Why the kitset supercar builder paid for it twice
Alan Dunn realised he loved the head-turning 1965 Ford GT40 supercar replica he built so much that a few years after he sold it he had to have it back.
The former Timaru businessman had spent ‘‘three to four years’’ on his labour of love, working on it at night and weekends, only to sell it when he and his wife discovered it had got too hard to get in and out of.
The car is a replica – an original 1965 Ford GT40 Mk I now costs around NZ$12 million – but is 100% of scale to the original model made famous when Kiwis Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon won the 24-hour Le Mans race in 1966.
Dunn finished building his version in 2007, which he predicts is worth about $150,000 in today’s market, but in about 2010 he discovered it ‘‘just too hard to get in and out of’’ for he and his wife, so they sold it.
‘‘A year later I walked past the gym one day and thought, ‘no I’m fit’, so I bought it back again.
‘‘It had been away for a wee holiday with someone else in Whangarei.
‘‘I just needed to have it back. We flew to Whangarei, we bought it and drove it home.’’
Car fanatics can get a good look at Dunn’s build tomorrow when the South Canterbury Vintage Car Club hosts an All American Show at the Caroline Bay northern car park from 11am to 12.30pm.
Dunn, who has been doing motorsport fabrication for the past 25 years, said the replica kit was just the body ‘‘which came with just the bare frame, so no suspension mounts, no engine mounts, just the frame’’.
‘‘So I’ve then made up all the engine mounts, seats and wipers and gear change system and all the bits and pieces.
‘‘I did have a business then and when I was sick of the business, or the staff were annoying me, I could go home and have a play with it and build bits and pieces.
‘‘We’ve used a Porsche gearbox and Corvette front suspension arms. Just bits and pieces that we can find.
‘‘Much of it I’ve fabricated, like all the suspension arms in the rear are ones I’ve all made myself, all the exhausts and gear-change stuff as well. ‘‘But it is 100% of scale.
‘‘It runs a Ford 302 small block V8 with a whole lot of goodies on it.
‘‘It is quick, very quick. It is light, and the horsepower is there. There is 330 horsepower at the rear wheels.
‘‘It’s exceptionally fast. I thought it was faster than most things until I bought my Camaro (2020 ZL1). It is the scariest thing I’ve ever driven, and I’ve driven V8 Supercars.
‘‘It’s factory unmodified with 650 horsepower.’’
Dunn owns more than 10 cars and says he got into collectable cars after selling his business.