CAV GT40 :: FactFile

Not only was the Ford GT40 a very fast and beautiful two-seater, but it was also a Le Mans 24 Hour race winner. As only 134 cars were originally built in the 1960s (most of them at Ford Advanced Vehicles, in Slough), in the 2000s, and many are now in museums or collections, their classic value is now colossal (well into seven figures, dollars or pounds). Titled after its height - the roofline was 40 inches off the ground - the GT40 was designed as a racing car, with a steel monocoque, and production-based Ford-USA V8 engine. Suitably tuned for racing, it could exceed 200mph. Production cars used 350bhp/4.7-litre V8s, but some racecars had 500bhp/7.0-litre power.

The first GT40 lookalikes arrived in the 1970s. Although they looked exactly like the original cars, and used the same body moulds, which had been preserved, new-type steel chassis were sometimes designed. Modern replicas used further-developed versions of the ubiquitous Ford-USA V8, and some cars were even sold with non-Ford V8s instead.

Because ZF transaxles, as fitted to original GT40s, are no longer made, substitutes have to be found. To keep down the costs, the car built by Dream Machine in fact uses an Audi AO16 3V type.

Modern GT40 replicas are often as fast, always as imposing, and seem to have the same character as the originals. Their advantage is that they are often built from better, more modern, materials, and are better protected against corrosion.