Le Mans 1964

20th & 21st June 1964.

1964 was to see the first attempt by Ford to win the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. Three cars were entered in the race which was held on 20th June, GT102 driven by Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren, GT103 driven by Richie Ginther and Masten Gregory. The final car was GT104 driven by Dickie Attwood and Jo Schlesser.

Unfortunately, not one of the three cars finished the race. GT104 was the first to retire when its engine bay caught fire on the Mulsanne Straight. GT103 followed shortly after with transmission problems, a problem which was to later cause the retirement of GT102.

The only consolation for Ford was that Phil Hill had managed to set a new lap record of 3 min. 49.2 sec (131.375 mph).

55 cars started the race, 25 finished. The race was won by the Ferrari of Guichet/Vaccarella.

102LM64-03.JPG (72890 bytes)

An atmospheric shot taken just before the start of the race. The car pictured is GT102.

102LM64-01.JPG (54178 bytes)

GT102 pictured later in the race. Drivers were Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren.

GT103LM64-01.JPG (38393 bytes)

GT103. Drivers were Richie Ginther and Masten Gregory.

103LM64-01.JPG (65053 bytes)

 

104LM64-02.JPG (57272 bytes)

GT104 was driven by Richard Attwood and Jo Schlesser. All three Fords failed to finish.

104LM64-01.JPG (60173 bytes)