Thre'sa new book out there on the Ford GT. It covers both the originals and the '05/'06. Here's the details: (PRESS RELEASE FROM PUBLISHER) TITLE: Ford GT40 and the New Ford GT AUTHOR (S) Al Axelrod, Brian Winer and Wallace Wyss PUBLISERS: Winer-Wyss Publishing PAGES: 224 FORMAT: Vertical, hardbound, perfect bound COLOUR: 32 pages ILLUSTRATIONS: 100 b & w PRICE : $59.95 USD in U.S. Three American authors who have been staunch fans of the GT40 since the 1960s have teamed up to produce a new book which gives the background of the original GT40 in the first half of their book and then tells the whole story on the new Ford GT cars of 2005-2006 in the second half of the book. The first half is primarily racing, covering each major event run by the original GT40s right up through 1969, the second year that the Gulf team won LeMans with a variation of the small block GT40, a car which Ford essentially abandoned after developing the 7-liter versions that won in 1966 and 1967. Interesting features in the first half are a three-page section on Carroll Shelby and a three page essay on the perils of driving at LeMans by no less than Dan Gurney, LeMans winner in '67. The second half of the book reflects the three years of research performed by the three authors including driving the Ford GT on the Ford test track. This half starts out with Ford reasoning in developing the car, how it was designed, how it was engineered and tested and finally how it was manufactured, using a couple of outside vendors to assemble it before it achieved running status at a Ford plant. Following that are sections on marketing, advertising and PR. The authors consider the car a rousing success in terms of re-building the Ford reputation among enthusiasts and also point out that it was a sales success, based on the fact that the entire run of just over 4000 units (combined sales) In contrast to the previous books covering the new Ford GT already on the market , this one dares to discuss the recalls, which were relatively minor, and has a design analysis. But the most valuable contribution it adds to the public knowledge on the car is the inclusion of clay model shots that heretofore have only been seen by a few Ford and Ford vendor employees. The book failed to find a distributor by the time it rolled off the press so the authors have designated one bookstore, Autobooks/Aerobooks in Burbank,CA as their first official sales point. The store has an advance copy on display but won't have a quantity available until June. Other than that, private purchasers wishing purchasing information can contact the authors at Trueford@aol.com or Photojournalistpro@hotmail.com
