JEC Somerset Region - Reconstructing a Legend - The fascinating story of the history and rebuild of this historic GT40
With a packed out meeting room the presentation began with an edited version of the 1966 24 Hour Le Mans - a real nostalgic trip down memory lane.
This GT40 was one of only 133 made and was driven at Le Mans by Jacky Ickx. Andrew knows every inch of this historic car and commissioned the rebuild over a 10 year period managing to source 90% plus of original GT40 parts, including parts of the chassis, the gear box, engine and steering wheel.
While the bodywork is off 1001, the VIN is P/1042, the motor out of 1042, heads from 1079, seats from 1032, steering wheel from 1027, gearbox from 1005, etc, etc.
Andrew also acquired the original bronze medal, a trophy won by Mike Salmon for coming 2nd overall in his GT40 during the 1967 Martini International Trophy race at Silverstone.
"In this race the shell of my GT40 took part, but failed to finish, whereas my steering wheel, off Salmon’s GT40P/1026, won the trophy!" - as quoted by Andrew
A fascinating and informative evening concluding with a film showing the finishing touches being made to the car and it being driven out of the workshop in New Zealand ready for transportation back to the UK.