The Bauer Ford GT40 Limited Edition cars represent the highest standard of excellence in HO scale, a legendary moment in time preserved for the discerning collector. Like a fine artist's print, the cars are limited in production, individually numbered and hand prepared, guaranteeing a resale value that will far exceed the purchase price- if you can resist the temptation to keep your hands off it. This custom resin cast on a Tyco 440-X2 chassis is for showing, not for going.
John Wyer Team at Le Mans, 1968
In 1966, Ford won the hearts of the world by taking its first victory at Le Mans, a 1-2-3 sweep by the mighty GT40 MkII. The upstart Yanks proved the triumph was no fluke by returning to win sports car racing's most prestigious event each of the following three years. In 1967 AJ Foyt drove an all-American prepared GT40 MK IV into victory lane, and history was changed forever. Ford had once again conquered Ferrari and Porsche, overcoming tremendous odds abroad and lifting spirits high at home. When the governing body at Le Mans banned Ford's NASCAR-derived 427 cubic inch power plant for 1968, the manufacturer elected to drop out, satisfied to rest on the success of the previous two victories. But privateer John Wyer, who had worked on the Ford GT project since its inception in 1964, managed to secure Gulf sponsorship and entered three of the smaller-displacement (302 c.i.) GT40 MK I's in the 1968 running of the race, cars numbered 9, 10 and 11.
Racing aficionados around the globe will eagerly tell you that chassis 1075, driven by the legendary Pedro Rodriguez (and teammate Lucien Bianchi), won the race that year wearing number 9. (The same car returned in 1969 to win again as number 6). But lesser known are the fates of the other two 1968 Wyer entries. An accident on the first lap involving Gulf car #11 and another privately entered GT40 ended the day early for Brian Muir and Jackie Oliver in chassis 1076. Gulf #10 (chassis 1074) qualified sixth, and ran as high as fourth place at the hands of Britons Paul Hawkins and David Hobbs (now of ESPN fame), before dropping out with engine trouble at the 12 hour mark. Chassis 1074 ran in a handful of races over the next year, but nowadays is most remembered for its role as the camera car in the 1970 filming of the Steve McQueen movie, "Le Mans".
Bauer Modellautobahnen of Germany has chosen to reproduce the 1968 Gulf number 10 Wyer car as one of four extremely limited production Ford GT40's in its second release of the "Slot Classics" series for 2004. Only 250 each of the authentically detailed models have been made, individually numbered for your protection. Last year's editions of the Bauer GT40, which included the 1969 Le Mans winning Gulf number 6, sold out in less than a week, and are already fetching in excess of $100 on eBay. Somehow, some way, Jon at Rad Trax has managed to secure a small stash of the new release, but rest assured, these are on a first-come, first-serve basis only. Once they are gone, they are gone. Don't say that I didn't warn you!
This review will examine the Bauer 1968 LeMans Gulf #10 on three basic points: 1) its accuracy as a replica of the very specific car it represents, 2) the quality of the construction and materials, and 3) its performance on the track. I only include #3 because this is, after all, a slot car and not a static die-cast. It can, and will, be driven. But the serious reality with this model is that collectors are highly urged not to drive it, for reasons that we shall see shortly.
Opening the Package
Right away the unique packaging is the first clue that this car is not your average toy. Bauer cars come in clear plastic boxes with yellow cardboard inserts, and so does the GT40, but with this model the company goes the extra length to secure the car in place with a substantial Styrofoam block and a rubber band around the outside. The block prevents the car from toppling over and rattling around inside the box, which would have disastrous consequences for the collector. Thankfully Jon at Rad Trax went the extra mile and secured the entire unit inside a sturdy cardboard mailer, surrounded in a sea of packing peanuts.
Besides the standard yellow side sticker indicating the model number (4050) and body style, on the bottom base of the plastic holder there is a second label in white that includes the designation "Ifde Nummer 131 von 250 St." So now you know that I am the current owner of car number 131 of the 250 units made in the limited edition run, and if you ever see this exact unit for sale on eBay, you know that I have died.
"Whatever you do, DON'T touch the tires!" The warning from fellow NYCONN racer and H.O. car collector par excellence Tom Bussmann kept reverberating through my ears as I removed the rubber band and slid the car and yellow insert gingerly onto the Strat City test track. Bussmann had cautioned me that precious parts, especially decals, and most especially the tire decals, were known to flake off these special editions if touched.
He was right.
Luckily I managed to photograph and scan the GT40 several times before I finally made the clumsy mistake of picking it up with the corner of my thumb touching the rear tire, whereupon the studly-looking Dunlop logo instantly vaporized into powder. Oh well. Now there are only 249 of these limited edition cars. Fortunately, Bauer does sell the replacement tires, model number 870W8543, which I'm sure if you write to Jon, he will be happy to special order for you. Get two sets, while you're at it.
Eye on the Details
The Slot Classics series cars differ from run-of-the-mill Bauers in various minute ways. The GT40 in this review is resin cast in an authentic shade of Gulf baby blue. The trim details are either hand painted (as on the tail assembly) or rendered via custom fabricated decals. The single wide racing stripe with thin black edging is in the proper orange hue, and mimics the placement of the stripe on the actual race car. The sponsor logos (there weren't very many of these back in the day) are correctly placed, and in the proper scale. The fuel filler caps are also decals, and here Bauer made a mistake- there should only be one filler cap, not two. The actual Le Mans car only had the fuel filler installed on the pit (driver) side of the car, but the test model has them on both sides. Tisk tisk. Although Bauer will deny this, the reason for the dual filler caps may simply stem from the fact that the resin mold was pulled from a Matchbox car, whose generic GT40 Mk1 die cast included both caps.
The quality of the decals is quite good, but unfortunately, no clear coat has been applied to protect them. Small imperfections (and at least one air bubble) are apparent on the headlight decals, and as these dry out, they become more prone to flake off over time. The center orange stripe also protruded about 2 mm too far over the front edge of the hood, but that was before track testing, which managed to scrape off the front edge of the decal completely. So now it is about 2 mm too short. Sigh.
Underneath the decals, the body is beautifully polished, and shines with a smooth luster that would make Boyd Coddington smile. There are but the tiniest (less than a tenth of a millimeter) traces of flash near the front grill area, which is appropriately ventilated as on the actual model. The hand-painted areas of the rear grill, tailpipes and taillights are precise and smooth, although there is a miniscule dot of silver paint directly underneath the right side pipe. The pipes themselves are fascinating- gleaming chrome, they are hollow, and indeed are actual pipes that are installed into and through the resin, allowing you to sight down the diameter of the pipe right into the chassis. The two pipes on the test model were slightly misaligned, but not by much.
Compared to the real car, there are a few too many slats on the decal that represents the rear engine cowl. But this is a minor oversight compared to the horrific gaffe on the tires. Inexplicably, the tires on the test car bore the Dunlop logo. While I can understand that only the most dedicated and discriminating researcher might remember that the actual car number 10 at Le Mans in 1968 ran on Firestone rubber, this doesn't excuse the fact that the "Firestone" sponsor logo is proudly reproduced in the correct spot on the Bauer car, on the front side fenders, right next to the "Dunlop" tire! Whoops…
Now that I notice this, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I already flaked off the Dunlop sticker. I'm torn between the possibility that I did a good thing, and the possibility that this car (in mint condition) ends up being EXTREMELY collectible in the future because of the gaffe. I'm not going to speculate. But it is worth noting that the Bauer 1969 Gulf #6 Le Mans winner from the 2003 series was properly equipped with replica Firestones. Makes one wonder what Bauer was thinking on this affair.
The last bone I pick with Bauer in the accuracy department is the detailing (or lack thereof) on the Hillenbrand wheels. The Tyco 440-X2 chassis on the test car comes fitted with beautiful silver, period correct, six-spoke rims. But the rims on the actual car were red. No reason why Bauer couldn't have painted these the proper color. It wouldn't be worth nitpicking, except for the fact that this is sold as a recreation of a car that participated in an actual historic event, down to the specific striping, sponsor decal placement, and driver names on the package. With all the other details receiving accurate treatment (tires and fuel fillers notwithstanding), the rim issue does seem odd. Once again, the collector is forced to prioritize- does one go and paint the rims, to make this the authentic replica it begs to be? Or does one leave it exactly how Bauer created it, in the interest of preserving the resale value of a fine collector's piece? I leave it to you, the buyer, to decide.
Accuracy of Scale
Bauer's choice of the Tyco X2 chassis is a curious one. Since this is a replica of a car from 1968, shouldn't the body ride on a Hendrix-era Thunderjet instead of the X2, whose roots date to the days when Kurt Cobain was on heavy rotation on MTV? There seem to be two advantages to using the newer underpinnings: (1) the wheelbase and relative bulk of the stock Aurora T-jet chassis severely limit the ability to re-create ANY car in proportion, let alone a low-slung race car, and (2) the slightly larger scale proportion of the X2 (1/64 vs. 1/72 for the Aurora) allows for greater attention to detail. The debate will surely rage on, but I have no qualms about using the inline motor and traction magnet upgrades the 440-X2 car provides.
Aurora's original GT40 has been long maligned for its wildly inaccurate appearance, which from some angles more resembles a squashed potato chip than a Ferrari-killing Le Mans racer. So how does the Bauer car rate? At first glance, the proportions are much more pleasing to the eye. The curves flow gracefully, and seem truer to the photographs of the historic GT40 Mk I. The roofline does appear to be raked a bit too steeply though, rising from rear to front, resulting in a more pronounced cabin area and front windshield than normal.
The actual measurements of the car bear out the difficulties of casting an accurately HO-sized Ford GT. The Bauer's width, length, and wheelbase are all acceptably close to the now-standard 1/64 scale ratio, but the height is markedly exaggerated, falling approximately 10% outside of the scale numbers for the rest of the car. Translation: the roof should be 2 millimeters lower than it is. Comparison photographs with the real car bear this out; the actual GT40 rides even lower to the ground than the diminutive Bauer would have you believe. Held to the same standards of accuracy, the Aurora car fares much worse though. Surprisingly, the Bauer is no taller on the track than the flat-looking T-jet version. The heights are identical, at 18 mm. But the shorter wheelbase of the T-jet was based on the 1/72 scale ratio of the day, and the result is a height discrepancy of nearly twenty percent from the rest of the dimensions. The Aurora is deceptively tall for its size.
Under the Hood
The chassis for the Bauer Slot Classic series is advertised as a stock 440-X2. The test car is indeed fitted on a stock slim chassis with short wheelbase, pristine clean if not spectacular. I completely disassembled it, looking for any possible upgrade parts, such as motor bushings or silver electrical upgrades, but there are none. The stock crown and pinion gears mesh perfectly, and have no chipped (or even scratched) teeth, signs that they were probably hand-picked. More often than not, factory Tyco cars have some sort of blemish in the delicate gear area, but the test car is flawless in this regard.
The front axle has been shortened, a common modification done by racers of Tyco chassis, in order to minimize "slop", or free play. Hard to say if this was done for the handling advantage, or for the cosmetic appearance, as the narrower custom wheel hubs would have looked awkward if they had protruded out to the normal Tyco width. One note: the narrow Bauer hubs will not accommodate stock Tyco tires, neither front nor rear. If you want to change the tires when driving the Gulf car (something I recommend if you must drive it on the track), you should either swap out the entire axle assembly with a stock unit, or else fit smaller width silicones to the existing hubs. Better yet, don't even use the chassis that the car came with; run the body on one of your existing Tyco slimline chassis.
Removing the GT40 body reveals a fascinating detail… good grief, there's an interior on this car. And hey, it's got a driver, too! Looking closely, the little David Hobbs even has a flesh-painted face underneath his white helmet. The interior is cleverly held in place by… nothing. It just sits there, loose. For that matter, so does the lexan windshield. Interesting, I was expecting clear glass, and glued in place. I am beginning to regret the decision to take this car apart. Putting it back together requires a delicate balancing act, and some experimentation as to the placement of the interior piece. The lexan windshield has molded protrusions that look like they should fit the window cavities, but they don't. After much jockeying back and forth, I finally settle on an arrangement that looks like it might have come that way in the first place. It seems haphazard, but when I turn the car back right side up and look at the exterior, all is well. By now I have completely destroyed what little was left of the Dunlop decals on the tires though. Sigh…
At the track
The real Ford GT40's were extremely nimble and brutally fast. Will the Bauer car live up to the reputation of its big brother? For this article, I tested the car with both stock tires and with silicones. For comparison, I also ran laps with three different stock Tycos, a lexan-bodied racing GT40 on a Wizzard Patriot 3E chassis, and a vintage Aurora T-jet. All driving trials were conducted on the 62 foot Strat City Tomy road course, with 20 volt DC, 2.5 amps power.
(This is not supposed to be happening, by the way. This car is supposed to be sitting safely inside its collector box, gathering value. Sigh…)
Track cleaned and warmed, I place the Bauer GT40 Mk1 and the little David Hobbs in the slot. With a squeeze of the trigger, off they go. Whoosh! What a rush! Go, David, go! The euphoria I experience watching that little Gulf car zip around the track is like none I have ever experienced before. The tiny little side view mirrors molded onto either side of the upper door ledges give the car a stunningly realistic silhouette once it is in motion. The slightly-softer-than stock tires allow the car to slide out the tail end ever so gently through the long sweeping corners, breaking traction in a smooth and controllable fashion. Thanks to the flawlessly solid gear mesh, the car whisks along with a pleasing and musical purr from the rotating electric motor. The GT40 isn't incredibly quick, but it is agile and easy to control. Best yet, it looks glorious lapping the raceway, far more like a true vintage exotic than a silly plastic toy. Let's face it, some of these little cars we HO enthusiasts put on the track look more like party favors that belong on an ice cream cake than they do race cars. Not the Bauer. This car is rolling sculpture. Too many fuel fillers? Who cares?! I feel like I'm driving one of my Randy Owens limited edition prints.
In 1968, the run from Tertre Rouge down Les Hunaudieres through the flat-out Mulsanne Kink and to the end of the straight was 3.5 miles long. In HO scale that translates to a straightaway length of 288 feet, or the same as eighteen 4’ X 16’ slot tables placed end to end.
With the stock tires, the GT40 settles in at a best lap time of 6.8 seconds. However, the body keeps sliding off the tabs that hold it to the narrow chassis, and this causes one side or the other to ride up higher than the other. The look is disconcerting, and eventually causes the entire car to lean to the side. Even after I re-seat the body onto the chassis tabs, it only takes a few laps before it works its way loose again. I've had this happen before with stock Tycos, too (everyone knows about the notorious Kyle Petty Hot Wheels 44 car, right?), but I fixed those with scotch tape. Not a chance I'm going to risk losing any more decals on the Bauer with that trick. Hmm, maybe if I take out the interior? Although this doesn't stop the car from sliding off the chassis tabs, it does lead to faster lap times, either from the decreased weight, or the decreased friction. Without the interior, the Bauer does a best lap of 6.6 seconds.
First up for comparison is a Tyco Porsche 908, riding on a 440-X2 HPX short wheelbase pan chassis. In its heyday, the 908 was a close rival of the GT40, sitting on the pole at that same 1968 running of Le Mans. The HPX car is much quicker, lapping at 5.3 seconds on the (included stock model) silicones. With magnet cars like the 440-X2, ride height plays a huge factor in the handling, as the closer the magnet sits to the rails, the more cornering ability the car will have. While the Bauer car comes equipped with skinny .470 inch diameter rear tires, the HPX has wide, fat, .448 size tires in back. No surprise then that it dusts the Bauer. Next up is a Dodge Intrepid NASCAR stocker, also on a short wheelbase pan chassis, but this time on the tried and true hard rubber stock Tyco tires, which measure .462 inches in diameter. The taller center of gravity makes the CAT-liveried Ward Burton stocker more prone to rollovers, but still it beats the Gulf car with a 6.4 second lap. How fast can a stock narrow chassis Tyco car go when fitted with good tires?
The third comparison car is a Lamborghini Countach, riding on aftermarket, ultra-low profile .430 Super Tires (Remind me to ask Jon to stock these popular silicones at Rad Trax). Whoosh! 5.0 flashes across the lap counter LED readout. OK, so how much is due to the chassis/tires, and how much is due to the body? I swap the Countach out for the Bauer, minus interior, and let her rip. The weight-saving, race-inspired lexan windshield is a plus here. I try not to notice that the body still wiggles its way loose from the chassis from time to time, and concentrate on nailing good laps. It doesn't take long before the Gulf car hammers out a 4.8 on the borrowed chassis.
Truthfully, if you are going to drive this car, I strongly recommend that you set the original chassis and interior aside anyhow… and try not to crash too much, either. I did take a few hair-raising tumbles with the test car, and survived them without losing any more decals, but I'm not planning on subjecting it to much more abuse once this review is completed.
Just for fun, I run some test laps with an original Aurora T-jet Ford GT, which also was modeled after the MkI version of the GT40. With silicone tires, the svelte pancake chassis racer turns an 11.4 second flying lap. Then to find out how the other half lives, I break a Wizzard Patriot 3E out of the trailer and fit it with a Ford GT40 hand-painted lexan body. Riding on .448 slip on silicones, the Patriot drops down a 3.8, without even breaking a sweat. Looks butt-ugly though, compared to the Bauer.
-On the Skid Pad
Skid pad results are obtained by running the car in repeated trials around the inside lane of a 3 3/4" radius circle while gradually increasing the setting on a 15V regulated DC train power supply. With the stock faux Dunlops, the Bauer GT40 could accept 71% of full power before de-slotting. This placed it ahead of the Ward Burton NASCAR (68%), but far behind the silicone-shod Porsche 908 (86%) and skid test winner Lamborghini (90%). Here again, the ride height plays a huge factor in skid pad results for any magnet car. By lowering the tire diameter, the magnetic field is moved closer to the power rails, and the car will grip the track better. The Bauer comes saddled with the tallest rear tires of any of the cars tested, which weighs heavily in the results. Skid pad numbers on tracks with higher rail heights, such as Tyco and Lifelike, will most likely vary considerably. In either case, I still recommend that you run the Bauer on a non-factory chassis and/or tires, and that you run it sparingly even at that.
Summary
When all is said and done, track tests are hardly what this car is all about. This car is about vintage spirit, coffee tables, display cases, and the "oooh aaaah" factor it exudes. I certainly have never ever seen a more beautiful production HO slot car than the Bauer GT40 anywhere, even after the tires have been "scrubbed in". Bauer is to be commended for taking the road less traveled, and preserving the memory of the number 10 Gulf car on this go around, instead of the all-too-familiar number 9. A few small design quirks prevent this from being an exact replica of the historic chassis #1074, but it doesn't take much for a collector who is bent on recreating it to make the minor modifications that would set it right. Whether you are collector of the Gulf Fords, a collector of Bauer Slot Classics, or simply a fan of vintage Le Mans cars in HO scale, this car will take a proud spot in your collection- if you order it soon. Just don't touch the tires when it arrives.
---Clark "Strat" Howell
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