The Mk.II was very similar in appearance to the Mk.I, but it actually was a bit different from its predecessor. It used the 7.0-liter FE (427 ci) engine from the Ford Galaxie, which was an engine used in NASCAR at the time, but the engine was modified for road course use. The car’s chassis was more or less the same as the British-built Mk.I chassis, but it and other parts of the car had to be redesigned and modified by Carroll Shelby’s organization in order to accommodate the larger and heavier 427 engine. A new Kar Kraft-built four-speed gearbox (same as the one described above; Ford-designed, using Galaxie gearsets) was built to handle the more powerful engine, replacing the ZF five-speed used in the Mk.I. This car is sometimes called the Ford Mk.II.

In 1966, the Mk.II dominated Le Mans, taking European audiences by surprise and beating Ferrari to finish 1-2-3 in the standings. After the success of these Mk.II cars, the Ford GT40 went on to win the race for the next three years.

For 1967, the Mk.IIs were upgraded to “B” spec; they had re-designed bodywork and twin carburetors for an additional 15 hp. A batch of improperly heat treated input shafts in the transaxles sidelined virtually every Ford in the race at Daytona, however, and Ferrari won 1-2-3. The Mk.IIBs were also used for Sebring and Le Mans that year, and also it won the Reims 12 Hours in France. For the Daytona 24 Hours, two Mk II models (chassis 1016 and 1047) had their engines re-badged as Mercury engines. Mercury was a Ford Motor Company division at that time, and Mercury’s 427 was exactly the same engine as Ford’s with different logos. Ford saw a good opportunity to advertise that division of the company.

Specifications