It has been 50 years this year since Ford took its third of four consecutive victories at Le Mans with the legendary GT40. But why celebrate the third, and indeed, the fourth win that the Blue Oval took there? Well, we can thank Gulf for that - and we need to thank it big time. While a MkII GT40 won in 1966 and a MkIV in '67, it was a MkI (with the chassis number #1075) that won in both 1968 and '69... wearing one of the most iconic motor racing liveries of them all, namely Gulf's oh-so-dreamy Heritage Blue and Heritage Orange colour scheme. So now we have the Ford GT '68 Heritage Edition, a collaboration between the carmaker and Gulf Oils Lubricants. To be built in limited numbers for 2019 and 2020 model years, these cars wear the legendary livery and feature jazzed-up interiors too. For 2019, the roundels on the door and bonnet will wear #9 (which is what chassis 1075 wore as it took the flag in 1968) and then, for 2020, the #6 will be an option (because, yes, the GT40 was wearing that number as it swept to victory a year later). Much, much, MUCH want for one of these things.
5 Sep 2018