Ford GT40

2017 Tour Auto Overall Winner - Scuderia Bear

Delivered to Bill McKelvy’s Scuderia Bear in early 1966, the GT40 chassis number P/1029 saw its first race outing at the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring, where it finished 13th overall. A few months later, the car was shipped overseas for the 24 Hours of Le Mans where it was involved in a major accident during practice and unfortunately failed to start. Nevertheless, the car can lay claim to being present for one of the greatest races of motorsport history, where its siblings handedly trounced Ferrari and started Ford’s Le Mans dynasty.

After its accident, P/1029 was later rebuilt using its original engine and gearbox with a original repaired GT40 tub. Ove the course of the last decade, it has been a regular frontrunner in vintage racing both on the road and on the track with the dynamic duo of James Cottingham and Andrew Smith.

Undoubtably the car’s most successful outing in vintage racing was at the 2017 Tour Auto. In 2016, Cottingham and Smith had a frustrating start but managed to secure several podium finishes in the special stages, including a victory on the winding “La Coutronne” stage on the final day of the event. With renewed enthusiasm the pair returned in P/1029 for 2017 and managed to race to victory in twelve of the fifteen special stages, allowing them to clinch overall victory by a remarkable two minutes overall (almost seven ahead of anyone else in the Pre-66 class).

Aside from the Tour Auto (where it competed in 2016-2018), the GT40 has been raced across Europe in a variety of Events including Le Mans Classic (2016, 2018), Goodwood Revival (2013-2015), Goodwood Members’ Meeting (2014, 2017), the 2020 Goodwood Speedweek, Donington Historic Festival (2021), Silverstone Classic (2014), and the Le Mans Legends support race to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015.