The Ford GT40 Mk I was a high-performance endurance racing car launched by Ford Motor Company to win long-distance sports car races. The vehicle made a brief appearance in the 2002 James Bond film, Die Another Day, as one of Colonel Tan-Sun Moon's personal cars.
Overview[]
Based upon the British Lola Mk VI, the Ford GT40 Mk I was designed and built in Slough, England.[1] It was named the "GT" (for Grand Touring) with the "40" representing its overall height of 40 inches. The vehicle was powered by an American Ford V8 engine, originally of 4.7-liter displacement capacity (289 cubic inches), and was later enlarged to the 4.9-liter engine (302 cubic inches), with custom alloy Gurney–Weslake cylinder heads.[1] In its latter form, the vehicle had a top speed of 340 km/h (211 mph).[1] The GT40 Mk I was notable for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans) in 1968 and 1969.[2]
Moon's GT40[]
Among other classic vehicles in his personal collection, Colonel Tan-Sun Moon owned a Ford GT40 Mk I in 'Gulf Oil' racing colours. It was initially kept at his military base on the demilitarised zone in North Korea, alongside a Porsche 911 Carrera, Mercedes Benz SL, Ferrari F355 Berlinetta and Lamborghini Diablo. During James Bond's explosive escape from the facility only the Porsche is destroyed. The other cars survive and are later seen on Graves' plane above North Korea. Later, when Graves is killed and the plane is damaged, Bond and Jinx escape the plane on a helicopter. The GT40 is among the cars which fall out of the plane and was presumably destroyed.
Trivia[]
- At one point during the early planning for the On Her Majesty's Secret Service movie, the Ford GT40 Mark III was planned to have been James Bond's main car.[3] In the completed film, Bond drives a Aston Martin DBS instead.
- The GT40 seen in Die Another Day was in fact a replica supplied by MDA GT40 (UK) LTD, in Whimple, Devon. The car was specially prepared to look like the Le Mans-winning GT40 in 1968 - 69.[4]
Gallery[]
_(1).png "Cleaning the cars (Die Another Day) (1).png (2.22 MB)")
.png "GT40 being shot at (Die Another Day).png (1.98 MB)")
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Melissen, Wouter (August 06, 2012). Ford GT40 Mk I Gulf specifications (en-US). ultimatecarpage.com.
- ↑ List of 24 Hours of Le Mans winners (en-US) (Wiki). Wikipedia.
- ↑ "Scripting 007: Behind the writing of the James Bond movies" by Clement Feutry (Version 2.2 - Nov 30, 2024) - Chapter 6: "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", pages 368
- ↑ MDA Media Centre (en-UK). MDA GT40. Archived from the original on 29th October 2005.