One of the most tantalising rivalries at Le Mans was the Ferrari and Ford one of the mid-1960s. In 1967, Ferrari was looking for revenge, while Ford fielded the all-new Mk IV. Still considered a GT40, it was actually developed and constructed entirely in the United States and featured a sophisticated composite chassis. What was carried over from the 1966 Le Mans winning GT40 was the big-block V8. Before Le Mans, Ford raced only a single Mk IV but it did win the Sebring 12 Hours straight out of the box. At Le Mans, Ford won again with the winning car piloted by Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt. At the recent Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance no fewer than three examples of the very rare Ford Mk IV were displayed including the Sebring and Le Mans winning cars.
Also on hand was the Mk IV's rival from Ferrari, the achingly beautiful 330 P4. Powered by a much smaller V12 engine and more compact in size, the Ferrari was nevertheless able to almost match the big Fords on raw pace. In the end, there was nothing the Ferrari drivers could but the 330 P4 does remain as one of the most beautiful and sought after cars ever built.
At this weekend's ELMS four-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, Onroak Automotive revealed the first new-for-2017 LMP2 car. Suitably dubbed the Ligier JS P217, it features subtle changes to the cockpit dimensions to improve driver safety. Due to be delivered to customers from the start of the new year, the JS P217 is expected to star in all the major sports car racing championships.
Enjoy the links:
1967 Ferrari 330 P4 - Images, Specifications and Information
1967 Ford Mk IV - Images, Specifications and Information
2017 Ligier JS P217 - Images, Specifications and Information