The Ford G7 is a
Can-Am sports racing car
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is o ...
that was built by
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
in 1968. Initially fitted with a Ford
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...
, and later using and versions of the engine, the G7 was extremely unreliable and only ever finished one of the 15 races it competed in. In particular, it had serious issues with overheating and engine problems; the latter of which often prevented the car from even starting a race.
Design and development
In 1968, Ford rebuilt a
Mk IV Spyder chassis for
Can-Am racing, and produced the G7A.
Although the new car used the Mk IV's suspension and brakes, the new bodywork included a rear wing inspired by
Jim Hall's
Chaparral Can-Am cars.
The car used a 2-speed
automatic gearbox
An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...
, and a
torque converter
A torque converter is a type of fluid coupling that transfers rotating power from a prime mover, like an internal combustion engine, to a rotating driven load. In a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the torque converter connects the power ...
from the
Mercury and Ford
funny cars.
Coupled to this transmission was a Ford
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...
, capable of producing around .
However, despite the power output, the car was amongst the heaviest on the grid, weighing in at , and it showed little promise in its first test session; lapping 14 seconds off the lap record in a
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
test.
Not only was it off the pace, but the engine proved incredibly fragile and unresponsive in the test; the special blocks were porous, and allowed water to seep into the oil.
Race history
1969
In 1969,
Agapiou Brothers Racing purchased the G7A, and attempted to run
Peter Revson
Peter Jeffrey Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an American race car driver and heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was a two-time Formula One race winner and had success at the Indianapolis 500.
Background
Peter Revson w ...
in the Can-Am season opener, held at
Mosport Park
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi- track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. The facility features a , 10-turn road course; a ad ...
; however, in a sign of things to come, the engine failed and he wasn't even able to start the race. It was a similar story at
Mont-Tremblant
Mont-Tremblant () is a city in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, approximately northwest of Montreal and northeast of Ottawa, Ontario. The current municipality with city status was formed in 2000. Mont-Tremblant is most famous for i ...
; Revson was unable to start the race. As a result, Revson left the team, and later joined
Robbins-Jefferies Racing Team. The G7 was not used in the third round of the Can-Am series, but reappeared again for the next round, held at
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
;
John Cannon was selected to drive it, but the
fuel injector
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All comp ...
s malfunctioned after just five laps, and forced him to retire. Cannon drove for
Young-American in the next round, held at
Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regi ...
, so
George Follmer
George Follmer (born January 27, 1934) is an American former auto racing driver, and one of the most successful road racers of the 1970s. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His family moved to California when he was just an infant.
Career
Follme ...
replaced him in the Agapiou Brothers' team; however, the engine failed again and prevented Follmer from starting the race. Follmer tried again at
Road America, but couldn't manage more than two laps before the transmission packed up and he retired. The team missed round eight altogether, before initially entering Follmer in the eighth round, held in
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
; in the end,
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.
Brabham was a R ...
drove the G7A, and he lasted 46 laps before he lost a wheel and retired. The team then took a two-race break, before entering the final round of the season, held in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
; Cannon had returned to the team, but engine problems yet again prevented him from starting the race. Despite the unsuccessful season, the team entered Cannon in the
200 miles of Fuji, and, for the first time ever, the G7A actually completed a race; Cannon finished second, 12.1 seconds behind the winner.
1970
Despite the poor 1969 season, and missing the first two rounds of the
1970 Can-Am season, Agapiou Brothers Racing returned to the series in the
Watkins Glen round of the series; the car had a new Ford V8 fitted, and was driven once more by John Cannon. However, history repeated itself, as he retired once more; this time, the car overheated after 46 laps.
David Hobbs was brought into the team for the next round, held at Edmonton; a water leak after just one lap forced him to retire. An attempt to enter Cannon at Mid-Ohio came to nothing, and this was followed by Cannon retiring from the Road America race after 19 laps; once again, the car had overheated.
Lee Roy Yarbrough took the wheel of the G7A at
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...
, but he too suffered an engine failure, this time after 22 laps; even though a new V8 had been installed. Despite reverting to the 429 engine,
Donnybrooke saw another engine failure, and another failure to start; this time,
Vic Elford
Victor Henry Elford (10 June 1935 – 13 March 2022) was an English sports car racing, rallying, and Formula One driver. He participated in 13 World Championship F1 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 July 1968. He scored a total of 8 championship poin ...
had been driving. Cannon was back in the cockpit for
Laguna Seca Raceway
Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and ...
, in the newly updated G7B; the updates made little difference to the car's reliability, and the car overheated after 50 laps, forcing him to retire. At the season finale, held at
Riverside, Cannon drove again, but crashed out after 14 laps. This would prove to be the last time a G7 was used in a race.
References
{{reflist, 30em
G7
Can-Am cars