Our American readers celebrated their independence from the British yesterday. A lot has changed since 1776 and the two countries have been allies for many years. In motor racing, collaborations between engineers from America and Great Britain have also regularly born fruit. One of the most successful of these is the Ford GT40 Mk II, which combined a British built chassis with an American V8, and scored Ford's first Le Mans victory in 1966. As the name suggests, it was the second incarnation of the GT40 with a big block engine in place if the small block V8 previously used. Through satellite teams Holman & Moody, Shelby American and Alan Mann Racing, Ford fielded no fewer than eight Mk IIs on the way to a historic one-two-three victory. Over the years, we have captured six of the eleven chassis built at historic events. Among them are the three cars that crossed the line side-by-side in 1966 and again completed a lap together at the 2006 Le Mans Classic. The six cars can be seen in our exclusive 77-shot gallery.
Other notable Anglo-American collaborations that have proven very successful include the Eagle Mark 1 Weslake and the Jaguar XJR-5. Combining an American chassis and a British engine, the Eagle has gone into history as one of the best looking racing cars and was also driven to victory by its legendary creator Dan Gurney to victory in the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Created by Bob Tullius in the United States, the XJR-5 was raced successfully in the IMSA GTP Championship during the 1980s and also brought Jaguar back to Le Mans.

Enjoy the links:

1966 Ford GT40 Mk II - Images, Specifications and Information

1966 - 1967 Eagle Mark 1 Weslake - Images, Specifications and Information

1982 - 1985 Jaguar XJR-5 - Images, Specifications and Information