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Originally Posted by bmussatti
Do the Ford GT's look similar? Thanks.
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Hi,
Yes and No. The Ford GT is actually 4"-5" Taller and the original Holman-Moody's which were the definition of
Hardscrabble, even the 17 homologation cars which were produced. The Ford GT, by comparison, is Plush!
Most people don't realize that the GT40's weren't actually Fords (which is why Ford can't call the GT a
GT40, because Holman-Moody owns that name). Remembering the disaster in the 1955 Le Mans, where Mercedes driver Pierre Leveigh hit an Austin-Healey M100S and crashed his Mercedes W196S into the stands, decapitating 11 Fans, killing another 71, and injuring 76 more (the reason Mercedes withdrew from Le Mans for almost 50 years), Ford wanted to distance itself from liability. So, they contracted Specialty Race Car maker Holman-Moody to produce, register, and enter the cars as their own.
Holman-Moody, which survives to this day, registered many more chassis than they actually produced. So, they produced the GT40 Mk II Replica, but assigned some of the remaining chassis numbers to them. For all intents and purposes, they are a
continuation of the originals, right down to chassis #s, rather than replicas.
But, Safir Cars LTD. (UK) bought the original tooling from Holman-Moody in the 70's and produced several Replicas in the late 80's-early 90's. These cost about twice ($300k) what the Ford GT costs ($150k).
The Ford GT is more modern and more refined (compared to the originals). A Surgeon, who is a member of the local Lotus Club, just bought a Ford GT this past spring which I got to drive at a Speed Event. It's a really nice car...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99