Saturday 18th April 1964

(18th-19th): The Ford GT40 Mk1’s (chassis 101 and 102) first made their appearance at the Le Mans test weekend. However, they suffered from aerodynamic problems, and one of the cars even crashed after becoming airborne on the Mulsanne straight. The Mk1’s made their debut race at the Nurburgring 1000 Kilometres in May of that year. The car ended up dropping out of the race due to suspension failure. Three Mk1’s were entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1964. Although none of the cars finished the race (2 gearbox failures and a ruptured fuel line), Phil Hill set a lap record in his GT40.