The Garage: Your daily dose of automotive news, reviews and motorsports coverage
After years of stiffing the North American market, Ford has finally brought the hottest of their hot hatches to our shores for 2016. I finally got to spend some time at the wheel of the incredible Ford Focus RS.
After the first few days of redline shifts and generally being a noisy nuisance, I discovered that the blue bomb is a thirsty wee beastie when driven hard. It isn’t too bad when driven like a grannie though.
A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to spend some time with a special car that had just been restored by our friends at Legendary Motorcar, a 1966 Ford GT40 Mk1 road car.
Not just any GT40 (as if there were such a thing), chassis number P/1028 has a unique Canadian history. The first road car delivered to North America, P/1028 did a short stint as a test car in Michigan before being put into service as a PR vehicle. You know, the vehicles that are sent out to auto journalists to flog. It also found its way onto the pages of Mechanix Illustrated and Playboy.
The car was sent north, to the care of Comstock Racing Team Manager Paul Cooke, where it was to be used to build buzz for the team’s P/1037. Cooke, who was on hand when the freshly restored car was unveiled at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, says that P/1038 lived in his Toronto garage during that time. It was his job to ensure that the car was visible at events all over, so Cooke drove it to media events, restaurants and the like during the week. Come race weekends, Cooke and the GT40 would arrive at host tracks a few days early in order for the local press to have a go at the exotic machine.
Shelby specialist Peter Klutt, owner of Canadian restoration house Legendary Motorcar, says that he actually wasn’t aware of the P/1028’s Canadian connection when the car was acquired. It wasn’t until the restoration began that the early history became apparent.
Not only was P/1038 the first North American road car, but it was the only one to be fitted with a full host of creature comforts like air conditioning and leather trim, making it truly a one of a kind car.
When the time came to send the car back to Ford, Cooke requested first right of refusal should the car ever go up for sale. That time came later, when Cook says he was deeply involved with a team that was racing McLaren cars in the Can-Am series. The asking price was around $2,500 at the time, which Cooke felt was a bit too steep to justify the purchase, so he let it go.
Last night at the Mecum Auction in Monterey, P/1028 sold for a whopping $4.4 Million.
Talk about the one that got away!
Mecum Auctions lot description
GT40 no. P/1028
Built at the Ford Advanced Vehicles factory in Slough, Buckinghamshire, England, P/1028 was the first road car delivered to North America. When P/1028 landed at the Ford Division headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, it was briefly used as a test and evaluation car on Ford’s test track. Shortly after, it served as Ford North America’s official Promotional GT40.
In many ways, these early road cars were production racing coupes slightly converted for the street, but they still carried many of their competition features, including only driver-side seat support, two fuel pressure gauges, battery-mount brackets in passenger foot well, lighter fiberglass, etc. At the same time, they developed P/1028 to be as comfortable and luxurious as possible to show the U.S. market, and it is the only GT40 outfitted this way. Fully optioned and fitted with leather upholstery and trim, padded dash, air conditioning, centered rearview mirror, heated windscreen and luggage boxes. In addition, the build sheet noted “undersealed chassis” and a “High Performance” 289 with a single Holley 4-barrel carburetor and Sunbeam Tiger air cleaner and rated at a healthy 335 HP. Using the same ZF 5-speed gearbox as the race GT40s, the road cars employed special exhaust silencers, softer brake pads and shock absorbers that were 25-percent softer than the race units. Making these road cars much more suitable for the street, still, the road coupes were capable of astounding performance, very similar to the production racing coupes.
Before P/1028 left Ford to go on its promotional tour, a series of photos were taken at Ford’s styling studio dated 3/9/1966 showing just more than 1,000 miles on the odometer. The first stop on the promotional tour was to the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida. It was paraded around the event all weekend and was parked in the pit lane prior to the race, for spectators to get a closer look. After Sebring, the GT40 traveled through the United States to dealerships, car shows and exhibits. In the July edition of “Playboy” magazine, P/1028 appeared in a four-page spread discussing the car. Its next magazine appearance was in “Mechanix Illustrated,” September 1966, where Tom McCahill tested the GT40 at Ford’s test track in Dearborn.
After six months of traveling around the United States, P/1028 was sent to Comstock Racing in Toronto, Canada to continue its promotional outings in Canada. Comstock Racing was Canada’s most successful racing team and had a great relationship with Ford and Shelby. On one occasion, Ken Miles was loaned to Comstock to race the group’s 289 Cobra at Mosport. P/1028 followed around Comstock’s Racing Coupe P/1037, and the rest of the Comstock racing team for the remainder of the 1966 season, traveling to tracks like St. Jovite, Mosport, Westwood, Watkins Glen and more. There is film of Eppie Wietzes driving P/1028 around St. Jovite during the Can-Am weekend, where it was used as the pace car.
After the 1966 season ended in Canada, P/1028 was shipped to Kar-Kraft, painted blue and was used as a Ford VIP car for Ford Executive Fran Hernandez. Sometime in 1967, P/1028 was finally sold to its first owner David Tallaksen a former 12 Hours of Sebring class winner. By 1969, the GT40 made its way to Monterey Historics founder Steve Earle and was featured in “Sports Car Graphic” magazine. After spending time with another California owner, P/1028 was purchased by the Schroeder family of Burbank in 1975. During their stewardship, the car was relatively frequently shared with the public. It was repainted in the famous Blue-and-Orange Gulf livery for a Gulf television ad in 1981 and was then displayed at the Justice Brothers Racing Car Museum in Duarte, California. It was exhibited at the 2003 Monterey Historic Races marking Ford’s Centennial.
After nearly 40 years of ownership, P/1028 was sold and a complete ground-up restoration was started. After completely disassembling the car, everyone was happy to find an extremely original car, the way an approximate 11,000 original mile car with an undersealed chassis should be. The original metallichrome silver paint was found under the Gulf, and dark blue layers of paint, almost all of the hard-to-find original pieces that came off the car for the Gulf commercial came with the car in boxes, and as Ronnie Spain states, “it is impossible to get a cleaner bill of health than this as far as originality of a GT40 chassis is concerned.” With the help of Ronnie Spain, Mark Allen, Jay Cushman and Graham Endeacott, Legendary Motorcar was able to finish P/1028 to an extremely high level of detail, sourcing as many original parts, pieces and material as possible. Today, P/1028 looks the exact same way it rolled down to the pits in Sebring 50 years ago. Between the historical significance, originality and quality of restoration, P/1028 is certainly one of the most important road-going GT40s in existence, and it is publicly for sale for the first time in its life.
With the Bull Global Rallycross season opener fast approaching May 21-22 in Phoenix, Arizona, silly season has become serious. Today Jeff Ward and SH Rallycross announced that he will be driving the #07 Ford Fiesta ST sponsored by MET-Rx in eight races in 2016. In previous GRC seasons, the #07 car was piloted by Nelson Piquet Jr. While at publication time we haven’t heard anything official from Piquet, the natural assumption is that he will be concentrating his efforts in the nascent Formula e series as he is gone from the Red Bull GRC website roster. However, Ward brings a formidable competitive edge to rallycross, including seven AMA motocross championship wins and an Indycar win in 2002 at Texas Motor Speedway. He competed at the Daytona double header and Washington DC in 2015, filling in for Brian Deegan.
Jeff Ward
Patrik Sandell has signed on for a second year with Bryan Herta Rallysport. Also piloting a Ford Fiesta ST, this will be the Swede’s fourth year competing in GRC. He had one win in Detroit in 2015 and four podium finishes.
Detroit 2015
Sandell, Washington DC 2015
There are a few more newcomers to Lites:
Photo: FIA World Rallycross Media
Tuesday, Ken Block teased fans via social media that one person from a list including Petter Solberg, Lewis Hamiton, Jeremy Clarkson, Sebastian Loeb, Joey Logano, Tanner Foust, and Andreas Bakkerud would be leaving their team to join the Hoonigan Racing Team. The most logical pick of the bunch would be Bakkerud.
Indeed, the 24 year old Norwegian just announced today that after two seasons driving a Fiesta ST with the Olsbergs MSE team (finishing 4th and 5th in 2014 and 2015, respectively), he would be joining Ken Block for the 2016 FIA World Rallycross season in the number 13 M-Sport Ford Fiesta.
“I think that working with Ken and his team in 2016 is really going to help me elevate my driving even further, plus I’ve always admired the way they handle exposing and marketing themselves both on and off event. I think this whole thing is an incredible opportunity not only for myself behind the wheel this year, but to learn and develop myself for the future as well. I can’t wait for the season to start! Thanks again to Ken and his team for this dream opportunity,” said Bakkerud.
The young driver won the FIA European Rallycross Championship in 2011 and 2012 in the Super 1600 class, both years driving a different Renault. In 2013 he competed for the first time in Supercar as a privateer in a Citroën DS3.
Ken Block recently confirmed his commitment to a full FIA World RX schedule in 2016.
Ken Block in 2015
Ken Block announced that he has signed on for a full season schedule with FIA World RallyCross, retaining his partnership with Ford Performance. After competing and winning podiums in both rally and Red Bull Global Rallycross in 2015, he will be concentrating solely on this one series in 2016.
“For a big portion of my career I’ve maintained a mixed focus and kept a diverse race calendar, but now I’ll be focusing myself fully on one single championship,” said Block. “I’ve been stoked with what my team and I have accomplished so far with my Ford Fiesta ST racecars and I’m excited to see what we’ll be able to do next season with factory support. It’s going to be a very exciting 2016 and I can’t wait to get started. Thanks again to Ford for being an awesome partner.”
FIA World Rallycross Championship has a deep field of drivers, with notable competitors such as 2015 champion Petter Solberg. With four car categories, the series also boasts a wide range of automakers, including (but not limited to) Volkswagen, Peugeot, Renault, Citroën, BMW, and Audi.
Block had a rollercoaster season in 2015’s Red Bull GRC, finishing 7th overall after 2nd and 3rd overall in 2015 and 2014 respectively, boasting three wins and five podiums. But with several DNF’s and some disappointing penalties, it’s not hard to see why the Head Hoonigan in Charge would look to change his game and go all out with FIA World RX.
While most of the 2016 FIA World RallyCross Championship schedule takes place in Europe, two of the twelve events will happen in the Americas – 5 August in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, and 25 November in Rosario, Argentina. For the complete 2016 FIA World RX calendar hit this link.
Ken Block at NEFR in 2015
SEMA 2015 has come, and after exhaustively walking around and around and around the Las Vegas Convention Center while not having even seen a quarter of it, it has gone. Dealers, builders, salespeople, OEMs, racing teams, equipment manufacturers, grease monkeys, designers, inventors – and of course, the media – converge in the brightly lit oasis of vice in the middle of the desert the first week of November. If there was a theme this year, it was most definitely trucks. Between the smoke from Vaughn Gittin Jr. drifting around Ford Out Front and the equally voluminous plumes emitted from the lungs of posing vapers, it was all about the trucks. Even the DUBB section of outside lot was conspicuously devoid of quantities of low riders, donks, and the blinged-out tuners its known for, instead full of lifted and accessorized pickups.
Chevrolet kicked off the reveals Monday night with a slew of beefy Camaros including the Gen Six COPO Camaro introduced by NHRA Camaro Funny Car driver Courtney Force. The piece de resistance was the Silverado 3500HD Kid Rock Concept, with none other than Kid Rock himself on hand to talk about how he collaborated with Chevy on the over-the-top 4WD dually.
Toyota was all about Back to the Future, but also had the still-dirty RAV4 rally car on the floor driven by Ryan Millen.
Acura was a surprise on the show floor this year, with their sensational reveal of a fully-restored 1993 Legend – the beloved car of rapper Ludacris.
Friday’s drive-out was led by legendary Chip Foose driving the 1965 Chevrolet Impala Impostor. Impostor, because it’s a meticulous build of an Impala-like body on a C6 Corvette. Cars cruised out to a lot across Paradise Road for the SEMA Ignited afterparty.
In its sophomore year, Friday Night’s SEMA Ignited was much more pulled-together this year. Gone was the tedious center-stage viewing of the awkward take-and-re-take of Builder’s War hosts, replaced by a better organized car show, a greater number of food truck vendors, and a larger track that kept a busier shedule. With Jerod DeAnda of Formula D and Red Bull Global Rallycross MC-ing, SEMA had a stable of Formula Drift drivers – Odi Bakchis, Ryan Tuerck, Michael Essa, Robbie Nishida, Dean Kearney, Daigo Sato, and Vaughn Gittin Jr. to name a few – out every hour for drifting demos.
On the half hour, ride-alongs were available in some of the tuned Mustangs from Ford Out Front, making SEMA Ignited a great bookend to the car girl or guy’s dream week to the massive trade show in Vegas.
It was bright and sunny but unseasonably cold at the dawn of the 2015 Seed 9 Rally; cold enough to avoid rattlesnakes and desert tortoises. Held annually the weekend after SEMA in Jean, Nevada – thirty or so miles southwest of Nevada – the off-road stage rally was founded in 2003. This year’s entry list was pared down a bit from last year’s entries that included names such as David Sterckx and George Plsek, but the event didn’t suffer for it. The point of this rally isn’t the names, it’s… rally. For the pure love of it.
However, one entry that stood out after covering Formula D this year was 21-year-old Matt Coffman, currently ranking 30th in the Formula Drift 2015 Pro Championship standings. After focusing heavily on drifting for a few years, he got back in a Subaru STI (Super Pro) rally car for Seed 9 with co-driver Blake Lind, who he had only met days before at SEMA.
M Coffman, Formula Drift Long Beach 2015
Based at the Gold Strike Casino in Jean – a crossroads on Route 15 to California with two gas stations as neighbors – the rally boasts twisting, rocky roads through the scenic desert near Red Rock National Canyon, no artificial light, and no transit between stages. The day stages are out-and-back with the Miner’s Dash power stage on the fourth stage. This year marked the return of the Double or Nothing / Nothing or Double night stages that couldn’t be run last year due to bad conditions.
While an annual meeting of Elvis impersonators carries on inside, the rally meetings and service take place in a separated lot by the casino entrance. Because of the forbidding, rural location, there aren’t really any spectator areas set up, but this year two adventurous rally fans from Boston braved the elements to watch from a windy hill.
This year’s rally was fortunately not one of attrition; of the twelve entries, ten finished. Coffman/Lind won overall with a time of 35:25.1, with John Coyne/Doug Nagy about a minute behind (36:33.2) in second, and Brent Lee/John Dillon third overall (45:25.6). Complete results and full gallery below.
Results from Seed 9 Rally https://www.facebook.com/Seed9Rally/?ref=br_rs
No one expected rain in the desert, but rain on the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada it did. Running concurrent with SEMA, the huge automotive aftermarket convention held the first week of November annually, GRC kicked off with an autograph session Monday night at the SLS Casino. Tuesday’s energetic practice on the 1.31 kilometer (.814 mile) track in the bright sun was the opposite of the muddy carnage that would occur the following day. After Steve Arpin and Brian Deegan’s fastest lap times in practice, Steve Arpin won his first GRC pole.
Returning to the site of the 2013 championship with the pyramid and sphinx of the Luxor Casino across Las Vegas Boulevard as a backdrop, the roughly 80% pavement / 20% dirt track circled its way around and in on itself, winding around a decrepit mid-century motel. For the season-ender, the signature dirt jump was bypassed by the Kobalt Tools Joker Lap, shortening the track by 235 feet (71.63 meters.) The Joker Lap can only be taken once by each driver after the first lap is completed.
The usual suspects were competing in the Supercars class, with the 2015 Rally America champion David Higgins joining the Subaru team in a third car. The familiar face of Pat Moro also joined for his 2nd race of the 2015 season with some upgrades to his Chevrolet Sonic. There were a few new names in Lites: Augie Lerch debuted the new Buhl Sport Detroit team, and another woman – Sandra Hultgren – came along to compete with Olsberg MSE. One unexpected entry in GRC Lites was none other than Stephan Verdier. After competing in Supercars in previous years, he took Harry Cheung’s place as a last-minute substitute for Rhys Millen Racing.
On the morning of race day, weather reports said 50% chance of rain. However Las Vegas is a gambling town, and the odds were not in GRC’s favor. A late afternoon thunderstorm that reportedly brought hail to SEMA at the opposite end of the Strip blew in, prompting a temporary evacuation of the track and the stands. Rallycross is rough and tumble as it is, but the unseasonably cold temperatures, slick track and resulting mud rendered the semi-finals and Last Chance Qualifiers absolutely brutal. Cars slid into walls and each other above and beyond the usual door-banging, leaving Sverre Isachsen, Ken Block and David Higgins all with DNF’s in the semi-finals due to crippling damage. Ken Block did make it to the final.
Scott Speed was in front at the beginning of the final as teammate Tanner Foust spun and tangled with several other cars on the first turn. Last year’s season champion Joni Wiman sped past and stayed in front, ultimately winning the race. His Red Bull Olsbergs MSE teammate Sebastian Eriksson placed second, while Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross’s Speed took the third spot on the podium as well as winning the 2015 Driver and Team Championship.
Alex Keyes placed first in GRC Lites, and echoing the Supercar podium, Oliver Eriksson placed third in the race while winning the season championship. Andreas Wernersson, another new face with OMSE, took second.
At the GRC awards ceremony, Patrik Sandell took home the KMC Sportsman Award, and Ford won the Manufacturer award. The Royal Purple Fan Favorites were Tanner Foust (Supercars) and Alejandro Fernandez (Lites), and after his first year of competing in GRC Lites, Miles Maroney was named the Sylvania Rising Star.
And so begins Silly Season. The very next day at SEMA’s Ford Out Front, Brian Deegan’s daughter Hailie – already an experienced Mod Kart competitor – announced that she’d be putting her hat into the GRC Lites ring. If River Racing’s Collete Davis and newbie-to-GRC Sandra Hultgren return next year, that would make an unprecedented three women competing in the series, which is pretty exciting. Outside of that, there are a lot of questions to be answered; with Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, will there still be a budget for the VARX team in 2016? Subaru experienced maybe not the season they had hoped for – will their team stay intact? Will we see more of David Higgins in GRC as Travis Pastrana becomes more involved with his Nitro Circus – or Bucky Lasek debuting in Rally America? Will Rhys Millen return for a full season? After so many rumors swirling around the internet – will other manufacturers join in the GRC fun? Stay tuned in 2016.
At the onset of the Red Bull Global Rallycross double header presented by Subaru Tecnica International, all contenders were looking to narrow the wide gap between themselves and points leader Ken Block by racing their way to the podium. In addition to full-season drivers Bucky Lasek and Sverre Isachsen, Subaru Rally Team doubled their presence with winning-streaking rally driver David Higgins and fan favorite Travis Pastrana all in new STi livery. After disappointingly not making the podium in the Volkswagen-sponsored Washington DC race, Beetle drivers Scott Speed and Tanner Foust were also tweeting smack in the weeks leading up to LA. This literary device, while clumsily executed here, is known as foreshadowing.
Setting up camp once again in the Port of Los Angeles by the aptly named WWII cargo ship SS Lane Victory, this year’s 1.13km (.702 mile) track looked like it would be exciting when it was first announced that in addition to thirteen turns, the standard dirt hazard, and Kobalt Tools Joker Lap, the course looped around the inside featuring a cross-over jump. It was already apparent in Friday’s practice sessions that the two days of racing would be full of dust and door banging, but after Lites driver Alejandro Fernandez hit the wall of the tunnel into a barrel roll – coming to rest on his roof – there would be dramatic spins and related carnage.
Besides the extra Subie drivers, one new addition to Super Cars was Rhys Millen Racing’s Brian Wong. Wong competed in GRC Lites the first half of 2015, moving up to a Hyundai Veloster with twice the horsepower for LA. Millen, who hinted at racing in LA on social media, will race in Barbados in October.
The person to beat was Ken Block, and he did not have an easy day on Saturday. After getting knocked around and out of the heats, his driveshaft broke in the semi-final – then spun in the Last Chance Qualifier won by Travis Pastrana.
In the final it looked like it was going to be Speed with the win, Foust in second, and Isachsen in a hard-fought third place, until a competitive Patrik Sandell edged past the Subaru driver in the last lap. Still, the fourth place finish was the best for Subaru Rally Team this season in what is a development year for them. Sandell is having a great year having come in second in DC and upset Block for the win in the in the second of two Detroit bouts.
The Lites finals were less eventful than practice, and everyone stayed shiny-side up. Olsbergs MSE team battled with Miles Maroney and Alex Keyes for the first two podium spots. Oliver Eriksson took first and Austin Cindric came in second, while Alex Keyes ultimately grabbed third.
Sunday was yet another day of shake-ups. Some particularly aggressive contact by Sebastien Eriksson over the jump drove Bucky Lasek into the wall. The car was taken off course on a flat bed and couldn’t be fixed in time to qualify for the final.
Everyone has a bad week now and then, and this was a heck of a bad one for Ken Block. After taking second in both the heat and the semi-final, contact in the final knocked him down to 9th. Meanwhile, Scott Speed was given the broom after once again finishing first. The General Brian Deegan edged past Tanner Foust for second.
More brooms were need in Lites, as the two Olsbergs MSE drivers once again took the podium – this time with Austin Cindric in first and Oliver Eriksson in third. Miles Maroney fought his way to second on the podium. Cindric and Maroney are now tied for first in championship points.
The Guts and Determination Award had to go to Lites driver Collete Davis. In her first Lites race this year, her car was knocked off the jump, wedged sideways between the jump and the safety fence. She was fine, the car was extracted and she was actually able to continue racing. Sunday in LA, her wheel flew off in a heat, then more car issues forced her into a Sunday drive around the final. Despite the limping car, she hung in there and finished to get her points.
Next up for Red Bull GRC is another double-header at Bushy Park, Barbados October 3-4. As of press time, yours truly won’t be there unless a miracle occurs (yours truly is certainly open to miracles), so catch it all on NBCSN, and I’ll be back with more galleries from the season-ender in Las Vegas.
As the Red Bull Global Rallycross is heading to Washington D.C. – presented by Volkswagen – this weekend, there have been some exciting mid-season developments from the series.
It was announced earlier in the week that both Dave Higgins and Travis Pastrana will be competing in the September Los Angeles double-header alongside their Subaru teammates Bucky Lasek and Sverre Isachsen. Higgins is currently unstoppable on a rally winning streak, most recently taking the podium at the New England Forest Rally in Maine this past July. Pastrana is right on his tail, too, having taken P3 at the same really – this despite missing a stage with mechanical issues. It will be very competitive on the course in California with four Subies on the course – watch out, Ford.
Dave Higgins | Craig Drew rallying to a win in the 2015 New England Forest Rally
Travis Pastrana | Chrissie Beavis competing in the 2015 New England Forest Rally
While Dave Higgins has been tearing through forests in a Subaru, Rhys Millen won Pikes Peak this past June 2015 in an electric car. After Hyundai pulled sponsorship from Rhys Millen Racing after the 2014 GRC season, Millen decided not to compete in the series for 2015. But now he’s hinting strongly, in figurative all caps really, on social media that he just might bring the Hyundai out of retirement and rejoin the competition in LA. In fact, he’s begging people on Instagram to start a rumor that he will be racing in LA, so here you go, Rhys. Here’s a reminder of what his GRC Veloster sounds like:
Rhys Millen on the GRC podium in Los Angeles 2014
Back to this weekend in D.C. – all eyes will be on Tanner Foust and Scott Speed in their manufacturer’s home territory. Foust just finished third at FIA World Rallycross in Trois Rivieres August 7. Speed took P2 in both finals of the GRC double-header in Detroit, so the Beetles will be primed to give some fierce competition to the dominating Ken Block – but don’t overlook Patrik Sandell who won the second day in Detroit, and also won last year in D.C.
Tanner Foust, GRC-Detroit, 2015
If you’re in the US, keep your eyeballs on NBC Sports for the Supercar live broadcast Saturday August 15 at 3:00PM EST, and he Supercar Lites will be shown Wednesday August 19 at 4:30PM.
