Sbarro Ford GT40

Franco Sbarro and the GT40 have a long history. The first contacts were made when Sbarro was chief mechanic at Scuderia Filipinetti, which raced these formidable machines. The car holds no secrets for Sbarro, who has spent hours preparing and maintaining it. The GT40 even seems to fascinate him.

A GT40 adapted by Sbarro.Note the grilled air intakes and grille. Image taken from an RTS report in 1969

The transformation into a road car

The GT40 is a racing car, designed exclusively for circuits.However, Ford sold seven examples of a road version, the MkIII. The market may have been limited, but Franco Sbarro, who knew the car inside out, decided to offer the GT40 conversion for road homologation. A mention of this work appears in the first ACA brochure of 1968.
Its first customer was Henri Chemin, director of Ford France, (chassis P/1007). The main comfort modifications included leather seats, a solid wood dashboard, replacement of Plexiglas with electric windows in safety glass, a luggage compartment, carpets, foam rubber sound insulation and watertight door seals! Mechanically, the engine's power has been reduced to make it more flexible, the gearbox's first-gear pinion has been changed to reach 80 km/h, a fan has been installed to improve cooling, and the suspension has been softened.The body panels are thickened for reinforcement. All in all, a lot of work.
A second GT40, belonging to Pierre Bardinon, underwent the same adaptations. Pierre Bardinon bought it from Georges Filipinetti, the former boss of Sbarro. It bears chassis number P/1039. After being sold several times, GT40 P/1039 returned to the Sbarro workshop in the 1980s for restoration.
In all, four GT40s were adapted ) by ACA for road use.


Leather interior more luxurious and comfortable than the competition version. Image taken from an RTS report in 1969
In brief
1- Franco Sbarro adapted four Ford GT40s for road homologation
2- Improving comfort was a top priority
Main sources
1- ACA brochure
2- Book "Franco Sbarro. La mécanique dans le sang. Tome 1"