Mirage M1 GT40 Recreation

In classic big league motor racing tradition, the development of the enduring Mirage stems from the vision of one man.

John Wyer, an Englishman, made his name as an effective team owner/manager. Running an Aston DBR1 at Le Mans, his first taste of big league success came when Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori competed at Le Mans in 1959. He carried on with Aston Martin until 1963 when he made the leap to Ford’s Advanced Vehicles Operations to develop the GT40.

The first two years were hard work, with mechanical maladies postponing the legendary model’s dominance until its fabulous 1966 and '67 Le Mans victories, by which time Ford had put Moody and Shelby in charge of its development. Wyer had continued to work with the GT40 and was able to carry his long time sponsor, Gulf Oil, with him. When Ford closed its racing programme in 1967, Wyer was able to carry on, joining forces with John Willment to form JW Automotive with Wyer as the team manager.

With backing from Gulf, they developed a more aerodynamic package based on the GT40, with a narrower screen, higher bulkhead and re-packaged rear section. The Mirage M1, as it was called, was built to compete in the Prototype series with three cars produced. In 1967 it won the Spa 1000km and things were looking promising until a change in the rule books in 1968 limited engine capacity to 3000cc which meant a trip back to the drawing board.

There had, however, been time to prove the brilliance of the car, taking the well proven formula of the GT40 and improving airflow. Mirage went on to produce a world class array of endurance racers, but perhaps the M1 is the car remembered by most for its brutish good looks and awesome soundtrack.

Of the three Prototypes produced, 001 exists in a private collection in the States and is believed to have recently changed hands for an “undisclosed sum”, 002 was destroyed in an accident, a replica of which was shown at Retromobile and is now in the Rothco Collection of Gulf Liveried cars, and 003 was converted back into GT40 spec some time ago and recently changed hands for $11m!

The vendor of this superb re-creation decided that he wanted one and managed to acquire a set of body moulds, some of which were taken from one of the original cars. He commissioned a correct monocoque to be made by a well know GT40 restorer. This was part-completed before he took on the project himself, completing the job alongside a genuine Ford GT40 tub which was used for dimensional accuracy.

From original JW Automotive Factory photographs he was able to recreate the alloy roof and bulkhead and had a windscreen specially made to fit. A spare screen accompanies the car.

The monocoque was then built up as accurately as possible, even down to the correct Pirelli webbing seats attached directly to the tub. He sourced some alloy Mirage M2 uprights with peg drive hubs and fabricated the wishbones to their original specification. As JW Automotive had used aircraft spec suspension bearings, the vendor was determined to do the same – he is still smarting at the cost! Competition AVO coil-overs and X-Trac drive shafts show that he continued to spend, the gearbox fitted being the slightly later and stronger ZF 25/2 unit as fitted to the BMW M1 and De Tomaso Pantera.

The engine is built on a Windsor block which has been fitted with a ‘stroker’ kit increasing capacity from 351 cu in to 422 cu in and four bolt main bearing caps. Forged pistons are fitted to Corrillo rods and it has a dry sump. Roller cam followers, rare correct and original Gurney Weslake heads and magnesium rocker covers are also fitted, along with a correct cross-over exhaust. Original Weber 48IDA carburettors complete the specification.

Built for and used in club racing, it scored several outright wins in the well supported Sports, Race and GT Challenge series.  This incredible machine has the potential to be used in the Prototype Class in Historic Motorsport thanks to its correct monocoque construction and is therefore not to be confused with the crop of spaceframe GT40 replicas. It is fully road legal and was last MOTd in March of this year. This fabulous re-creation is available at a fraction of the cost of building one from scratch, has been thoroughly engineered and is already proven on the track. It is quite simply “awesome” – even with the engine switched off!