The origins of the Ford’s GT40 MKIV is marred by tragedy. It began in 1966 with the J-Car just after LeMans. Ken Miles was test driving the car when it crashed on an embankment, bursting into flames. The rest is heavy-hearted history.

Ford went back to the drawing board, the result being the MKIV chassis. There were only 10 made, only half of which ever actually raced in only 2 major races: Sebring ’67 and LeMans ’67.

The J7 chassis was one of the MKIV renditions lucky enough to make it to the famous track at LeMans. Copper colored and donning the #3, it sped through the raceway with Andretti at the helm. He’d held an impressive second place for most of the race when he came in for a standard pitstop. A teammate of Andretti’s who drove the #1 car arrived seconds after him. The driver, A.J. Foyt immediately began complaining about Andretti’s trademark aggressive driving and an argument ensued. Distracted by the kerfuffle, a crew member accidentally installed one of Andretti’s brake pads backwards. At 3:30AM Andretti left the pit. Upon approaching the first turn he hit the non-existent brakes and the car wrecked. Thankfully he walked away unscathed. And just like that, his incredible second place position was no more.

CHASSIS TYPE: Mega G+ SHORT Wheelbase Chassis (1.5″)