John Wyer had created Ford Advanced Vehicles company to help the Americans in the battle for the win in the 24 hours of Le Mans. This mission was successful in 1966. Ford proposed to take the whole GT40 business over, but he refused and created a new organisation: J.W. Automotive Engineering (JWA). With modest sponsorship funding from Grady Davis of the Gulf Oil Corporation, JWA built three Prototypes to contest the Endurance Championship. They were called Mirage M1, and later M2 and M3.
The new Mirages retained much of the successful Ford GT40 concept but utilized a revised roof section featuring a narrower windscreen, with a lightweight, more aerodynamically efficient body. Just four months after the opening of JWA the M1s made their debut at Monza in April 1967 with encouraging results. At the following race, the Spa 6 Hours, Jacky Ickx and Dr. Dick Thompson drove their Mirage to victory in the rain beating the works Ferrari P4 by two laps. Both M1 retired in the Le Mans race.
New rules by the FIA were unfavourable for the Mirages and JWA got an attractive offer from Porsche to develop its factory 917. After again a successful campaign, the Automotive team got going again. The name was changed to Gulf Research Racing Company with Davis as president and John Horseman and John Wyer as directors. British engineer Len Bailey designed a new Mirage M6 for some races in the 1972 championship. The best result is a fourth place in the Spa 1000 km and a pole-position in Zeltweg. The car is fast, but there were lot of vibrations coming from the Ford DFV engine designed for a F1 race. The team experimented with an open and closed version.
Gulf racing is present in all the races of the World Championship 1973. In the 24 hours Daytona, Derek Bell and Howden Ganley start from pole-position in the M6- Ford (601), but retired due to clutch problems. The M6 (602), driven by Mike Hailwood and John Watson also had to retire. Same result in the 6h Vallelunga, but in Dijon the team got fifth place (Hailwood-Schuppan). After again a bad race in Monza, both Mirages are unbeatable at Spa. Bell and Hailwood (chassis 605) won the race and Ganley-Schuppan ( chassis 602) were second. In the 24 hours of Le Mans both cars had to retire.
With the semi-retirement of John Wyer in 1974, the team changed their name into Gulf Racing to reflect the name of the Mirages’ loyal sponsor. Under the continued direction of John Horsman, the M6s were upgraded and their designation changed to GR7. Two cars were entered in the world championship. Derek Bell and Mike Hailwood scored a P04 in the Monza 1000 km, P02 in Spa and a fourth place in the 24 hours of Le Mans (#11). The 1000 km Le Castellet and the 1000 km Brands Hatch race ended on the third podium step with Bell teamed with J.Ickx in France and D.Hobbs in England. At the 1000 km Nürburgring, the Gulf Racing Mirage ended in fourth place with Bell, Schuppan and F1 star James Hunt. In Le Mans, Bell/Haywood (702) were fourth, while the 701 chassis only did 3 laps. In the overall championship standings, the Mirage finished second to Matra.
For 1975 the decision was made for the Mirages to concentrate on the world’s most difficult and prestigious long-distance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Amidst the oil crisis of the 1970s, new Mirages needed to be built to meet the more environmentally strict fuel consumption regulations set for the 1975 race. According to the ACO rules, cars had to run 20 laps in between fuel stops. The Mirage GR8s were built on a longer wheelbase chassis and featured new bodywork yielding a drag coefficient of only 0.35. The chassis of GR8/801 was done late in 1974; the second car, 802, only hit the track in June with Derek Bell and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud testing the two works cars at Silverstone. Six days later, the cars were being scrutineered in Le Mans.
Vern Schuppan, sharing 802 with Jaussaud, led Bell through the opening hour until Jacky Ickx climbed into 801 and never looked back. Things were less simple for 802 – six hours in, the electronic ignition box was replaced to cure a misfire and a puncture dropped it to sixth. Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx, despite a cracked exhaust and vibration caused by broken engine mounts, came up just 11km short of Matra’s winning distance from the year before and Le Mans’ most famous pairing made its first mark in the history books. Still, 802 came back through to finish third.
Upon Gulf Oil’s sponsorship withdrawal from international sports car racing in late 1975, American entrepreneur and former racing driver Harley Cluxton III purchased the Mirage team. As a Group 6 Prototype entrant, and later a Group C Prototype entrant, Cluxton continued successfully contesting the Mirages at Le Mans as a two car team. With primary sponsorship from JCB Excavators, Elf Lubricants and under the continued management of John Horsman and counsel of John Wyer, the Mirages entered the 1976 24 hours race. Jean-Louis Lafosse and Francois Migault drove the GR8 (602) to second place and Bell- Schuppan were fifth (GR8-801) due to technical issues. With second place almost a foregone conclusion for Lafosse -Migault, disaster struck dramatically with just a few laps left to run. Its rear bodywork had disappeared, breaking off when a mount snapped. But Lafosse refused to pit, continuing for three laps and giving away time to the chasing-but-ailing de Cadenet Lola. Despite the clogged pitlane and failing re-start, 802 held onto second place.
In the 1977 Le Mans race with its DFV replaced by a Renault V6, the GR8-802 was again second with drivers Vern Schuppan-Jean Pierre Jarier; Sam Posey and Michel Leclerc were out in the 5th hour. Remember that not one Alpine Renault saw the flag and the sole remaining Martini Porsche 936 prevailed – but only just. Comfortably ahead and cruising, it blew out plumes of smoke inside the final hour and crawled to the pits. Such was its lead it remained in the pits for half an hour, leaving in the closing stages to do just enough to secure the win: creep over the line between 4:01pm and 4:15pm. It did so, but two minutes early, and was therefore required to complete another lap. Remarkably it reappeared across the line at 4:05pm, still with 11 laps in hand, denying 802 an unlikely victory.
For the 1978 Le Mans race, the 802 had a new name: Mirage M9. Once again Renault powered, its rollbar was lowered and cockpit narrowed. Enough, to Horsman’s displeasure, to warrant a new name. Straight-line testing was, this time, conducted on the new Interstate 10 freeway in Phoenix. Vern Schuppan was joined by Jacques Laffite and Sam Posey for Le Mans. Engine issues costed the car four hours in the pits. Tenth was all it could manage. The 801 didn’t survive the 7 hour mark.
Its swansong came the following year, in 1979. Back with DFV power, it had revised bodywork (‘the best looking and most effective open body I ever made’, reckons Horsman) and water cooling was added. Its name : Mirage M10. Once again, Schuppan was paired with the experienced David Hobbs and Derek Bell in the 801 (#11). In the last hour, the clutch gave away. The 802 (#10) had numerous issues and spent more than 4 hours in the pits. By halfway the car was withdrawn, failing to meet the minimum distance.
In 1982, FIA's new Group C regulations came into effect. Therefore, Harley Cluxton and John Horsman designed a new Mirage M12, two years after the M10. A single blue car was sent to France for the 24 hours of Le Mans.
During scrutineering, there was some concerns regarding the underbody and the windscreen, but the car got approved. Practice and qualifying was not a problem and on saturday the car took part in the warm-up. But 90 minutes before the start of the race, a scrutineer had questions regarding the placement of the oil tank and oil coolers. They did not comply within the rules and was deemed to be unsafe ! As the race was about to start, a rebuild was impossible. Mario Andretti, who was about to race with his son Michael, had to hop out of the car. The car's career was over before it could do a single racing lap. It was also the end of a Mirage era.
