Ford J Car Le Mans April Trials

[Gramps46]

Ford J Car 1966 Le Mans Trials

Ford leadership decided in 1965 they needed a new, made in the USA, lighter and more aerodynamic GT for Le Mans.  They teamed with Kar Kraft and Brunswick to build an aluminum honeycomb chassis and Ford Styling came up with a dramatic new body shape.

For the Le Mans trials in April 1966 the all new J Car was introduced and dubbed the Pickle Fork (your grandmother or mechanic will know what that means).  Here as it arrived at the local Peugeot dealership where Ford rented garage space for their J Car and MK IIs.

During the trials it was found the rear end was lifting and a spoiler was fitted.  I also believe IBM used it as a test bed for their new electronic timing system.

The MPC 1/25^th J Car Model.

The MPC model was unique in that it had a body molded in clear plastic and had a detailed chassis.

I got this model as a built up with a chassis painted to match the box art.  There was damage to the suspension which had to be fixed and glue smudges to the windows had to be fixed.  A periscope rear view mirror was missing and had to be made. I had decided to paint it to match the J Car as it was at the trials.

The rear end needed to be revised to match its configuration at the trials.  The taillights were changed, the spoiler was added, and the tacked-on IBM transponder attached.  Decals came from the parts box.

Thanks for looking and comments are welcome.  There is a WIP thread too.

Oops, just noticed the NACA ducts are missing in the tail.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Gramps46

[Phildaupho]

I really enjoyed your post on such an interesting and historic car and model . The scale J-car looks great especially the rear-end.

[Rich Chernosky]

Gary....a very nice model of an iconic race car. All the little modifications really paid off.  Enjoyed the WIP too. Great job.

[afx]

Great work Gary.

[1959scudetto]

Finally you show us this great model in the "Under Glass"  section, Gary - I have been following your WIP all the time. Your modifications have paid off - this looks much better than the version usually molded in the kits of the day.

Another beautiful gem in your ever growing Le Mans collection - even if it did not take part in the race.

[Pierre Rivard]

Great model Gary and most of all really nice reading the info explaining the creation of this car. The MkIV raced in 67 is the evolution of this car right?

[Gramps46]

1 hour ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Great model Gary and most of all really nice reading the info explaining the creation of this car. The MkIV raced in 67 is the evolution of this car right?

You are correct, the MKIV is the evolution of the J Car.  After the death of Ken Miles in a J Car prototype while testing at Riverside the chassis was strengthened, a roll bar installed, and aero changes made to call it the MKIV in 1967.

[vamach1]

Great job reviving this old build up and making the modifications to represent the test car.  As you know this kit is a better representation than the IMC kit.  I sure wish MENG would make a MKIV or perhaps Fujumi but since there so many variations of the MKI and MKII they sold (mostly just different decals and a few extra parts) that tooling up a new MKIV would be limited to a handful of variations.  The Renaissance and Lemans Miniatures kits as you know are expensive and curbside kit but are more accurate than the MPC and IMC/Testors/Union kits.

[Jim B]

Looks awesome. 

[shoopdog]

Great looking build!

[Dave Van]

Very well done!!! The J is my favorite prototype racer.

Wonder why it was left out of 'Ford vs Ferrari'?? I know it would have been a very short scene but very pivotal to the whole story.

[vamach1]

12 hours ago, Dave Van said:

Very well done!!! The J is my favorite prototype racer.

Wonder why it was left out of 'Ford vs Ferrari'?? I know it would have been a very short scene but very pivotal to the whole story.

My recollection from the move is there was a scene of a Superformance MKII that was supposed to “look” like the J car that crashed with Miles driving when he was killed.

[Dave Van]

Right but just paint no body mods. CGI the J for the few seconds on screen

[Bainford]

Very cool build, Gary. Nice bit of history, too. I great to see this piece of Ford racing history, and this MPC kit, built up on the forum. Well done.

[PappyD340]

Real nice!

[Dave B]

Great build Gary. Why is it that when the build is finished you always notice something not quite right!!

At least it's not only me it happens too.

Dave B

[Rattlecan Dan]

Outstanding job. Great attention to detail.

[Chris in Berwyn]

On 8/7/2023 at 11:05 AM, Dave Van said:

Right but just paint no body mods. CGI the J for the few seconds on screen

When we were watching the movie and Miles headed out, my wife asked if he was going to die.  I said I didn’t thing so, based on the fact he was not driving the J car.  I was surprised that they didn’t correctly represent the J in that scene.  

[vamach1]

7 minutes ago, Chris in Berwyn said:

When we were watching the movie and Miles headed out, my wife asked if he was going to die.  I said I didn’t thing so, based on the fact he was not driving the J car.  I was surprised that they didn’t correctly represent the J in that scene.  

With all the other “historical” inaccuracies in the movie I was not surprised in the short cuts taken in filming.   It’s Hollywood so the goal is to make an exciting movie that appeals to non “car” viewers as well that would not notice or question things that can be easily researched that in reality were not as dramatic (e.g. 66 Daytona race results) when Miles and Ruby won by 8 laps over the other Shelby team and 11 laps over the H&M team despite Ford vs., Ferrari depicting a last turn pass with Miles winning by a few cars lengths.

[Gramps46]

This is why I have not and will not watch the movie.  I would just sit there and get upset with the inaccuracies.

7 hours ago, vamach1 said:

With all the other “historical” inaccuracies in the movie I was not surprised in the short cuts taken in filming.   It’s Hollywood so the goal is to make an exciting movie that appeals to non “car” viewers as well that would not notice or question things that can be easily researched that in reality were not as dramatic (e.g. 66 Daytona race results) when Miles and Ruby won by 8 laps over the other Shelby team and 11 laps over the H&M team despite Ford vs., Ferrari depicting a last turn pass with Miles winning by a few cars lengths.