Ford GT40 Mk.2 Blueplanprint is a piece of digital artwork by Douglas Switzer which was uploaded on March 19th, 2020.
Ford GT40 Mk.2 Blueplanprint
The “Deuce” Henry Ford II had tried unsuccessfully to buy Ferrari to gain that company’s expertise in motor racing. After being snubbed by... more
Title
Ford GT40 Mk.2 Blueplanprint
Artist
Douglas Switzer
Medium
Digital Art - Digital Technical-styled Illustration
Description
The “Deuce” Henry Ford II had tried unsuccessfully to buy Ferrari to gain that company’s expertise in motor racing. After being snubbed by Ferrari, he vowed to beat them at their own game and build a Ford that would win at the greatest endurance race in the world: the 24 Hours of LeMans. With initial design work done in the UK, an advanced racing prototype was developed from a promising Lola GT sports racer with the help of Eric Broadley. Along with several of Ford’s own development engineers, the Ford GT was born. The original Ford GT’s were fitted with Ford’s small-block V8 – they were fast but fragile, constantly having problems with their brakes and gearboxes that were unsuited to handling the power of an American V8 engine. Ford finally had some cars delivered to their in-house hot-rodding guru, Carroll Shelby. It was decided to shoe-horn Ford’s massive 427 cubic inch V8 into the back of the diminutive Ford GT and the Mark 2 was the result. The thinking was that a big, torquey almost “lazy” 7-litre V8 could produce the required power easily at lower revs, ultimately providing the durability to last the full 24 hours. After testing by Shelby with Ken Miles declaring this was the winner, Ford proceeded to prepare no less than 8 cars for the big race. Three cars went to Shelby American and to hedge their bets they also provided three cars cars to Holman & Moody of NASCAR fame and two cars to Britain’s Alan Mann Racing. The stage was set for a dynamic battle and 24 hours later, after a controversial 1-2-3 finish, Ford wrested victory from Ferrari and history had been made. The drawing presented here is a bit of a composite in that it shows features that appeared on several of the cars but it isn’t meant to portray any particular GT40 Mk II, it is rather a representation of all the cars. This new Blueplanprint is a must for any Shelby or Ford fan's collection and as I keep saying, they look great in the bar, rec room, garage, office or den! Please help me spread the word about this fantastic new release by passing along my Fine Art America store-site address to your friends and fellow enthusiasts. Keep checking back, there's lot's more to come! Many Thanks! Doug Switzer
Uploaded
March 19th, 2020
