Ben Beames is our new favorite superhero, a bona fide ‘man in shed’ who can combine skills with ingenuity.
Our hero built a faithful replica of the iconic Ford GT40 Mk II from the 60s, and he did it on a limited budget.
In fact, his Ford GT40 costs around the same as the family sedan your next Uber might pick you up with.
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Beames is quite tall so the first thing he did was redesign the aluminum chassis to accommodate his long legs.
After doing that, he added extra steel sub-structures to the monocoque chassis for additional strength.
In a way, one could say he actually made it better because his Ford GT40 is 600 pounds (272 kg) lighter than the original, tipping the scales at just 1900 pounds – or 860 kg.
Under the hood, you’ll find a period-correct Ford 302 crate engine modified by BluePrint to make it larger and more powerful.
The number ‘302’ in the name of the engine stands for its capacity in cubic inches, but BluePrint modified it to bring it up to 347 cubic inches.
In plain English, it translates to a 5.6-liter V8, capable of delivering 429 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque.
Bear in mind, the original Ford GT40 ‘only’ made 289 hp.
So not only is this car lighter than the original, it is also twice as powerful.
The power is sent to the rear wheels via a Porsche Boxster-sourced manual transmission.
Ben documented the build with a four-part series on YouTube, you can watch all four videos here.
The craziest part is the DIY Ford GT40 Mk II doesn’t look like a cheap kit car, it looks like the real deal.
And the cost?
Beames’ Ford GT40 only cost around $25,000 to build.
That’s basically the same price as a Toyota Corolla, which is crazy.
