Why did Ford leave LeMans after 69?

[Bob Kontak]

Did a little searching. They just fell out after Ickx beat the 908 by a smidgen in 69.

Henry the 2nd proved his point with respect to Enzo through the late 60's.

Where did they go? Why did they go?

[pwd72s]

Primarily rules change...after Ford won, big block V8's were essentially outlawed. That, and the goal was reached...Ford beat Ferrari.

[tabs]

Henry 2 pulled the plug after he proved his point. He offered to buy Ferrari, but was rebuffed so he decided to go racing against Enzo.

If you look at 69 Mustang fastback styling they kinda look like Ferraris. The 69 Mach 1 428cj was said to be the "supercar for the masses" by Road and Track.

[Mark Henry]

Cost.
Just about every sports team does it including Porsche.

Toronto Blue jays won 2 WS in the early 90's but cost a poopload of cash to do it. They already had bragging rights so they they weren't in the hunt anymore.
Same with auto racing, but unlike other sports who just cut back, some factory race teams just pack it in altogether.

[wdfifteen]

Ford got out of racing in general. Their commitments to NASCAR and drag racing dropped significantly too.

[kghjr]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Henry the 2nd proved his point with respect to Enzo through the late 60's.

That's pretty much it; he came, he saw, he conquered, he left. Not only did he win at Le Mans, he won the Monte Carlo Rallye several years as well.

I am a personal beneficiary of his efforts during those years with Holman-Moody and Carroll Shelby developing the Monte Carlo Rallye Falcons (simultaneously with the GT40 program) a perfect affordable car to clone for daily driving fun.

[RKDinOKC]

To answer why Ford left LeMans...Why did they start?

[gulf908]

After the homologation of the 917 and 512S into the Sport 50 class in 1969,the 5 litre Fords and Lolas were unable to compete for outright wins.
The 5 litre Sport class continued until the end of 1971,being given its termination date in around mid 1969
Read all about it in Excellence Vol 1

HTH
Dennis

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

To answer why Ford left LeMans...Why did they start?

Out of spite for not having been able to buy Ferrari

[Tervuren]

The same reason Porsche left.

Rule changes that meant they would no longer have a competitive car without massive spending for a complete re-design.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by svandamme

Out of spite for not having been able to buy Ferrari

RKDinOKC knows that. Ford were pissed at Enzo. They were PO'd, whupped him and left. It was a major ass kicking.

Enzo smeared Ford originally.

The rule changes mentioned I did not know about. Thanks for that, all. Perfect timing for Ford, maybe?

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

RKDinOKC knows that. Ford were pissed at Enzo. They were PO'd, whupped him and left. It was a major ass kicking.

Enzo smeared Ford originally.

The rule changes mentioned I did not know about. Thanks for that, all. Perfect timing for Ford, maybe?

Rules changed prototypes to be limited to 3.0L cars.

There was a production class where a sample size had to be produced that allowed bigger engines.

Ford could still run the Ford GT as they had built the sample size over the years, but to develop a new car would either be a 3.0L prototype, or build a sample size batch of a new car.

They would be up against the Ferrari 512 and Porsche 917 and the pace of the 917 even if unreliable had already been proven in 1969.

The Ford GT was not likely to win in 1970 given the faster competition and a new prototype to replace it would not of been able to match the engine size unless built in a larger quantity.

The Ford GT was still legal for 1970, it just was a generation old and couldn't match the pace of the 917/512.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

There was a production class where a sample size had to be produced that allowed bigger engines.

So is this part of the story where Porsche lined up 25 917's (I think) for inspection and not all of them could even start?

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by kghjr

I am a personal beneficiary of his efforts during those years with Holman-Moody and Carroll Shelby developing the Monte Carlo Rallye Falcons (simultaneously with the GT40 program) a perfect affordable car to clone for daily driving fun.

Sweet.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

So is this part of the story where Porsche lined up 25 917's (I think) for inspection and not all of them could even start?

Yes, however they could all start but it wasn't a guarantee that something wouldn't break if you wrung it around a track.

Put together hastily vs torque wrench put together.

[Baz]

[Baz]

[Baz]

[Tervuren]

Btw, Ford America left Le Mans post season in '67, with the advent of rules changed regulating prototypes into group 6 with maximum 3.0L engine capacity.(Ford had been using 7.0L cars). The MKIV in Baz's 1967 wasn't legal for 1968, and Ford had gone in huge for the new car, only to not be able to use it in 1968.

The continuence of Ford at Le mans through '68 and '69 was not Ford America but privateer team efforts using former Ford GT40's running as a limited production class with a 5.0L engine capacity.

The new 3.0L prototypes posed a challenge on pace, but couldn't pull off reliability, so Weyers group 4 cars took wins in '68 and '69.

For '69 the Group 4 regulations that allowed the earlier production GT40's with sub 5.0L engines to still race had the amount required lowered from 50 to 25, and this is where Porsche came up with the 917. Ferrari countered with the 512 in 1970.

Ford went no budget cap in '67, not getting to use the new car again in '68 probably hurt.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Yes, however they could all start but it wasn't a guarantee that something wouldn't break if you wrung it around a track.

Put together hastily vs torque wrench put together.

Cool beans. Thank you.