Ford P68: Good book for good racing cars/products

An old rule of thumb from our favorite sport: A good racing car is also fast. Such a statement should be viewed with caution and is easily refuted historically, for the same reason that applies to race – every generalization is dangerous (even this one).

Many motorsport fans will agree: the Ford P68 sports car built by Alan Mann Racing is good, it was also fast, but unfortunately it also had important handling characteristics, which had several reasons.

Hand to heart: We don’t have to remember the Ford P68 because of its outstanding success, because from a sports perspective, this three-liter sports car was not a great success, to put it very respectfully.

But the car provides material for an exciting story, and author Ed Heuvink has written a book about it that is well worth reading. Heuvink’s works at Jacky Ickx, Jo Siffert, Targa Florio and Scuderia Filipinetti have set a standard that he easily maintains with the history of the P68.

The history of the P68 race is very short, but how the car came to be requires a long journey, which Heuvink takes us on. This trip covers three main points: Ford and sports car racing (keyword GT40), the famous V8 engine from the Ford-Cosworth DFV, the most successful of all Formula 1 engines; the story of Alan Mann Racing from Byfleet (England).

This laid the foundation for the appearance of the P68, and this in turn was only possible with a change in regulations at the FIA, the world motor sports association.

At the end of 1967, the legislators in Paris changed the rules of the brand’s world championship and stopped the successful Ford GT car with its seven-liter engine.

Instead, the future should be three-liter sports prototypes, with the noble goal of making sports more affordable and slower cars. You guessed it: it didn’t work.

In any case, Alan Mann, who was responsible for the racing program at Ford, wanted to design a new car around the successful DFV engine. Ford head office agreed, and so legendary designer Len Bailey created one of the most impressive cars of its era with the P68.

Although the P68 looked good, from an aerodynamic point of view the car was inferior to the Porsche 907/908 or the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33. The P68 project was marked by obstacles from the first race in the spring of 1968 to the early end of its career, which the author Heuvink discusses in detail.

We are going through the construction and development phase as well as the use of P68 racing with many features that were unknown to us.

Ultimately, the Ford P68 was doomed to failure for various reasons (we don’t want to give everything away here). But we still enjoy the happy ending called the historic race.

One of the remaining P68s is part of the “N-Anadol Collection” in Switzerland and is driven by its owner in races across Europe. This owner is also behind this book project, which Ed Heuvink and McKlein Publishing executed beautifully as a vehicle.

It is the second volume of a three-part book series on Ford’s special models. Other covers have been given to the Ford GT 101 and the winning Ford Escort RS1600 from the 1972 Safari Rally.

The foreword to this work was written by Richard Attwood, who drove the car in historic events in the late 1960s and later years. As always, “Dickie” Atwood (winner of Le Mans in 1970 with Hans Herrmann in a Porsche 917), now 84 years old, does not mince his words. The introduction is contributed by Henry Mann, son of Alan Mann, who died in 2012.

Conclusion: Anyone who enjoys motorsports history, anyone who appreciates a good racing car, and anyone who wants to be amazed by the sometimes unbelievable stories from one of racing’s greatest eras will be well served by this work. This edition is limited, so be sure to secure your copy in time.

important points in brief
Ed Heuvink: Alan Mann Racing F3L/P68
The story of Ford’s three-liter sports cars from the sixties
From McKlein Publishing
Hardcover, in slipcase
Text in English
Limited to 999 copies
ISBN: 978-3-927458-97-0
Format 29 x 29 cm
158 pages
96 color photos, 123 black and white photos
For 79 euros in special retailers or directly from us www.rallyeandracing.com