It was always our intention to feature the Ford Mustang GTP in the new issue of Vintage Motorsport (December-January 2024-’25) and put it on the front cover, but it now feels particularly poignant and appropriate following the passing of its genius designer, Bob Riley.
During our photoshoot, I snapped a pic on my phone and sent it to Bobby Rahal, one of the aces who’d had the opportunity to race it in period. His response: “Great car, just in need of a great engine.” You’ll probably reach the same conclusion on reading the story.
Now that 3 Dog Garage has restored this magnificent beast, it’s probably running better – and more reliably! – than in period, meaning it can be savored by all those who missed seeing its brief (1983-’84) racing campaign.
If you get the chance to see – and hear – the Mustang GTP in the years ahead, grab the opportunity. Also, crouch down to cockpit height and see the vast acreage of hood and ponder how the likes of Rahal, Klaus Ludwig, Geoff Brabham, Tim Coconis and others, were able to place the car at an apex with a degree of accuracy.
In the context of some of Riley’s more prolific winners, it feels right to include the Mustang GTP in a “Forgotten Gems” issue. Whether Davy Jones would appreciate having that tag hung on him is debatable, but we feel that considering his huge potential, Davy was strangely overlooked in his prime and isn’t remembered enough now.
On reading or hearing Jones’s name, you may automatically think back to him wringing out a Castrol- or Bud Light-liveried Jaguar XJR while battling Brabham in the mighty Electramotive Nissan. But his rise to prominence – a consistent thorn in the side of Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle in British Formula 3 back in 1983 – should have garnered more attention, especially when it became clear that Senna was a generational talent. And let’s remember, too, that in the eight months before the vicious accident that effectively ended his career, Jones had just finished second in the Indianapolis 500 and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans!
Greg Moore is of course the outlier in this issue of Vintage Motorsport, because he’s anything but forgotten. Friends such as Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan jumped at the chance to reflect on the Canadian’s short, but spectacular career, 25 years after he died at a dreadfully young age.
The man who won the race on that grim day at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., was Adrian Fernandez. We spoke with him about his favorite race, and he delved deeper into his past than we expected.
As Formula 1 approaches its 75th anniversary season, we also felt it was time to highlight a forgotten period in grand prix racing history – those years immediately before the advent of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1950.
World War II cost some great racing careers their prime years, but that contributed to the 1946-’49 period providing much intrigue in the grand prix ranks. Pre-War aces such as Tazio Nuvolari and Achille Varzi had their last rolls of the dice, Giuseppe Farina became a top-rank star, there was the exciting rise to prominence of future F1 legends Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari, and there was one already fully-rounded ace in Jean-Pierre Wimille. It must be said, too, that the dominance of Alfa Romeo’s 158 and Maserati’s 4CL/4CLT made the job of sifting through images an absolute pleasure.
Less than 40 years later, Formula 1 enjoyed another significant year. The 1985 season saw Alain Prost score his first World Championship title, and Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell score their first GP victories. Meanwhile, Keke Rosberg, Niki Lauda, Michele Alboreto and Elio de Angelis scored their final wins at this level, and so, too, did the Brabham marque.
The full tale of that pivotal 1985 season can be found in the new issue of Vintage Motorsport, along with reports from Velocity Invitational, Goodwood Revival, Luftgekühlt 10 at Universal Studios, and much more.
The December/January 2024-25 issue of Vintage Motorsport is now mailing to subscribers and is already available to read in digital format. We hope you enjoy it. Single copies can be purchased at our online store HERE. Vintage Motorsport magazine is also available at Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide.
