The Garage 282

NEWS 10
TWO GIANTS JOIN
Gulf and Ford Motor Company join forces for another
lubricant industry first with the ’68 Heritage Edition Ford GT
GULF IS extremely
proud in 2018 to
be celebrating the
50th anniversary
of its first Le Mans
win, with the legendary Ford
GT40, and, as a fitting climax
to these celebrations,
Gulf has joined with Ford
to produce the new Ford GT
’68 Heritage edition for the
2019 and 2020 model years.
The Heritage Blue with Heritage
Orange paint scheme
honours the Gulf Oil-sponsored
Ford GT40 - chassis
#1075 - that won back-toback
24 Hours of Le Mans
in 1968 and 1969.
Gulf has many oil industry
firsts to its name - including
being the first company in
the world to open a drive-in
fuel station - and this is the
first time that a lubricant &
fuel manufacturer has partnered
with a global Vehicle
Manufacturer to produce a
road car production model.
“Many say the Gulf Oil
paint scheme is the most famous
in motorsports, propelled
by the 1968 GT40
that quickly became a global
sensation after Ford beat
its European competitors
not three, but four times in
a row,” said Joe Hinrichs,
Ford executive vice president
and president, global opera-
tions. “We set out to accentuate
the new Ford GT’s raceinspired
aerodynamic lines
with the Gulf colours, while
staying true to the original
GT40 Le Mans winner.”
The Ford GT ‘68 Heritage
Edition was officially
launched at the Rolex Historic
Reunion event at the
Laguna Seca raceway in
California on Friday by
Ford’s Joe Hinrichs and
Gulf’s Ravi Chawla. The car
took its place in a specially
designed garage, which depicted
the 50-year span of
success and which featured
Gulf-Ford GT40 #1075, the
actual 1968 and 1969 Le
Mans-winning car.
“We are delighted to partner
with Ford to help the
Gulf-themed Heritage Edition
Ford GT become reality.
The Ford Marque has
played a major role in creating
Gulf’s place in motoring
and motorsporting legend
and the same is true in reverse,”
enthused MD of Gulf
Oil Lubricants India Ltd,
Ravi Chawla, at the launch of
the car. “Every Gulf outright
victory at Le Mans has been
Ford-powered and of course
Gulf Ford GT40s took the
latter two wins of Ford’s
four consecutive victories at
Le Mans from 1966-1969.
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10, 11 News.indd 1 14/09/2018 09:55