The Original GTX

[bitzman]

For those who weren't following the original Ford GTs back in the day,
there was a GT40 called the GTX-1 that Bruce McLaren prepped for the Can Am. I think it had a weber carb 427 but am not sure if it had an automatic. The tub was alloy. It had a long nose from the '65 7-liter Ford GTs and for CAn-Am a sort of roll bar roof like the small block GT40 roadsters.
But after it proved to be a dog in Can Am ,Shelby got ahold of it and put on a Mk. II short nose and fastback tail and painted it red and damned if it didn't win Sebring in '66. But rather than reward it for a job well done it was thrown away into a landfill. I am thinking of putting a map in each of the books we print on the GT showingwhere it is but all we know so far is the city....and even if we found the site, the next question is: will a metal detector pick up the tub if it's aluminum? (I am not too worried the hull will be corroded to nothing; I've talked to Dutchmen still pulling out intact WWII bombers from under flooded land that have been in the dirt for over 60 years.

 

[MK2_GT]

Now that is a search I would like to see...interesting info.

 

[50 BMG]

That car is located, there are a few guys still alive that know the location. US Customs forced Shelby to cut it up for some reason...it's in the Shelby registry and I can't remember the entire story as it's been 9 years now.

It's buried under an apartment complex in LA. A "couple of guys" have been talking about digging it up for almost a year now on the GT40 board.

 

[abolfaz]

Really, what do you expect to be left of the car after all this time?

 

[bitzman]

Aircraft guy could tell us

When I was in Holland once I met a guy who was digging out aluminum fuselaged airplanes from under water, buried in mud 5 or 6 ft. down. And yet the planes were still salvageable. I don't think the GT was buried in water. And it might have had a lot of debris around it to cushion the crushing forces of the weight of what went on top. I'd be willing to take a chance. All I really need is the chassis plate. Like a Ferrari guy told me, "once you have that, you can build the rest of the car around it."

 

[CarBuilderGirl]

restoration of the first x1

oh, I'd love to see that! corrosion aside I have seen some great restorations that needed a fair amount of metal replaced. I hope that someday someone finds it and brings it back to life, such a shame to take down an historic vehicle like that.. for those that hadn't seen it, I am posting a pic of the original x1

~Grace

 

[satx]

Really, what do you expect to be left of the car after all this time?

nothing a little Zaino can't take care of!

 

[showyourauto]

I thought the car was buried under an apartment building...

Here's a blog I wrote when the GTx-1 was first announced, rehashing some of the oirginal GTX1 story....

GTX-1 Blog Entry