Thank you so much for sharing this, look at how young Michael Kranefuss looks! I dont think the common fan knows how instrumental Michael was to drivers and crew in IMSA, Champ Car, Nascar, F1, WRC. He literally was the face of Ford racing for so long and was the best boss I ever had in motorsports , I can tell you that whatever he wanted from the towers in Dearborn he got. The 80's were just an absolute crazy time in IMSA and for those of you that have heard the crazy stories....yes the majority of them did happen. The International Marijuana Smugglers Association was at its peak during the time this video was made. As much ridicule the France family gets for the iron fist way they have always run Nascar I will always be appreciative for Jim France and what Ed Bennett and John Doonan are doing for American Sports Car Racing, the size of the fields and the participation of the many OEM's are amazing.
Thanks Marshall! With you knowledge of motorsports it seems as though you could have done a "voice over" commentary to give us technical details but it's good to bring this out so that people now will know that Ford has been in road racing before. That new Mustang is going to be competitive.
Big thanks for adding this documentary. My dad gifted me this model to assemble it. Now I have valuable references to make it more in a more accurate way.
This was a prototype. Basically a custom, purpose built, light weight, maximum ground effects racer. Ford could call it whatever they wanted. It had the basic shape (silhouette) of the Mustang (Pony Car) a long hood, and short trunk deck. Also it had a front mid-engine design, like the production Mustang, very unusual, it went against the conventional wisdom of rear mid-engine prototype. In '83 it had a Zak Speed 1.7 liter but in '84 it did have a true Ford engine (if that really matters). I think there was some marketing tie in to the 1984 Mustang SVO Turbo which was a 4 cylinder.
I saw these cars finish in first and third place in the 1983 Road America 500. Overall, the car did not achieve a great deal of success but it was an interesting design. I purchased the Monogram 1/24 scale model of the 1985 version . . . nice memories of an earlier period of IMSA racing.
Indeed, this video is of that race. Both the premier and the high water mark of the car. It was riddled with handling and reliability problems. Zak Speed replaced it with a conventional rear engine design in 1985 that was somewhat more successful, but competition was fierce from other manufacturers, particularly Porsche with the new 962. I remember during that time Ford had a commercial with a brief section showing the car at speed on a curvy track. Don't know who the driver was but judging from the footage he was fighting the poor handling, it looked very darty.
@@steveharrigan7811 I agree. I'd add another very nicely done Monogram road-racing kit from roughly the same era - The IMSA Zakspeed Fox-bodied Ford Mustang . I have the "It's Miller Time" version. I'm old with a less than perfect memory, but I think the Fox-bodied car raced in 1981, prior to the GTP Ford which debuted in 1983.
@@thomasf.2376 The IMSA GTO Mustang kits, the pro-modified kits, and the sprint car kits from that era are amazing kits, with a multitude of great parts to build just about anything...I built a slammed boulevard cruiser out of one of the Folgers GTO Mustangs, everything I needed was right there...Again, the wheels and tires from these kits are some of the nicest I've seen...
HI MARSHALL Do you perhaps have some video footage that Brad Bernstein took back in the Camel GTP era? Imsa does have some, but only the tv coverage type, not trackside footage - I only have the awesome audio recording you shared with us from the 1989 2h Del Mar, looking for some videos with quality audio...?
@@MarshallPruett That would be awesome brother! It's a level of immersion that is sorely missed in video footage. Thank you for all your passion with audio recordings in the past, I've listened to most of them.
Don't forget the GT40's were right hand drive! Still bizarre, with the German influence in the power train and American design overall. The stickers/decals say Ford Mustang. So it must be!
"Mustang",🤣, @5.08 junk backfires and blows the dopes $1 goofball hat in the air" he's still looking for it today !🤣 Where's that GT40 Junk today?, thought the gutless V6 Ecoboom was going to show the World "what's up"...🤣
The Eco-boost Ford GT Won Le-mans , beat Ferrari twice, Corvettes , Won IMSA and was detuned for 3 seasons BOP .. still was on the podiums most races. The Ford GT is not allowed to race as it was a GTLM design.. too race oriented design for GT3 specs ,
That wasn’t a backfire. These cars had onboard air jacks for tire changes. That “pop” you heard was air escaping when the air hose was disconnected to retract the jacks.
Thank you so much for sharing this, look at how young Michael Kranefuss looks! I dont think the common fan knows how instrumental Michael was to drivers and crew in IMSA, Champ Car, Nascar, F1, WRC. He literally was the face of Ford racing for so long and was the best boss I ever had in motorsports , I can tell you that whatever he wanted from the towers in Dearborn he got. The 80's were just an absolute crazy time in IMSA and for those of you that have heard the crazy stories....yes the majority of them did happen. The International Marijuana Smugglers Association was at its peak during the time this video was made. As much ridicule the France family gets for the iron fist way they have always run Nascar I will always be appreciative for Jim France and what Ed Bennett and John Doonan are doing for American Sports Car Racing, the size of the fields and the participation of the many OEM's are amazing.
One of these cars is in the Roush collection in Livonia, MI. Open to the public.
Thanks Marshall! With you knowledge of motorsports it seems as though you could have done a "voice over" commentary to give us technical details but it's good to bring this out so that people now will know that Ford has been in road racing before. That new Mustang is going to be competitive.
This is awesome! I love this era of racing.
Thank you Marshal. Saw these cars at Lime Rock,our local track. You brought back some great memories.
Great video, thanks for sharing.
Big thanks for adding this documentary. My dad gifted me this model to assemble it. Now I have valuable references to make it more in a more accurate way.
This was a prototype. Basically a custom, purpose built, light weight, maximum ground effects racer. Ford could call it whatever they wanted. It had the basic shape (silhouette) of the Mustang (Pony Car) a long hood, and short trunk deck. Also it had a front mid-engine design, like the production Mustang, very unusual, it went against the conventional wisdom of rear mid-engine prototype. In '83 it had a Zak Speed 1.7 liter but in '84 it did have a true Ford engine (if that really matters).
I think there was some marketing tie in to the 1984 Mustang SVO Turbo which was a 4 cylinder.
I must admit, this racing simulator has excellent graphics.
I saw these cars finish in first and third place in the 1983 Road America 500. Overall, the car did not achieve a great deal of success but it was an interesting design. I purchased the Monogram 1/24 scale model of the 1985 version . . . nice memories of an earlier period of IMSA racing.
Indeed, this video is of that race. Both the premier and the high water mark of the car. It was riddled with handling and reliability problems. Zak Speed replaced it with a conventional rear engine design in 1985 that was somewhat more successful, but competition was fierce from other manufacturers, particularly Porsche with the new 962.
I remember during that time Ford had a commercial with a brief section showing the car at speed on a curvy track. Don't know who the driver was but judging from the footage he was fighting the poor handling, it looked very darty.
That is actually one of Monogram's best efforts at a road-racing kit from a more modern era....The wheels and tires in that kit are really nice...
@@steveharrigan7811 I agree. I'd add another very nicely done Monogram road-racing kit from roughly the same era - The IMSA Zakspeed Fox-bodied Ford Mustang . I have the "It's Miller Time" version. I'm old with a less than perfect memory, but I think the Fox-bodied car raced in 1981, prior to the GTP Ford which debuted in 1983.
@@thomasf.2376 The IMSA GTO Mustang kits, the pro-modified kits, and the sprint car kits from that era are amazing kits, with a multitude of great parts to build just about anything...I built a slammed boulevard cruiser out of one of the Folgers GTO Mustangs, everything I needed was right there...Again, the wheels and tires from these kits are some of the nicest I've seen...
Pre Probe testing car?
Thanks for uploading! That's awesome. Do you know where these cars are today? Are they in a museum or in private hands?
This car, fully restored, competed at Monterey in August. Not sure where the other car lives.
They were fast in the dry, but when the rain came, their electronics got wet and nearly cost them the win. I miss the pabst 500.
I saw these cars race at Watkins Glen, of course if you did not have a 934/935-956/962 you were not going to win.
HI MARSHALL
Do you perhaps have some video footage that Brad Bernstein took back in the Camel GTP era? Imsa does have some, but only the tv coverage type, not trackside footage - I only have the awesome audio recording you shared with us from the 1989 2h Del Mar, looking for some videos with quality audio...?
I do not, but I can ask!
@@MarshallPruett That would be awesome brother! It's a level of immersion that is sorely missed in video footage.
Thank you for all your passion with audio recordings in the past, I've listened to most of them.
do these cars still exist somewhere?
I'd like to know this as well. An 86 Probe sold at Pebble beach in '22 for $224,000 not the same design of course.
I wish they would put this car in Forza
Great content and excellent documentary, but man, it’s hard to watch, it looks like animation
Sorry about that
So this was a flat plank V8 engine
I rather look at the bad quality orginal footage than this AI Upscalled version. Just looks horrible
It is what it is. The original has been here since 2017: ruclips.net/video/KdXJSrpkSsw/видео.html
I thought it looks pretty good considering it's from a VHS cassette.
Actually it's an excellent time capsule.
Ya, I'm going to watch the original
How is this exactly a mustang? Like not even a single part is the same. Not even the shape. Hell the driver is on the wrong side of the car
Don't forget the GT40's were right hand drive! Still bizarre, with the German influence in the power train and American design overall. The stickers/decals say Ford Mustang. So it must be!
@@Thechief49-x4t gt 40 is a Lola not a mustang. At least a trans am car looks like the car it's suposed to be 😆
"Mustang",🤣, @5.08 junk backfires and blows the dopes $1 goofball hat in the air" he's still looking for it today !🤣 Where's that GT40 Junk today?, thought the gutless V6 Ecoboom was going to show the World "what's up"...🤣
The Eco-boost Ford GT Won Le-mans , beat Ferrari twice, Corvettes , Won IMSA and was detuned for 3 seasons BOP .. still was on the podiums most races. The Ford GT is not allowed to race as it was a GTLM design.. too race oriented design for GT3 specs ,
GT40 JUNK??? What are you talking about?
That wasn’t a backfire. These cars had onboard air jacks for tire changes. That “pop” you heard was air escaping when the air hose was disconnected to retract the jacks.