I believe the caption in the article implies the Gulf Colored GT won in 1966. In fact it was a black Ford GT driven by Bruce McClaren and Chris Amen. Gulf won 67,68,69 manage by John Weir? Correct?
A little history... cool stuff
Behind the wheel were luminary drivers of the era as Dan Gurney, A.J. Foyt, Jacky Ickx, Bruce McLaren, and Ken Miles. Here Chris Amon, who co-drove with Bruce McLaren, exits the winning 485hp, 427ci, V8-powered MK II for publicity shots after the race. The No. 1 GT40 driven by Ken Miles and Denny Hulme led the last few hours of the race. When it became apparent a 1-2-3 sweep was inevitable, Ford radioed a finishing order and requested the winning three tighten formation for the ultimate winners shot. Though Ford’s intent was for the Miles/Hulme car to be declared winner, and though it did cross the finish line first, race organizers Automobile Club de I’Ouest determined the McLaren/Amon car actually traveled slightly farther, having started farther back in the grid, and awarded the win to the No. 2 GT40.
Ford closed FAV after the 1966 season, and John Wyer and John Willment formed J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd (JWA) to take over the Slough factory and continued to build production GT40s on Ford's behalf. As Wyer was the well known team manager and present at race tracks, it was assumed that JW stands for John Wyer even though it is for John Willment, as stated by Willment's brother-in-law Hans Herrmann.[3]
With backing from Gulf Oil and their team manager J-O Bockman, Wyer created the Ford-powered Mirage M-1, a prototype that won the 1967 1000 km Spa. Due to a rule change that came in effect for 1968, prototypes were limited to 3,000 cc, while sportscars could have 5,000 cc if at least 50 were built. This applied to the two-year-old Ford GT40s, which were modified by Wyer. As a surprise, Wyer won the World Sportscar Championship for Ford in 1968 even though the 2,200 cc Porsche 907 were considered favourites at the beginning of the season. The superior power of the 302 cubic inch (4,942 cc) V8 in the GT40s allowed them to win on fast tracks, and especially at Le Mans two years in a row in 1968 (Pedro Rodríguez and Lucien Bianchi) and 1969 (Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver), even though they were outclassed at twistier tracks.
When it became apparent the GT40 would become obsolete after 1969, Wyer switched to the new Porsche 917. Wyers' team became the factory's main partner and was a major factor in developing the wedge-shaped Kurzheck tail of the 1970 917K which made the car much more stable than the original 1969 version.
