Category | Sports prototype | ||||||||
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Constructor | Alan Mann Racing | ||||||||
Designer(s) | Len Bailey | ||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||
Chassis | Aluminium monocoque, with steel bulkheads | ||||||||
Suspension (front) | Double wishbone | ||||||||
Suspension (rear) | Single top link with reversed lower wishbone and twin trailing arms | ||||||||
Engine | Ford-Cosworth DFV 2993cc 90° V8, naturally aspirated, mid mounted | ||||||||
Transmission | Hewland DG300 5-speed manual | ||||||||
Fuel | Burmah | ||||||||
Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||
Notable entrants | Alan Mann Racing | ||||||||
Notable drivers |
Bruce McLaren Mike Spence Chris Irwin Jochen Rindt Pedro Rodríguez Frank Gardner Richard Attwood Denny Hulme |
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Debut |
1968 BOAC 500 Brands Hatch |
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Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
The Ford P68, also commonly known as the Ford 3L GT or F3L, is a sports prototype racing car model introduced in March 1968 by Ford. The first competition appearance of a Ford 3L was at the BOAC 500 race at Brands Hatch in Kent.
For the 1969 season the P68 was used as the basis for an aborted, fully open Spyder, dubbed the Ford P69. The P69 sported large, free-standing aerofoil wings, which were vital to the car's stability at high-speeds. However, these were banned by the European sanctioning body early in the season, thus the P68 wasn't eligible to race in the respective class any longer .
At the end of the 1967 season the FIA redrew the rules for sports car racing. Engine capacity was limited to 3 litres for the lightest, most advanced Group 6 sports prototype class, while a new 5 litre Group 4 Sports Car class was introduced for vehicles of which at least 50 examples had been built. Ford's American headquarters organisation withdrew from sports car racing at the end of 1967, leaving those teams committed to running the aging GT40 without factory support. While some teams, such as JWA, decided to go down the Group 4 Sports Car route and began work on updating the GT40, Alan Mann Racing decided to build a brand new prototype car around Ford's recently introduced 3.0L DFV V8 Formula One engine.
Raising sponsorship from Ford, as well as Burmah-Castrol and Goodyear, AMR procured the services of leading Ford aerodynamicist Len Bailey, who had designed much of the GT40's bodywork, to work on their new car.