The GT6, as a true sports car has been, and is still being successfully raced.
However its heritage is the original racing Spitfires at the Le Mans 24 hour race of 1965. Their fastback design was a direct copy of the original Spitfire Coupe. The expression “Born in Le Mans” being strictly incorrect as the design predated these remarkable Spitfires which came 13th (Class Winner) – see below, and 14th.
Below are some examples:
Jon Wolfe Racing
Jon Wolfe, Driver/Owner has had outright wins at the Nordschleife, Monza and Brands Hatch and many class wins in FISC and CSCC Swinging Sixties. He’s the winner of Class C in 2008, 2009 and 2010 CSCC Swinging Sixties race series. Click on the picture above of his “awesome Triumph GT6 Mk II” to visit his website in a new tab, where you can see the full and impressive specification.
Kas Kastner
R.W. ‘Kas’ Kastner started the USA Triumph Competition Department for the Triumph factory in the early 1960’s. He authored the Triumph Preparation manuals distributed by the Triumph factory in the 1960 – 1972 era of production car racing. He is well-known for his pursuit of power increases for the Triumph cars with long experience in engine dynamometer testing. Although he resigned in 1970, to run his own company, Kastner-Brophy Inc, he helped Triumph to prepare the GT6 for the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) class E-Production. The GT6 won the championship in 1969/70, hence the plaques on the dashboard! To visit his own website click on the picture below.
A Kastner-Brophy GT6 Mk3 won two big races in 1972, and the car (see below in period, and in 2016) now belongs to James Dolan. He “bought the car after talking to the seller and it was as advertised. We had a bit of race prep to bring things up to date with new belts, fuel bladder, brakes system rebuild, and we were ready to race. I tracked down Kas Kastner and obtained a lot of history about the car. Kas was a great guy, he told me all about what to look for to confirm it was his prior car. Then we spent a lot of time at the Kastner Cup race telling stories. A real gentleman”.
John Holmes Racing
John Holmes Racing, a specialist car preparation firm, undertook a project to build a competitive racing Triumph GT6, chosen for its tunable engine and lightweight chassis. Project lead David Tuck acquired a rust-free Mk 2 model. The team significantly modified the car, including:
· Uprating the engine to a 2.5-litre.
· Replacing the gearbox with a Ford 5-speed.
· Installing a new alloy fuel tank, sports exhaust, and electronic ignition.
· Upgrading the suspension, brakes, and drive shafts.
· Fitting a full roll cage.
The car’s final specification was tailored for historic racing with the Historic Sports Car Club, balancing performance for both track and road use.
The author was kindly given access to see a race prepared GT6 up close. An article on this car published in the July 2015 edition of the Club Triumph magazine “Club Torque”. A slideshow of his pictures is below:
Group 44 Racing GT6+
Sold at Auction by RM Sothebys in August 2012 for $55,000, a record for a GT6. According to the Auctioneers:
Formed during the early-1960s by Bob Tullius and Brian Fuerstenau, Group 44 Inc. remains one of America’s most successful racing teams, with its cars renowned for their distinctive green and white liveries, impeccable preparation, and countless victories. This ex-Group 44 Triumph GT6+ was driven in period by Mike Downs, Brian Fuerstenau, and Bob Tullius, and secured the SCCA National Championship at the American Road Race of Champions (ARRC) at Daytona in 1969, where the GT6+ swept the E-Production podium. In 1970, this car won the D-Production pole at the very first SCCA Runoffs at Road Atlanta. Sponsored by Quaker State, Champion, and Goodyear, it was also featured in dozens of ads and stories in many event programs and publications, including Road & Track, Sports Car Graphic, and others. It was also Triumph’s display car at the 1970 New York Auto Show. The current owner acquired the GT6+ as a “barn find” in 2005, and Lanky Foushee, the Group 44 Inc. crew chief from 1970 until the team’s disbanding, confirmed its identity. A complete and authentic restoration followed, with the car returned to nearly exactly the way it appeared in the winner’s circle at Daytona in 1969, with careful updates to make it track-ready today. The entire process was carefully documented and covered by Classic Motorsports magazine. In 2009, the car won the Amelia Award at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance before participating in the Monterey Historics that August. The restoration was performed to such a high level that former Group 44 Inc. team owner Bob Tullius deemed the GT6+ worthy of his standards when he saw it at the Lake Mirror Classic concours last fall. Perhaps Lanky Foushee said it best recently, “This was the little car that could…until the Triumph TR8 came later, this was my favorite car in our stable. The restoration was great. You guys did a super job.” We could not agree more.
To read an article about the restoration click here.
Kevin Ginger
Kevin Ginger was a competitive Triumph racer known for his mid-mounted, highly modified GT6 that dominated races in the late 1980s. He raced with the 750 Motor Club and the Triumph Sports Six Club (TSSC) for several years.
Kevin Ginger was renowned for unusual modification to his GT6—a mid-mounted straight-six engine. Forum posts from the era recall that the radical repositioning of the engine, which greatly improved the car’s weight distribution, made it virtually untouchable on the track. Some speculate the car was eventually outlawed for being too dominant.
During the 1980s, Ginger was a top competitor in the TSSC and 750MC race series. Competitors praised his skill behind the wheel and the speed of his unique GT6. A 1998 race report from Wolfitt Racing details a moment of bad luck for Ginger. His car suffered a severe engine failure—a “golf ball sized hole” in the block—which prevented him from starting the race.
While Ginger’s mid-engined GT6 was one of the most memorable examples of a custom Triumph racer, other enthusiasts have also built high-performance GT6 race cars. For instance, a 1970 GT6 with a modified engine and chassis was campaigned successfully in the CSCC Swinging Sixties championship.
A Racing GT6 for Sale in Australia
I recently found this interesting GT6 Mk2, described as part of Australia’s motoring heritage.
The following statistics for the Triumph GT6 are quoted by the Racing Sports Cars website:
To visit the website click here.
