GT40: Trying it on for size

 Ford GT40!!!! Is this where every hot rod, car racing, modified car enthusiast "rabbit hole" will end up? It's where I have come to. I think it started when I was down the Factory Five Racing (FFR) Type 65 Coupe (aka Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe) rabbit hole and was searching out photos on Instagram and on Google searches. I came across the Instagram account and company "LeMansCoupe", which had this mint colored SuperFormance GT40.

It's amazing in every way! The GT40 is a Legend. Recap: it won LeMans 24 Hours 4 years in a row. It ended Ferrari's monopoly on LeMans. Ferrari has never won it since 1965. If you are into cars, you saw "Ford v Ferrari" the movie. The car is beautiful to look at. The shapes are perfect. It's low, wide, has wide hips, sculpted nose, the big air vent in the front boot behind the radiator, its mid-engine and has a roaring V8 with the "bundle of snakes" headers. 

So, here's my story of how I got here with the hobby. So, I spotted this mint colored GT40 on Instagram awhile ago. Like within the last 2 years, but I keep coming back to it. Every once in awhile I'll think "I need to look at that mint GT40 again!". I'll go find it on Instagram. I've "muted" the @LeMansCoupes" I think more than once, but I'll keep going back to find pictures of this car. They sold it last year, but here I'm saving some pics of it for future reference. Ok, back to the story. During the 2021 Christmas break, I was doing my usual "rabbit holeing" and around New Years Eve I was in a GT40 hole. New Years Day 2022 arrives, it's a Saturday, and my buddy Corey (1971 Pantera with 5.0 Coyote swap, aka "Kitty 5oh") calls me. This is a little unusual. We mostly text. He's called a few times. I pick up and he simply says "How would you like to go see a GT40?!". "Yes, Please!!!" LOL He says pick you up in a few minutes. So, next thing I know, I'm throwing on my black Dickies coat with all my Subaru/STi, SCCA and Miller Motorsports Park patches to go do some "car guy" stuff! We drive across town here in Farmington, Utah, to go see an RCR GT40 kit being built by a "lifer" Paul Thon. His place is a little piece of car guy heaven. He has a shop out back. There are some old Ford cabover trucks and a new edge Mach 1 Mustang outside. We knock on the side door and out pops Paul, a retired white haired gentleman who says "come on in". Corey introduces me and we walk in. The smell hits me first. It smells like old auto shop/machine shop. The oils and grime and old machinery. We walk passed his work benches and machinery and I see this:

It's very much a work in progress. Paul picked it up a couple years ago from the original buyer in Texas. This is an RCR (Race Car Replicas: http://race-car-replicas.com/rcr-40-mki-mkii

GT 40 kit. It can be ordered in a couple different levels with more or less of the needed parts. Paul is going with what he knows in the 351C. Probably not the most used engine option for a GT40, but he's had many 1971- Mustangs and even a Cobra kit car with a 351C. 

It has the 15" BRM spinner wheels with big AVON CR6-ZZ tires in 295/50/15 out back. 

Just look at these curves out back! And all the air vents! The "flying buttress" up top is a feature of the GT40 I have never really noticed before. This isn't the first GT40 I've seen. The old Miller Motorsports Park Museum (no longer there since the Miller family sold it and many of their classic cars after Larry H. died) had more than one real GT40 race car. But, that was like 12-13 years ago.

Here is a peek at the 351C in the middle with the clam shell opened up. 

So, that was January 1, 2022 that I got to visit Paul's GT40. We spent probably an hour pouring over the details, looking at each part of the car, asking lots of questions, Paul explaining what modifications he was doing to it. He is moving the roll bar behind the firewall to give more interior space and to make it safer to street drive it. He's also changing how the front body section mounts. Normally they slide in and out, but he's converting it to a clam shell style. That requires building a structure up front. 

That next week, I was in full GT40 rabbit hole mode! Corey and I began working on a master spreadsheet to price out what it would cost to build one. The number is big, I'll say that. Here's the quick version: $83,000 to buy the "Complete RCR" kit version ($47k), do a Porsche G50 transaxle, a Coyote or built aluminum headed 302ci and painting it myself plus $10k in "fluff fund", you know, for things you didn't know you needed. LOL Ya, $80k. 

Corey kept telling me to "Dream Big!". LOL But, it started to catch on. 

So, I'm down the GT40 rabbit hole all week. Saturday, January 8, 2022 is my 44th birthday. The night before Paul and I were messaging through Facebook Messenger. Corey had been talking to him that I was really interested in doing a GT40 someday and that I was curious how I'd fit. So, Saturday morning, Paul offered to me to come by some time and he'd mock up the pedals and seat and we could see how my 6ft 3.5in frame would fit. So, it's early afternoon that birthday day and I called Corey and said "Hey, you want to go see a GT40?!" LOLOL Good stuff right! LOL So, this time, I fire up the WRX and pick Corey up and head over to Paul's again, 2 Saturday's in a row! :) 

So, here's a couple pictures Corey took to document my "test fit". 

I will definitely need a "Hecht Bubble" for the roof, errr, sorry, a Gurney Bubble. :) haha

But, look at the pic, my legs are able to stretch out the right amount and the steering wheel doesn't sit in my lap. It's a 330mm or 13" steering wheel, so on the smaller side. The pedals are able to be mounted in a range of positions to fit the driver. The seat is the RCR seat but with some padding removed. This is night-and-day difference compared to the seating position in Corey's 1971 Pantera. That fitment was a total joke. This is actually doable. 

It was one of the coolest birthday presents I've had in awhile. Neither of them knew it was my birthday until I got there and told them this was the coolest birthday gift. :)

So, now what? It only takes $85k. LOLOL I think we need a couple more GT40 pics while you let that price sink in:

This plain white with black BRMs looks killer!!! I definitely like the solid color liveries. Sure, every one loves a baby blue and orange "Gulf" livery, but the solid color scheme really shows off the curves!

So, "Dream Big!" is the theme here! When I told my cousin it was about $80k to build, he said, that's pretty much what people are paying today for those luxury SUVs and big 4 door trucks. LOL he's totally right! Plus resale will hold well and probably grow over time with a GT40.

The reality is, even if I stayed in the GT40 rabbit hole long term, long term would be like 10 years easy to get that much money. I have $4000 right now and a suby that I could probably sell for $10-12k. I'm miles away from even thinking about buying even the base kit which costs $26k. Time to find a "side hustle", some way to bring in additional money to speed up the time table. Also, I'm taking donations. ;)

So, unless something changes in my finances in the next couple years, this will be a ways off. Which just might make it unrealistic. :) For now, I'll enjoy the beautiful lines and watching the good old boys driving them hard at Goodwood Festivals in England and going over to Paul's to see his progress on his GT40 project.

Dream Big!

PS Edit: Just posted the Daytona Coupe post and man, both cars are killer! I think the thought here is, if you are doing to go for a legit Daytona Coupe build with new parts and IRS, you are 78% the way to a GT40... and so if you're going to "Go Big" than might as well go all the way and go GT40... just thinking...

Pantera Restomod Project

Part of why I like to write about cars is so far I am living my car passion/hobby through my family's and friend's cars, not my own. Writing about other people’s cars is my only real option. One of those friends is in the middle of restoring/modifying his 1971 De Tomaso Pantera!!!  So cool! The average Joe's super car.  The bonus (if you already own one) is the values have been rising steadily the past few years.  Panteras could eventually surpass highly sought after cars like the air cooled Porsche 911 because comparatively so few Panteras were ever sold.

Restomod Pantera Photoshop with Forgestar F14 wheels

So far I have been able to be a very small part (I mean like really small) of this project.  Car guys have a knack for finding each other. In this case, my friend and I met through the local Church we attend.  Cars always come up in casual conversation and that's how I found out about my buddy’s Pantera. I've helped load the body on and off a trailer and helped provide subjective feedback on ideas for the wheels and different parts he has contemplated for the project.  I was wingman during a cutting operation to clearance the firewall for the Coyote 5.0L engine swap too. I like to tell car buddies that I'm pretty skilled at holding a drop light. I also like to take pictures of cars and I like to dig into the details.  I consider this a pretty rare opportunity to be around a Pantera projects.  I'll be annoying as possible to make sure I'm involved as much as my friend will tolerate.  haha

Pantera body after being media blasted

Right now the body is getting metal repairs completed at "Finn's Auto Restoration" in Woodburn, Oregon.  While the body is away in Oregon, my buddy is collecting various components. I really like the direction he's going with the car. The Pantera was purchased as a project in pieces, the body itself being a combination of two cars put together to make one "good" car.  Good being in air quotes because there is a significant amount of metal work needed to get it straightened out and ready for paint. There was a good chunk of body filler applied by a previous owner that is being corrected.  The overall look will be "restomod". Classic exterior with some modern parts to freshen up the performance and look.

Posing next to the Pantera project with the Coyote 5.0L during a very cold test fit

 Utah winter car projects, brrrrr....

Coyote 5.0L mated to factory refreshed ZF transaxle during test fit 

 My buddy actually has an original 351 Cleveland engine that Pantera's came with from the factory. But, the price and work to get the 351C up to running condition is not cheap.  Plus, even once its running, its a heavy engine and carbureted. Going with a modern EFI 5.0L Coyote engine is the perfect choice in my opinion. It will be able to make power cheaper because of huge Mustang 5.0L aftermarket and the drivability and reliability will be so much better than the 351C.  The gas mileage will be better too. Hey, I know this is a sports car, but the ability to take this thing on long drives to see the beautiful National Parks near by will be more enjoyable in a modern engine setup like this.

Coyote 5.0L and ZF transaxle in place

This particular Ford 5.0L DOHC Coyote engine is from a 2011-2012 era F150 work truck that had issues (burnt valves I believe). I was picked up for a reasonable price too since they're so plentiful used. This engine is being upgraded to Mustang GT specs as well, which include the intake camshaft, intake manifold, Boss 302 valve springs and tensioners, oil filter relocation kit, etc.. You can see that the intake manifold is flipped 180 degrees from the factory setup to fit the Pantera's mid-engine layout. Pretty cool that this is even possible. I would have assumed it would have been asymetrical. Maybe there was some other reason to make it symtretical because putting the engine in mid engine projects like the Pantera.  The nice part is, this is not the first Coyote swapped Pantera, so the lessons should be learned already by others in the Pantera community. Ford makes an off the shelf harness that works with the Coyote in the Pantera.  Pretty cool!

Now on to some of the supporting pieces to this Pantera puzzle.  Wheels are always a key ingredient to the overall look of any car. My buddy has some original 15" factory magnesium wheels, but they're not the most aggressive size and its hard to find a good tire in the right sizes for 15". After weighing the options, he went with the Forgestar F14 as seen here.  I also posted a photoshop of a friends Pantera with these wheels at the beginning of this post to get a glimpse of how it will look. They're a good looking wheel for sure and are in the right size and fitment and are a strong, high quality piece.

I've never owned a car with an aftermarket steering wheel. I'm racking my brain, trying to remember if I've driven a car with one.  The only memorable steering wheel in a car I've driven that comes to mind was the factory alcantara wheel in a friends 2013 Camaro SS 1LE. Loved it!  Seeing so many cool steering wheels in car magazines over the years, I REALLY want a cool steering wheel on my car one day. My buddy is going to go with a Momo Retro model. I snagged this image off of americanmuscle.com website.  It will look perfect in the Pantera's 70's interior.

The other very important piece to the interior are the seats.  He's going with these black cloth Recaro seats that he bought from a Pantera dude who had already modified them to fit the Pantera.  I wish I knew what they came out (if they're a factory seat) or what model they are. Great score for the project! In my opinion, these seats have a 70's, 80's feel with the boxy/squared off design of the cushions.  I think these will work great with the overall look of the car.

Black cloth Recaro bucket seats

A more modern coilover is going in to make the handling firm and sporty.  These are Ridetech coilvers with hyperco 300lbs/in front and 450lbs/in rear spring rates. Ride height and dampening adjustability make these perfect to dial in the ride height and handling.  Two thumbs up!

Ridetech Ride height and dampening adjustable coilovers 

Stainless steel quad tip muffler set up 

Every Pantera needs that quad tip exhaust look and that's the plan for this project tool.

If you made it this far, this is just a brief highlight of the years of patient preparation my friend has put in.  Hop over to the "Project Pantera #1998" blog (link below) for more photos and details of the build so far.  I can't wait to see the body come back from Oregon and really get this project progressing toward the finish line.  I will say, I admire my friend's attitude about the build.  His mentality is to try and enjoy the journey of building the car.  Don't rush things, do them right, enjoy the process itself, its half the fun.

http://pantera1998.blogspot.com/