Many years later, somewhere around 2002 or 2003, I would come into contact with additional info and finally be able to identify the burned hulk as Ford GT40 P1070. (To get some additional background, here is a blog about the rusted hulk Ford GT40 P1070: Ford GT40 P1070)



It was about that time when I ran into Fran Kress at the annual Columbus, Ohio, All-Ford Swap Meet. I knew that Fran was into GT40’s, so I asked him if he knew anything about this GT40 that I had seen then-30 years ago. Turns out, he certainly did, as he had currently owned it! He had bought the car without a title, and was negotiating with the guy who had been burned in the car (and kept the title as a souvenir) to acquire the original title to go with the car. Fran was eventually able to work out a deal with the former owner to purchase the original title. But Fran then sold the car, the title, and a new GT40 tub to a fellow in England back in 2005.



Sometime after I had talked to Fran, I actually met the guy who had been burned in P1070 at the big Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit. He had some significant scarring from his incident in the car, so I decided it would probably not bring back pleasant memories for him to discuss the GT40, which is why I did not ask about it.

In 2007, I visited Fran at his home in Pittsburgh. His garage was so full of cars, parts and tools that you could hardly walk around in it. There were three original 289 Cobras, a GT40, and an R-Model Shelby – the kind of stuff you might expect to see in a 20-car marble-floored garage of some rich millionaire collector -- all stuffed into a 2-1/2 car garage! Also in there, hanging from the ceiling, was a brand-new GT40 tub. Fran told me it was one of just two very rare “Tennant panels” GT40 tubs that he had purchased back when he was preparing to restore P1070.