350hp windsor in the bonnet but it was ugly as hell and handled like a dog. Why weren't Ford at the time trying to make cars that looked more sportyer instead of making this ugly repulsive piece of junk. Ford did not even design the GT40 which i regard as a legend-Lola did!. Ford is unimaginitive and lack what it takes to build beautifull automobiles.

[Mclaren]

disregard this post as it was meant for the top 100 car post.

[Nick Short]

I think you meant to press "reply", not "new thread". The Lola was used as inspiration for the Ford GT's layout, but Ford designed a completely new chassis and body from the ground up, making it a new Ford car. There is no Lola in a Ford GT40.

[Mclaren]

Kick it's common knowledge the GT40 was built by Lola.

[Nick Short]

It was built by JW Automotive in Slough, not far from London. Then Kar Kraft and Carroll Shelby took over in the US with the big block cars, before JWA took over once more for '68 and '69. Ford commissioned Lola employees and used some of their premises, but that's how race teams work. Lola themselves were working on their T70, a rival car.......

[Mclaren]

Nick JW automotive was owned by lola. But apart from this i don't care as i love the car regarless. Least it was a real racing car not a gloryified family sedan.

[Nick Short]

JWA was a separate company run by John Wyer (ex-Aston Martin, not Lola) on behalf of Ford. The design of the car came from Dearborn in the US, not Lola. Eric Broadley of Lola worked with Englishman Roy Lunn (seconded from Ford US, not Lola) to put the package together, as Lola had experience in sportscars. The Shelby/Kar Kraft and Alan Mann Mk2 and Mk4 cars were built in the US, not by Lola. Lola had a part to play in the birth of the GT40, but they were building and running their own cars.

[Mclaren]

if that the truth fair enough!, but i have read other information regarding it development.

[Martin Thomas]

Originally posted by Mclaren
if that the truth fair enough!, but i have read other information regarding it development.

You just got your arse kicked on this thread. Lucky you didn't post it where you wanted.. It would have made you look more foolish..

[Mclaren]

you want to dispute what i have said about the Gt40 please feel free and prove me wrong by sourcing info that states so.:)

[wayno]

Where did you get your info mclaren? I didn't know Mother Goose wrote picture books about cars. I'll go with Nick's views here. He has proved to be extremely knowledgable about these things on the forum over quite a period of time.

[Mclaren]

lola has been mentioned numerous times as developing the GT40 for Ford many times in magazines,motoring videos,books etc. I'm not wrong and you can believe Nick if you like, that your business( i wouldn't expect anything more from you). Nick is knowledgable but he is not accurate in this instance on the GT40.

[Nick Short]

Look, members of the Lola team were involved, but that's not the same as saying it was Lola who built the car - Eric Broadley had a 2 year contract from Ford to help primary development, but it was as part of a development team comprising members of Ford UK and Ford US. Ford UK (SVA) and Ford US took over the projects, the US effort for the middle of the GT40 development. They were built in the US (how can that be Lola?) with 7 litre engines, and upon big blocks being outlawed the development went back to the UK with 5 litre engines. Taken further the GT40 became the Mirage, with narrower cockpit, and run in Gulf colours by JWA. JWA built and ran the cars, and later went on to run the Gulf-Porsche 917Ks from the same premises, and I'm sure you're not going to claim that that was a Lola team as well are you?

[Mclaren]

Do you acknowledge that Lola has been mentioned when the GT40 was being developed because if you don't you have not been listening. If your being specific than thats great but i have heared and read many times that the 66 original GT40 was partly dveloped by Lola.

I could not be bothered arguing about this anymore.

If you want to be right fine!

your RIGHT!!!

I don't care either way.

[wayno]

Truth hurts does it? :rolleyes:

[Esses]

McLaren & Martin, please tone it down a little. I just had to explain to my 6yo what "D**khead" meant. Yes, he can read, very well, unfortunately.
McLaren, not to start another argument, but it reads as if you're proceeding on "general information/hearsay" where Nick is talking from specific knowledge. It's not a matter of "who wins the argument", there's no points on offer, believe me. Reading Nick's posts, I've just learnt a few things that I didn't know.:)

[Mclaren]

thats why you can't except that Australian muscle cars are what they are-simply gloryfied family cars with big old unadvanced engines.

As for the GT40 Eric Broadly the head designer of Lola developed 80% of the GT40 so in effect i am right to say Lola developed the car. Your the one who struggles with the truth not me my friend!:)

[Mclaren]

no harm was intended.

[Esses]

Originally posted by Mclaren
no harm was intended.

OK.:)

[Mclaren]

not JWA. It was assembled at JWA but not built exclusivly there. The suspension and engine mounts were designed and made at Lola along with the front suspension. In my book they made the car and Ford supplyed the 7 litre engine.

[Nick Short]

The UK race engines were 4.7 litre (289). Then the US cars (how can they be Lola-built?) had 7 litre (427) engines. When you refer to "Lola" building the GT40 you are referring to Eric Broadley of Lola (hired for his sportscar expertise) plus the rest of the Ford Advanced Vehicles team, HEADED by engineer Roy Lunn (British, but brought over from Ford US) and with John Wyer overseeing the setting up of the race team (plus the MkIII road car programme). The team worked within the Lola premises (because they had the infrastructure already set up) in an separate area set aside for the Ford programme. This again is not the same as "Lola built the GT40". The MkII and MkIV GT40s were built wholly in the US with different chassis and body, and different engines, so you are left with the MkI and MkIII. The MkIII was a 5 litre road car built by FAV under John Wyer, and the MkI was the GT40 derived from what was originally called the Ford GT and developed by FAV with the help of Eric Broadley. What it seems to me is that you have a real downer on Ford and want to discredit them at any opportunity, hence the denigration of the GT-HO Falcon and sneeringly trying to suggest that Ford were unable to build a racing car. Like most major manufacturers involved in motorsport (think any rally or race team) Ford had to utilise the expertise of specialist race companies, but they had more than a hands-off approach, setting up a Ford race organisation (FAV) and having their own engineers and managers working with people from Lola, Aston Martin, and even Lotus at one point.

[Mclaren]

the 66 leman winner had a 7 litre engine not 4.7 litres.

[lukey73]

Originally posted by Mclaren
the 66 leman winner had a 7 litre engine not 4.7 litres.
Mclaren where in nics informative post did he say that the 66 winner had a 4.7 litre in it, he simply said that US cars had 7 lt and the UK ones where 4.7 lt.

Luke

[Martin Thomas]

I reckon a cool thing about the GT40 is that it carried a spare..

Steve - I have young kids too, I will apologise for "arse" if thats what upset you.. I was the one being called a DH..

McLaren, After reading yours/Nicks posts, i did a quick search and Nick summed it perfectly.. I'm not gonna waste my time repeating him. I read 4 different sites and they all said the same thing..

The FORD GT40 is a Ford.

[wayno]

Did the same thing. Google is a wonderful thing!

[Richard Poole]

Sorry, gotta close this one as well.