The 1967 Season Part 4
Only 2 Ford finished the race but at the 1st and 4th place, Both 7 liter Mk4. Ford got the win, the pole position, the best lap and a new record 5232.9 Km in 24 hours. The second placed Ferrari with 5180 Km had nothing to be ashamed of. Le Mans was the last race for the 7 liter engine cars except for one Mk2B entered the rest of the season by Ford France. That car, 2 weeks later won the 12 hours of Reims. 5 at Le Mans) was thought to be in Japan a little while later. As for 1047 after 45 years it was sent in England for a full restoration. There were already some rumors about its origin. 5 at Le Mans) was sent to the same English company to be restored after being forgotten in a private collection in Japan for over 45 years. 1047 stamped on it. There are still 2 mysteries unsolved : WHY and WHEN? 24 hours of Le Mans : noboby knows for sure. My guess is that it was before the race. 1031/1047 as it is now referred (the blue car) stayed in France after the race.
The seat's H-point (the intended location of an occupant's hip) is low and aggressive, and along with my tester's optional, two-piece performance buckets, the cockpit is plenty able to gear one up for a proper thrashing. Those optional thrones, by the way, are must-haves, offering adjustable bolstering and lumbar to deliver plenty of support without being too aggressive or uncomfortable. The driver-oriented cabin is separated not just by the transmission tunnel and center console, but by an "oh crap!" handle for the passenger. This segmentation of such a compact space adds to the business-minded alignment of the cabin, leaving the interfaces for the (still lackluster) touchscreen infotainment system, climate controls, vehicle systems and shifter easily at hand for the driver. Flip forward the reverse-opening bonnet of the F-Type and look past the pedestrian plastic cladding of the engine, and you'll find Jaguar Land Rover's corporate 3.0-liter supercharged V6 on my BRG test vehicle.
In S spec, it manufactures 380 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque, with peak twist available higher in the rev range, from 3,500 to 5,000 rpm. I've sampled this engine in the Land Rover LR4 and Jaguar XJ, and I'm pleased to report that it's far better in this sporting application. These chromed tubes may as well have been plucked from mortar launchers, as much like their military counterparts, they excel at making people far away take notice. Set to Dynamic mode, tipping into the sharpish throttle requires a degree of care at first, as there's enough power at your disposal for the car's nannies to sic the traction control on you. Dig in carefully, though, and the engine's power is eager to make its way to the road. The tach can and will climb quickly if you're assertive with the skinny pedal, and before long, you'll find yourself reacting with a tug of the right paddle.
60 miles per hour arrives in a manufacturer-estimated 4.8 seconds, although it feels quicker than that - 4.5 to 4.6 seconds seems a bit more reasonable. The top speed, meanwhile, is 171 mph. Despite this quickness, the F-Type is very much in the Goldilocks zone when it comes to speed - it's never so fast as to scare its driver, yet it can and will set your heart aflutter on every outing. A large part of this sensation can be attributed to the stupendous sound emanating from the F-Type's active exhaust system and the twin, center-mounted pipes. These chromed tubes may as well have been plucked from mortar launchers, as much like their military counterparts, they excel at making people far away take notice. With the exhaust's baffles set to open, the sound is positively primal, bellowing loudly and grandly under hard acceleration and then belching with all the grace of a beer-swilling frat bro on upshifts. On overrun, the F-Type does snap, crackle and pop far better than any tiny cereal cartoon mascots. If you're ever lucky enough to get behind the wheel, just do yourself a favor and drive it hard through a tunnel.
Not only will your ears thank you, but so will every motorist around you. The fun comes when it's switched to Dynamic and control moves from the computer to the Ignis Orange paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. Part of the F-Type's accelerative joie de vivre comes from the eight-speed "Quickshift" automatic transmission. This is yet another one of ZF's excellent eight-speed boxes, and - no surprise - it's not stymied when used in a performance application. Left in full auto and in the standard driving mode, it performs as admirably as any other eight-speed ZF I've tested. The fun, though, comes when it's switched to Dynamic and control moves from the computer to the Ignis Orange paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. Shifts are noticeably quicker and more aggressive, with wide-open-throttle upshifts coming with a suitably sharp jolt. On downshifts, meanwhile, the trans will easily dispatch two or even three gears at once following the requisite number of tugs on the left paddle.