ICONIC CARS

The idea for the Escort Twin Cam came from Ford’s Competition Department Manager, Henry Taylor – who had enjoyed success at the Marlboro 12 Hour race in a Ford Cortina GT run by Alan Mann himself.

Having witnessed one of the Escort prototypes being tested during early 1967, Taylor thought the new model would be an ideal platform for the venerable Lotus Twin Cam engine that powered the legendary Lotus Cortina. Walter Hayes, Director of Public Relations at Ford, agreed and the board of directors subsequently gave the Escort Twin Cam the green light. Work on the first of several prototypes began at Ford’s Boreham competition department during early 1967…

The Ford GT40 project was born out of Henry Ford II’s rivalry with Ferrari. After Enzo Ferrari backed out of a deal to sell Ferrari to Ford, an enraged Ford launched “Project GT40” with the goal of beating Ferrari at Le Mans. The design and development of the GT40 were entrusted to Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) in the UK, led by Eric Broadley of Lola Cars and John Wyer, a veteran motorsport engineer. The first iteration, the GT40 Mk1, was inspired by the Lola Mk6 GT and featured a 289 cubic-inch (4.7L) Ford V8 engine paired with a Colotti 4-speed gearbox…

The brainchild of senior Ford executive Lee Iaccoca, the Ford Mustang quickly became the fastest selling car of all time on its release in 1964. Alan Mann Racing was sent a preproduction chassis in February 1964 for testing and evaluation before homologation…

Following the failure of 1967’s Project 77, or “Honker II” as it was dubbed by Holman & Moody, after John “Honker” Holman, in 1969, Alan Mann Racing built a new Can-Am Group 7 sports car, designed by Len Bailey in Byfleet and called the “Open Sports Ford”, which, like Honker II, was to be housed with Holman & Moody for Ford in the States…

The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe is one of the most legendary American race cars, developed to take on Ferrari and other European manufacturers in endurance racing. Built by Carroll Shelby’s team in the early 1960s, the Daytona Coupe became America’s first FIA GT World Champion, solidifying Shelby’s place in motorsport history…

Originally introduced in 1960 by Ford in the U.S., the Falcon measured 15-feet long and 5ft8″ wide deeming it ‘compact’, bas a smaller, more affordable version of the full-sized Galaxie, designed to compete with imports and the Chevrolet Corvair. 

Featuring a 260ci V8 engine, the “Sprint” variant of the Ford Falcon served as the foundation for the first Ford Mustang in 1964, sharing key chassis and drivetrain components…

The Ford F3L, also known as the P68, was an ambitious endurance racing prototype developed in the late 1960s, designed and built to Group 6 regulations. Intended to continue Ford’s dominance in sports car racing, the F3L was envisioned as a lightweight, high-performance machine capable of succeeding the legendary Ford GT40. Despite its cutting-edge aerodynamics and powerful Cosworth DFV 3-litre V8 engine, that would go on to dominate Formula 1, the P68 struggled with reliability and safety issues, leading to a short-lived but fascinating motorsport history…

Alan Mann Racing’s iconic red-and-gold Cortinas were campaigned in the UK, Europe and the USA by legendary drivers such as Jacky Ickx, Sir John Whitmore, Jack Sears, Peter Procter, Sir Jackie Stewart and Frank Gardner until 1968 – when the Twin-Cam Escort was homologated.

The history of the Cortina Lotus began in 1961. Colin Chapman had been wishing to build his own engines for Lotus, mainly because the Coventry Climax unit was so expensive. Colin Chapman’s chance came when he commissioned Harry Mundy to design a twin-cam version of the Ford Kent engine…

In 1967, Alan Mann Racing were asked to supply a new Can-Am car to Holman & Moody. Designed by Len Bailey to meet the Group 7 regulations and built by Alan Mann Racing in Byfleet, Project 77 would compete in the the 1967 Can-Am Challenge series, which began at Elkhart Lake on September 3.

Ford had previously been reluctant to tackle Can-Am racing prior to their big success at Le Mans. Group 7 sports cars simply did not register as strongly as NASCAR or Indianapolis 500 in the minds of the American public. However, Can-Am was then growing rapidly and Ford spent a great deal of money supporting a number of other Can-Am teams using Ford engines, including Shelby, Dan Gurney and Skip Scott…