Ford GT40 Chassis Construction at Abbey Panels

Original footage of the early prototype GT40 MKI chassis being constructed at Abbey Panels.

[@aureliobrighton1871]

Meditation in Steel. Terrific, thankyou.

[@MrWalker240]

My grandad worked at Abbey panels, famously on the Etype jag but I like to think he knew some of these blokes

[@davidmiyasako]

Fantastic video! Thank you so much for posting it. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@neilalbaugh4793]

There is more information here on the Mk 1 than I have seen elsewhere. Thank you!

[@LAOVideoFiles]

Beautiful video...! thanks for sharing it with all of us, GT40 True Story..!

[@jase6370]

Amazing footage

[@BenjaminWorkshop]

oohhh beautiful !

[@JerseySandy]

Thank you, amazing footage

[@benhamouda318]

Young Broadley - Lola founder here and smiling.

[@martinhassett-g7g]

Great Find. All those hammers

[@bernardwarr4187]

How many man hours in each car? Can you imagine how much it would cost to build a car out of sheet metal, using a hammer today? Fantastic film footage

[@benicioalcantara2359]

Alguém tem como eles fizeram a estampa do assoalho.

[@benicioalcantara2359]

Só queria saber como estamparam o assoalho

[@billrichter8871]

Isn't that Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough?

[@davidpalk5010]

Abbey Panels at the start. FAV where you see cars in build. '64 race season with the initial prototype cars in action. There must have been a soundtrack to this promo film originally. Please, someone, put names to some of the faces. I spotted Wyer, and McLaren at the end. Who are the other drivers shown? Looks like this is found film that has been transferred to DVD by the kind of high street service offered by Timpsons or Max Spielmann, hence the dreadful wedding music and generic start/end. The original footage is historically important and should be in the hands of an archive which can properly conserve it. Adam, thanks for putting it up but more info please.

[@K2edg]

@@davidpalk5010 I was under the impression the Prototypes and early Mk1's were assembled in the Lola factory before FAV. The White Prototypes were pre Shelby development cars (the famous 'British couldn't make it work' cars)

[@davidpalk5010]

@@K2edg pardon me. Lola at Bromley for the first three at least. British did eventually make the 289/302 work with Weslake heads. Not an endurance motor before that. I think Wyer properly set the record straight in '68 and '69. Credit to the US for the '67 win, a fully US operation that one. I'd like to know more about Shelby's contribution to the programme early on. Does anyone know of a reliable reference source?

[@K2edg]

@@davidpalk5010 classic example of 'History is writen by the victor!' So the only Gt40 that wasn't built in the Uk was the J car or Mk4.........Shelby's biggest contribution was when aproached by Ford he got on the phone to Wyer (his mentor), John Wyer ran FAV and built all the Gt40's, they were then sent to race teams such as Shelby, Holman Moody, Alan Mann etc it was Just Shelby's race team that won with the cars. When Ken Miles died in the J Car that set a chain of events off than saw Shelby retire to South Africa in 67 and Ford pull out of Lemans. By that point John Wyer had purchased the FAV facility and has completly reworked the GT40 in to the wide body light weight mirage that won in 68-69 ironicly on a shoe string budget. And if you doubt how much John Wyer had to do with the success he then went on to take the Porsche 917 and do it again...... he turn it from a unstable killer to one of the most iconic race cars of all time.

[@davidpalk5010]

@@K2edg Thanks for that insight. Is there a book that details this period and the various characters accurately? The thing that maddens me is the '66 photo-finish fable. Amon is on record as saying that he couldn't resist blipping the throttle for a last second sprint at the line that gave him and McLaren victory by fifty yards or so. Naughty boy! The ACO rule that's often quoted, about the McLaren/Amon car starting further back and therefore winning a dead heat finish due to having travelled further, is such nonsense. That rule might have come into play if it had been a dead heat, but it clearly wasn't. Amon won it because he crossed the line first - by an obvious margin ahead of the other two cars. Would you concur with that assessment? It seems that Shelby was a showman ready to take personal credit for as much as possible, regardless of the facts. Hopefully there is a reference work which sets the history straight. I'd love to know the title if there is. Also, the Henry Ford II's "Ford Total Performance" programme which inspired the whole thing is never mentioned. It's always the BS about a personal vendetta against Enzo Ferrari without any mention of the bigger story that Ford had set out to dominate every aspect of domestic and international motorsport regardless of the failed Ferrari deal which was just one aspect of the FTP programme. It's a fascinating story heavily obscured by popular myths. I will never watch Ford vs. Ferrari! If there isn't already a book, someone needs to write up "Ford Total Performance" as a historical reference work. Now that would be absolutely fascinating...