1968 Ford P 68/3 L (BOAC 500 Brands Hatch)

[1959scudetto]

April 7th, 1968 was a sad day: Jim Clark lost his life at the Hockenheimring. On the same day at Brands Hatch, Ford debuted their P68/3L prototype.

What do these two things have in common, you may ask. Ford wanted to have Jim Clark and Graham Hill drive the new car, but tire contracts prevented this and so the Lotus drivers started at a F 2 event in Hockenheim.

It is up to your imagination, what might have happened if Clark had not felt obliged to start in Germany…

For 1968, Ford UK had the idea of building a new 3 l-prototype using a slightly detuned Cosworth DFV F1-engine. Len Bailey was engaged for the construction, and the campaigning was handed over to Alan Mann Racing. Unfortunately, the budget was rather small, therefore not enough testing and developing could be done. At Brands Hatch – its first outing – 2 cars showed up for Bruce McLaren/Denny Hulme and Jochen Rindt/Mike Spence. In practice, one engine broke and therefore only a single car could start (with McLaren/Spence). 2^nd at the grid, it showed good performance and was in the lead when a driveshaft collapsed. (The race was won by Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman with a Gulf GT40.)

Unfortunately, the car was handicapped by permanent defects and problems and did not finish any race it attended.

Nevertheless, for me it is one of the best-looking racecars of the 1960s. Incidentially, I could buy an old built-up model from an Italian e-bayer in 2019 which I wanted to modify as the McLaren/Spence car.

For those who are interested, here is a link to  a WIP (my first ever):  

 

Last step was applying the correct decals in the right position (as good as possible – they are not exact, but close) – big help is the internet and the book from Ed Heuvink on the subject.

First, some pics of the original:

 

 

Before and after the treatment - 2 views:

1968 was the year of aerodynamic streamliners (here with a 907 longtail)

Another competitor: the 1968/69 Gulf GT40

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2024 by 1959scudetto

[Mike 1017]

They are magnificent. The Fords that raced at Le Mans were rolling pieces of art.

 

[Matt Bacon]

What a beautiful build! Particularly from what you started with… I loved the car as a kid thanks to a die cast, and the Alan Mann livery is so iconic. I built the Airfix one a couple of years back, but as an adult I realise that its poor track record is probably why there’s no more recent kit. So we have to make do, and you’ve achieved a stunning result. Well done!

best,

M.

[Pierre Rivard]

Such a beautiful car and I love how you gave this old kit a new life and created a more accurate replica of this "could have been" great race car. A good history lesson because I did not know about the Ford F3L/P68 3 liter prototype program. Too bad Ford did not fully invest in the program.

Thank you sir for taking us on that journey.

[MarkJ]

Thank you, Helmut, for sharing this beautiful rendition of a car that never was as successful as it looked. Your build is truly magnificent and a joy to look at, at any angle. You checked all the boxes on this one. Attention to detail, paint, decals, stance and overall cleanliness of build. Thanks again. It is an awesome piece of modeling for sure.

[Jim B]

Beautiful Ford.  Very well done.

Strange place for a mirror, but I guess you have to put it somewhere.

[Dave B]

Looks great Helmut, they are one of the prettiest sports racers of the period and yours has done it justice.  Love it.

Dave B

[slusher]

Great looking models'

[Gramps46]

Thank you for sharing your WIP and completed photos.  Very well done indeed.

[Rich Chernosky]

Some really great modeling here Helmut.  Followed your WIP and the result is amazing considering what you started with.  Congratulations on a job well done. 

[kensar]

Great restoration of an old model and a cool subject.  

[Hoffman]

Helmut, that turned out great!! Wonderful transformation. Bravo!

[PappyD340]

Awesome!

[ChrisR]

Looks great.

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[1959scudetto]

On 11/12/2024 at 4:19 PM, Mike 1017 said:

They are magnificent. The Fords that raced at Le Mans were rolling pieces of art.

 

Thanks, MIchael - but the P68 did not start at Le Mans (it certainly would not have survived a 24-hr race).

 

On 11/12/2024 at 5:15 PM, Matt Bacon said:

What a beautiful build! Particularly from what you started with… I loved the car as a kid thanks to a die cast, and the Alan Mann livery is so iconic. I built the Airfix one a couple of years back, but as an adult I realise that its poor track record is probably why there’s no more recent kit. So we have to make do, and you’ve achieved a stunning result. Well done!

best,

M.

Thank you for your comments, Matt. I too had the Matchbox superfast model (in metallic green) as a 10-year old and also a Nichimo 1/20 kit of this car (about 30 years ago) which I unfortunately sold.

 

On 11/12/2024 at 5:38 PM, Pierre Rivard said:

Such a beautiful car and I love how you gave this old kit a new life and created a more accurate replica of this "could have been" great race car. A good history lesson because I did not know about the Ford F3L/P68 3 liter prototype program. Too bad Ford did not fully invest in the program.

Thank you sir for taking us on that journey.

Thank you my friend for your kind words. It was kind of relief when I finally finished this (re-)build. (Now for something more easy)

 

On 11/12/2024 at 9:38 PM, MarkJ said:

Thank you, Helmut, for sharing this beautiful rendition of a car that never was as successful as it looked. Your build is truly magnificent and a joy to look at, at any angle. You checked all the boxes on this one. Attention to detail, paint, decals, stance and overall cleanliness of build. Thanks again. It is an awesome piece of modeling for sure.

Thanks Mark for your compliments. I tried my best with what I had at hand.

 

On 11/12/2024 at 10:07 PM, Jim B said:

Beautiful Ford.  Very well done.

Strange place for a mirror, but I guess you have to put it somewhere.

Thanks, Jim. I'm not sure if the FIA regulations of the time were demanding an outside mirror. If you look closely the 2nd photo of the original, you may notice there is also an inside rear view mirror.

 

On 11/12/2024 at 11:01 PM, Dave B said:

Looks great Helmut, they are one of the prettiest sports racers of the period and yours has done it justice.  Love it.

Dave B

Many thanks, Dave. Your models are an inspiration and your P68 WIP was the kick that I needed to start with this project.

 

On 11/13/2024 at 3:38 PM, Gramps46 said:

Thank you for sharing your WIP and completed photos.  Very well done indeed.

Thanks Gary - your comments are always appreciated!

 

On 11/13/2024 at 3:48 PM, Rich Chernosky said:

Some really great modeling here Helmut.  Followed your WIP and the result is amazing considering what you started with.  Congratulations on a job well done. 

Thanks, Rich. I like sportsracers of this type and that era best (I have some more obscure subjects in the pipeline)

 

On 11/13/2024 at 5:19 PM, kensar said:

Great restoration of an old model and a cool subject.  

Thanks, Ken - despite several issues I'm quite satisfied with the result.

 

On 11/14/2024 at 9:49 PM, Hoffman said:

Helmut, that turned out great!! Wonderful transformation. Bravo!

Thank you, Tim for your nice comments - appreciated as always.

[1959scudetto]

Thanks to all nice comments (also in my WIP) - the Ford P68 participated in 3 world championship races in 1968: Brands Hatch, Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps (the others were a few national races in England). Isn't it funny that exact these 3 versions have been built and came up Under Glass on the board within the last weeks.

Edited November 24, 2024 by 1959scudetto

[ATHU]

Went through the WIP earlier and that is an absolutely amazing piece of work Helmut. Very well done!!

[1959scudetto]

On 11/23/2024 at 10:24 PM, ATHU said:

Went through the WIP earlier and that is an absolutely amazing piece of work Helmut. Very well done!!

Thank you, Anders - glad you like it.

[TonyK]

Good looking car and a very good looking model. I like the real car photos and explanation of what you did to make this. Can appreciate the finished model even more.

[1959scudetto]

On 12/1/2024 at 2:54 PM, TonyK said:

Good looking car and a very good looking model. I like the real car photos and explanation of what you did to make this. Can appreciate the finished model even more.

Thanks for your comments, Tony - highly appreciated.

[Kah puts]

Top drawer build, excellent storyline, I enjoyed it all 👍

[1959scudetto]

On 12/7/2024 at 3:42 AM, Kah puts said:

Top drawer build, excellent storyline, I enjoyed it all 👍

Thanks, Glen - glad you like it.