# Ford J-car: You mean there WAS one?



## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Well, I finally found out what a Ford J-car is. I can die a happy man.

The real one sure looks better than the Aurora version, (even though the TM still calls it "a racing hearse").

Check the photostreams in the sidebar of the page for more photos, articles, models, drawings.

-- D


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## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

The J-car was the one that Ken Miles died in, right?


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Montoya1 said:


> The J-car was the one that Ken Miles died in, right?


Right (he replied confidently, just as if he'd known it long before ten o'clock this morning). Apparently the crash was blamed partially on the aerodynamics of the body, and the project was shelved. 

Aside from the breadvan body, the J had a lightweight composite frame that had helped it to break the lap record in time trials at Le Mans. Ford, worried about durability, ended up not entering it for the actual race, preferring to go with the proven conventional GT-40s.

There was at least one open version, designed with the Can-Am in mind, apparently.

-- D


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## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

I don't know many details, only what sticks from the whole Miles/Mclaren LeMans 'event'.


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## Jim Norton (Jun 29, 2007)

Backin the late 1960s the Ford J was also very popular as a Hot Wheel. The car probably was better known in minature than the real thing! I have always thought this car would be a worthy candidate for a modern slot car.

Jim Norton
Huntsville, AL


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Wow. That actually IS a good-looking car.

--rick


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Could never bring myself to even possess one...*

(to me) It just didn't transfer over into HO slot-dom as well as other body styles.... colors it came in didn't help either. I know some guys just love 'em... but you can have my share gladly. :drunk: That having been said... The original "as pictured" in the first post... was a good looker... Aurora's just didn't do it any justice IMHO. nd


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## Crimnick (May 28, 2006)

Quick...get gary fast on that one....I bet he could do a sweet new pop for the MG...

The real thing is sexy...:thumbsup:


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Just like post holiday...I think this happened...*

Sudden and unappreciated weight-gain.  nd










Probably to accomodate the chassis they designed it without the sexy slope from the roof down towards the derriere!!!!


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

I've learned a few things about Ford GT history today. The X-1 (1965) and the J-car (1966) were stages in the evolution of the GT40. 

The J-car used aircraft-type composite materials to reduce weight, and minimized drag by using Kamm aerodynamic principles, which account for the startlingly chopped-off straight roofline. I was already familiar with Kamm from the later fastback (a.k.a Kammback) cars of the 70s, and also earlier vehicles which had already employed his principles, notably the Ferrari GT 250 "Breadvan", the Citroen DS series, the Mk VI Lola GT, and the timelessly-elegant Ford Anglia. Lessons learned in the J-car guided the design of the highly successful GT40 Mk IV.

The X-1 was a lightened version of the early GT40, in roadster form. It won at Sebring in '66 over a field of conventional Ford GTs, but enjoyed no other victories. It has substantially more visual appeal than the J-car. There were at least two versions, one of which shows evidence of J-car aerodynamic styling, the other, a more conventional GT40 style. 

I have a T-jet GT40 with a slightly squashed roof and greenhouse. I'm thinking about cutting the top off and remodeling the body into an approximation of one or the other X-1s. Or I could just convert my spare J-car body into something more like a J-car, now that I know what it's supposed to look like.

-- D


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## T-jetjim (Sep 12, 2005)

Dslot - please take a stab at beautifying the J car. If it comes out good, you will have all of us running to our scrap pile to follow suit.

Thanks for the research, I knew nothing of the J car's history.

Jim


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## RMMseven (Oct 22, 2004)

I thought the "J" car evolved into the Ford Gt Mark IV (Mark 4). After Ferrari dominated the Daytona 24 hour race in '66 and had there own staged 1-2-3 finish Ford went on a frantic development program and the result was the Sebring and LeMans winning Mark IV. Rules changes eliminating the large 7 litre meant the end to the Mark IV's career (along with the Chapparal 2F).


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

RMMseven said:


> I thought the "J" car evolved into the Ford Gt Mark IV (Mark 4)...


Yes. As I said "Lessons learned in the J-car guided the design of the highly successful GT40 Mk IV." I suspect that if Ken Miles, shaken but unhurt, had climbed out of the wrecked J-car after the crash at Riverside, changes would have been made to correct the problems, the J's development would have been carried further, and the GT40 Mk IV might have ended up with more J-like characteristics. But Miles' death seems to have put an effective end to the J-car project and probably closed off some of the developmental paths that the J-car might have led to.

Of course, I'm just talking through my hat, offering conjectures based on a few hours' cursory reading on a topic I was completely unfamiliar with just three days ago. :roll:
I was just curious about what this weird boxy, ugly T-Jet was supposed to represent. It turned out to be a more interesting story than I expected.

-- D


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## RUSSELL ZACHRY (Aug 4, 1999)

I have to say too, the real car is a lot better looking than the Hot Wheels version and the Aurora. Someone should make a model of it.
Russell


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I agree that the real Ford J is much nicer looking than the TJet version depicts. The Ford Gt Mark IV is amazingly beautiful as well, as anyone who has been to the Henry Ford museum will attest. I think the main reason so many classic cars come out looking wonky in HO is because the TJet chassis is basically a brick shaped mass and trying to keep the scale of the body small and fitting it on the brick without it sitting too far up or showing too much post is extremely difficult. Case in point, this what a real Cheetah looks like:

http://www.cheetahcars.com/index.htm

Now that's an amazing looking car. If only it could be done properly in HO scale, or 1:64th scale. The TJet version is scary bad, especially when on a Tuffy chassis.

If a J car is done, I want to see it on an A/FX sized chassis, like the MG1.5. Or you can do what AW did with their TJet Gen 1 Camaro and Boss Mustang, bump up the scale a little bit, maybe using the long wheelbase to buy a little more scale breathing room.

Bring on a nice J and a Mk IV, and while you're at it, a proper Cheetah.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*I loves me some Cheetahs....*

If you are lucky enough to know a fella who can drop a chassis now and then (Mr Woolliam) :wave:... and if ya got a set of Ansens?... You can get pretty close to what a 1:1 "should look like" when rendered in HO for a tjet chassis. nd


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## roddster (Jan 17, 2010)

Who even said that the J-car was an evolutionary step in the GT 40 program was correct. After Ken Miles death, which occured under braking - not high speed- had Fomoco scrambling to figure out why the J-car wasn't the answer.
Well, the eventual MKIV Ford Gt did get better aerodynamics, plus, instead of being entirely glued together, they added a bunch of rivets. Won Lemans (first & 2nd place in 1967) Then Fomoco withdrew their money in the program.
The 1966 Lemans thing with Ken Miles was Henry Ford II's decision to have a perfect photo opportunity with the cars being side by side. Ken Miles car (the sky blue one) was about 3/4 of a lap ahead going into the last hour of the race. Ford had him slow down so they could be side-by-side at the finish. And they were. French race officials awarded the win to the Black car, due to it's placement being 20 feet further on the starting line, so, it went 20 feet further during the 24 hour race.

What was the weight difference between a MKII and a MKIV? 200 pounds. The MKIII was the street version of the GT40

Don't ask me, I've been a SAAC (Shelby American Automobile Club)member for a long time.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*The J-Car's Kiwi Cousin?*

In all its glory: 
The New Zealand-made "Breadvan" Anglia. 

And I wouldn't even have recognized its historical significance if not for this thread.

-- D


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