Shelby American Factory Team
Daytona 1966 N° 96
The 24-Hour Endurance Debut and Historic Podium Triumph
February 1966
After numerous endurance tests on this circuit, the GT40 MKII P/1012 lined up alongside three other MKIIs at the start of the 24 Hours of Daytona. Driven by Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren, it finished 5th, as Shelby American had decided to limit its engine speed to 6,000 revolutions per minute and to lap 2 seconds slower than the others. The top priority was simply to finish the race.
Drivers: Bruce McLaren & Chris Amon | Configuration: MkII 7.0L FE V8
The Daytona Continental
The main objective of this race is to ensure the reliability of the final version of the MKII ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The result – with four GT40 MKIIs in the top five – shows just how far we’ve come in less than a year! P/1012 bore the number 96 during this race. As all four cars had the same colour scheme (white with a black bonnet), stripes of different colours were painted on the nose and the left-hand door to distinguish the cars. A transcription error in the Shelby documents led to the belief that P/1012 bore the number 97, driven by Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant. A careful examination of all the documents (engine number, gearbox number) proves that P/1012 did indeed bear the number 96.
The Operational Strategy
Chassis P/1012 undergoing high-pressure pit lane refuelling and technical checks during the 24-hour marathon.
Each of the four cars had its own race strategy: one was to drive as fast as possible, even at the risk of breaking down; two others were running about a second slower per lap, in line with the conditions expected at Le Mans; whilst P/1012, was to demonstrate total reliability, conserve fuel and lose as little time as possible in the pits.
24 Hours on the High Banks
It was a thrilling battle on this circuit, with a mix of tight, slow corners and long straights where drivers could go flat out on the Daytona banking. Added to this were the numerous competitors in much slower cars, acting as a sort of moving chicane. The significant temperature differences between day and night further compounded the difficulty of the race.
Shelby American’s aim was to build a reliable, robust car without prioritising the minimum weight… the powerful 427 V8, combined with the Karkraft 4-speed gearbox, more than made up for the extra weight.
The Podium Outcome
This 24-hour endurance race demonstrated the speed and reliability of the Ford GT40 MKII. It is now ready to take on Ferrari at the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans. Henry Ford II’s goal is within reach: to beat Ferrari on its home turf. The performance achieved at the 24 Hours of Daytona was not merely a tactical success; it marked a historic turning point where rigorous in-house development, combined with raw American power, set a new benchmark in endurance racing
PERIOD PHOTOGRAPHS
"The performance on the Florida banking wasn't merely a tactical success; it was the historic turning point where rigorous factory development and brute American power merged to redefine endurance racing boundaries." — Historic Motorsport Retrospective
Archival Racing Log
The complete set of documents and records for this race – including lap-by-lap data, the car’s technical set-up, data collected during the race, and finally the summary and lessons learnt noted by Shelby American – enable a rigorous tracking of the history of the P/1012. The car demonstrated absolute reliability over the thousands of miles covered at high speed, thereby providing both teams (Shelby American and Holman & Moody) with essential data that served as the technical basis for subsequent international races.
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