1963 Ford Galaxie 500 Lightweight Competition Saloon
Chassis no. 3N66R143030

In our catalogue descriptions we have often highlighted how one may judge a great competition car by the company it kept in period. Another vital yardstick when it comes to assessing historic value is then perfectly exemplified by this magnificent Ford Galaxie 500 racing saloon car, for it is nothing less than an extremely important motor racing landmark.

Between 1950 and 1963 production car racing in Britain had been absolutely dominated by the Jaguar marque. The Coventry-built cars with their wonderful 3.4-and later 3.8-litre twin-overhead camshaft XK-series engines dominated the category, proving effectively unbeatable. The Jaguar Mark VIIs followed by the 3.4 Mark I saloon and then the Mark II in its ultimate 3.8-litre form simply overwhelmed all opposition.

But here we offer the John Willment Automobiles Ltd racing team's Ford Galaxie 500: the landmark car in which the late, great, hugely popular driver Jack Sears stood the racing world on its head and shattered those long years of Jaguar domination.
It was in mid-January 1963 that Jack had received a telephone call from Willment's new team manager Jeff Uren – himself a former saloon car racing rival – who explained that the recently-established Twickenham-based équipe were purchasing from America a "...full-house Holman & Moody NASCAR Ford Galaxie with which they intended to confront Jaguar in the British Saloon Car Championship". And they wanted Jack to drive it.

Jack Sears was already a 'veteran' of saloon car racing, having won the inaugural British Saloon Car Championship in 1958. Sears also claimed a class win at the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours with Mike Salmon driving a Maranello Concessionaires-entered Ferrari 330 LMB. Another class victory followed at the Daytona 24 Hours in 1965, driving one of the Daytona Coupés for John Willment, and folklore records that he topped 180mph on the newly¬-opened M1 motorway in England when testing a Cobra ahead of the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours!

In mid-1963 Ford would introduce a revised Galaxie (also known as the 1963½ or 'R-Code') with a lower fastback roofline and new 427ci (7.0-litre) big-block, dual-carburettor V8 engine producing 425bhp. However, this was still not enough performance for some, so Ford commissioned around 210 'Lightweight' editions of the R-Code 427, only available in Corinthian White with a red vinyl interior. These Lightweight Galaxies were specified with a four-speed Borg-Warner T10 gearbox, 4.11:1 rear axle ratio and heavy-duty suspension. To save weight, steel body panels were exchanged for a glassfibre bonnet, boot and front wings together with aluminium bumpers, transmission cases and bell-housing. The spare wheel and tools were removed along with any sound deadening material and most of the interior trim. In total, these very special 'Lightweight's were a staggering 170 kilograms lighter!
With competition in mind, Ford had shipped several fastback R-Code Lightweights to NADSCAT stock car racing specialists Holman & Moody in North Carolina, USA. The Holman & Moody team had a lasting effect on motorsport, with their innovations including fuel cells, on-board fire-extinguishing systems and quick-change disc brakes.

Holman & Moody called upon their vast NASCAR experience to create the car that would change the face of the British Saloon Car Championship. These Lightweights were fitted with strengthened suspension pickup points, chassis welding and a stiffer roll cage. The suspension wishbones were also stronger and dual dampers were fitted. Holman & Moody had also developed their own enhanced version of the famous 427ci V8 engine, with medium-rise intake manifold and Belanger Brothers fabricated Y-piece exhaust primaries feeding into oval side-exit pipes, which crossed through the chassis rails. For the British Saloon Car Championship, Holman & Moody designed and built only three cars to this specification. Included in the sale is a copy of the correspondence between Ford, Holman & Moody and the FIA on the successful homologation for international races in Europe, as well as the period build sheets.

The Sears/Willment Galaxie would be the first of the three built for the British saloon car racing scene, the other two being destined for Sir Gawaine Baillie and Alan Brown. Willment's car - as offered here - would not be delivered until the Spring. Included in the extensive documentation file accompanying this Lot is the original Holman & Moody receipt, No. 814, dated June 20, 1963, and confirming sale to 'John Willment Automobiles Ltd, 161 Chertsey Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, England', the recorded price being US$3,342.98.

Meantime, Willment had been offered the brand-new, and at that time 'hush-hush', Cortina GT saloon to contest the Championship's 2-litre class, which scored the same points as the overall race winner, which would almost inevitably be from the over-2-litre class and, until May 1963, most definitely of Jaguar manufacture.

'Gentleman Jack' – as was his wont – discussed the Willment proposition with his wife Cicely and decided to take a chance and sign for the new Ford team, because "It sounded like fun...".

In the Willment Ford Cortina GT, Jack would win his class in every race he contested that year, but meanwhile the new NASCAR-style 'Lightweight' 7-litre Ford Galaxie 500 had been completed by Holman & Moody, and it was delivered by air in time for the major BRDC International May Meeting at Silverstone. The Twickenham-based team brought this great car to Silverstone in time for Thursday practice, but its Firestone racing tyres had not been despatched in time from the USA. Road tyres were fitted instead and inflated to 50-60psi, just enabling Jack to test-drive the car on track, not least checking out its drum-brake behaviour.

This initial exploratory drive was brief – ending when a tyre burst and Jack Sears parked on the grass, "...to watch Graham Hill and Roy Salvadori and Gawaine Baillie waving at me as they hurtled past in their Jaguars...". This Galaxie notion was plainly going to prove a disaster. The vital Firestone tyres arrived in time for Friday practice. "Without trying terribly hard I then qualified on pole position – faster than all the Jaguars. I tried a standing start on one of Silverstone's infield runways. It seemed OK. But a second start left the clutch slipping. I owned up to Jeff Uren who said that was OK because they had a spare clutch they could fit for the race. But as a precaution Jeff 'phoned John Holman in Charlotte and asked how much punishment we could expect the clutch to take. Holman told him that first gear on a NASCAR Galaxie was very high as they did rolling starts, but that I should not dump the clutch at the start, because it would not tolerate it..."

As recalled in Mr Sears's biography Gentleman Jack (with Graham Gauld) "I must say I made a very leisurely start, I mean it was really leisurely, and into the first corners the three Jaguars were leading, with Graham Hill followed by Roy Salvadori and Gawaine Baillie.

"In that first race I had drum brakes with metal to metal linings so they didn't fade and were actually quite good, better than you would believe. I found the Jaguars were not outbraking me, so when we left Chapel Corner and came on to Hangar Straight I felt, gosh, this thing is really flying, I think I can pass them.
"To my surprise I passed all three Jaguars in the one manoeuvre. I had no time for waving or anything like that; I had my head down concentrating but now was the moment of truth as I hit my braking point for Stowe. To my surprise they didn't come past me but just followed me.
"I put my foot down on the exit from the fast uphill left-hander at Abbey and the Galaxie just pulled away from the Jaguars. By the end of the second lap I had a comfortable lead though was still worried about the clutch, so left the Galaxie in fourth gear for the rest of the race – I never changed gear again....". The great white car with its centreline red stripes won imperiously, the long era of Jaguar's saloon-car stranglehold had been broken and Jack Sears "felt like I was walking on air".

Journalist Gregor Grant's race report in Autosport magazine began "When the 'tourers' lined up, it was an unfamiliar sight to have an American V8 in pole position, with Jaguars ranged alongside. When Kenneth Evans dropped the Union Jack, Sears made a very calculated start, easing in the clutch gently, and getting the monster rolling before unleashing over 400 very hairy horses.
"The Jaguars had an initial advantage, but down Hangar Straight, Sears opened up the big Yank, to storm into the lead. There was simply nothing that (Graham) Hill, Salvadori, Mike Salmon and Co could do about it, beyond hope that something would break, or the Ford run out of its drum brakes. Jack Sears was allowing for all this, immediately setting about building up as big a lead as possible before Jeff Uren in the Willment pit would give him the ease-up signal.
"With Sears streaking away from the Jaguars interest was focused on a stirring battle (behind him)....
"At half-distance Sears had built up a lead of over 20 seconds from Salvadori, with (Peter) Dodd in third place a long way back. Sears eased off considerably after putting the touring car record up to 92.42mph and rolled comfortably home to victory, first ever for a car other than a Jaguar."

Two weeks later at Aintree, Liverpool, this Willment Galaxie reappeared in Jack Sears' hands for a 34-lap, 102-mile race around the Grand National horse-race venue's perimeter motor racing circuit. David Pritchard's Autosport report read: "The presence of Jack Sears with the enormous Ford Galaxie made the outcome almost a foregone conclusion except that, in this long-distance race, Jack had a very real problem in the shape of tyre wear. This being so, he had no thought of record breaking or showing the real pace of this monstrous vehicle, and was wisely content to nurse the brute through the corners and to turn the wick up on the straights only just far enough to keep the opposition at bay.
"The race was, therefore, dictated by Michael Salmon in the 3.8 Jaguar, which led the first half-lap, and thereafter sat in second place relentlessly keeping on the pressure every time Jack tried to ease up...an enthralling tactical exercise from which both drivers emerged with the greatest possible credit."

The Crystal Palace Whit-Monday meeting could hardly have presented the Willment team with a greater Galaxie challenge, for the exceptionally tight little circuit around the London parkland venue surely favoured the Jaguars and the small-class Mini-Coopers and medium Cortinas, Anglias and Sunbeam Rapiers – anything other than the vast Galaxie which Sir John Whitmore described as "looking as big as an aircraft carrier".

Sir Gawaine Baillie had acquired a sister 'lightweight' Galaxie 500, and one report described how: "Whatever people may have thought about the big Ford Galaxies on the twisting Crystal Palace circuit was soon dispelled by Jack Sears, who took an early lead from Roy Salvadori (3.8 Jaguar) and Graham Hill in a similar car. The Jaguar drivers tried all they knew, but Sears and his seven litres of V8 Galaxie were absolutely uncatchable. Gawaine Baillie, making his debut with another Galaxie..." finished only 4.8secs behind Hill.

In mid-season Ford homologated front disc brakes on the Galaxie while drums were retained at the rear. Back at Silverstone for the British Saloon Car Championship round supporting the British Grand Prix, "Down went the flag, and Sears thundered off in the huge Galaxie, followed by Salmon (Jaguar) and Baillie (Galaxie). For two laps Salmon gallantly held second place, but then the 7-litre barouche boomed past, and that was that!... Nothing could live with the titans, Sears and Baillie pulling well away from everyone else, and Salmon easily out-acing the other Jaguars by 1-2 secs per lap (until) the ninth lap, Salmon's engine gave up the ghost and he abandoned. Sears took the chequered flag to win... easily. He was followed by Baillie, who had closed up to within 5.2 secs, but (Mike) MacDowel in the leading Jaguar was over a minute behind...."

Jaguar in the lanky form of its general manager 'Lofty' England did his best to hamper the American invader's irresistible progress by "having a quiet word" with the Royal Automobile Club governing body and race scrutineers wherever this Willment Galaxie threat confronted his customer's 3.8-litre Mark II saloon cars.

The British scrutineers had certainly been over the newcomer with a fine tooth-comb at the May Silverstone meeting, and Robert Grant of Autosport later wrote how: "The Galaxie met with many queries from the scrutineers. Jeff Uren is the first to admit that scrutineering is an unenviable and tough job, but what he does complain about is their inconsistency. As is common knowledge, a great fuss arose over the Galaxie's roll-cage, amongst other items, resulting in it being largely removed to prevent it illegally stiffening the chassis. (This can still be seen in the car as it is today). Despite cables, etc, from America to the scrutineers, after much argy-bargy the Galaxie was withdrawn from the Brands Hatch Six Hours, causing disappointment (to say the least) to the entrants, drivers, organisers and – last but not least – the general public on whom, let's face it, motor racing depends a great deal."

Regardless, "Success followed success...Jack Sears won every time he finished with the Galaxie. Bob Olthoff also scored a first with the car and Graham Hill a second at Oulton Park. One other gentleman has scored a win with the Willment Galaxie and that was Sir John Whitmore at the recent Rhodesian Grand Prix meeting – a result which should give those who regard him as solely 'a Mini man' something to think about...".

At August Bank Holiday Brands Hatch, Michael Kettlewell reported: "...the 20-lap Group 2 saloon car race had an added attraction whereby Jim Clark took over the Alan Brown-entered Ford Galaxie, thereby giving Jack Sears in the Willment machine something to think about... The traffic jam around Druids (hairpin) was a sight not for the nervous and it was a wonder that nothing untoward occurred. It was Clark ahead of Sears, the two Ford Galaxie pilots wrestling at the wheel, working as never before. The Jaguar pilots, too, were right on the ragged edge, Salvadori leading Hill and Salmon by a whisker.
"The splendid spectacle of Galaxie drivers working really hard ceased on the ninth lap when Sears trickled into the pits with a flat tyre, leaving this year's likely World Champion in a commanding position. So Clark emerged winner from Hill and Salvadori..."

Graham Hill then drove the Willment Galaxie offered here in the saloon car race supporting that year's Formula 1 Oulton Park Gold Cup in September. Dan Gurney was strapped into Alan Brown's rival Galaxie, and he qualified that car on pole position ahead of Hill, while Jack Sears and F1 driver Trevor Taylor were giving the new Lotus-Cortina saloon model its frontline racing debut, next up on the front row of the starting grid. The Autosport report read: "Dan Gurney made a thunderous start with rear wheels spinning madly, but Graham Hill in his gigantic bolide took it easier and was out-accelerated by Sears and Taylor, and Adams' Jaguar. However, on Knickerbocker Straight (sic – in reality 'Knickerbrook' Straight...) Hill boomed past the trio in the Willment device to take second place.
"Gurney was completely master of the race, using the immense acceleration of his drum-braked monster to the limit, with a conspicuous absence of wheel-winding and tearaway cornering – in fact the perfect example of a polished performance. Less familiar with the Galaxie, Graham Hill was not exactly hanging around, but gradually fell back to be pursued by the incredible Lotus-Cortinas of Sears and Taylor... Gurney gradually overwhelmed the rest of the field, and when he crossed the line at the end he was 31secs in front of Hill, and the only others on the same lap were Sears, Taylor and Salmon."

For the deciding British Saloon Car Championship round at Snetterton, during the Autosport 3-Hour race meeting, Jack Sears was back in this Willment Galaxie – and he qualified on pole position for the race, knocking no fewer than five seconds off his own lap record. His lap time of 1 minute 45 seconds was actually faster than the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagatos and the 1,150cc sports-racing cars in the main 3-Hour sports and GT race.

Willment's South African driver Bob Olthoff also drove the Galaxie, and he lapped 0.8sec slower, still way below the existing lap record. Team manager Uren then decided to put Jack Sears in the Lotus-Cortina for the race, entrusting the Galaxie to Olthoff.

Michael Kettlewell reported: "Although Olthoff got his Galaxie ahead for the first couple of laps, Jack Brabham (in the rival Alan Brown-entered Galaxie), using all the track as only he can, caught and passed him and stayed comfortably ahead for the remainder of the 20 laps...the race continued its course, the Galaxies walking away with it, as is their custom these days; they lapped the slowest car, an 850 Mini, every two-and-a-half laps. With second place seemingly in his pocket, Olthoff's monster died at Sear Corner with transmission failure, so the South Afr

Ex-écurie Willment, ex-Jack Sears/Graham Hill/Sir John Whitmore/Paul Hawkins/Frank Gardner/Bob Olthoff
Ford Galaxie 500 « Lightweight » berline de compétition 1963
Châssis n° 3N66R143030

• Ford Galaxie 500 Holman & Moody « Lightweight »
• Une des trois construites par H&M pour courir en Grande-Bretagne
• Berline championne en Angleterre et en Afrique du Sud
• Historique en compétition complet
• Légendaire berline emblématique

Dans notre catalogue de description nous avons souvent souligner comment juger une voiture de compétition par ceux qui l'ont accompagnée à l'époque. Un autre critère essentiel lorsqu'il faut attribuer une valeur historique est illustré par cette magnifique berline Ford Galaxie 500 de compétition, il s'agit ni plus ni moins que d'un modèle extrêmement important dans l'histoire de la compétition.
Entre 1950 et 1963 les courses de voitures de série en Grande-Bretagne avaient été complètement dominées par Jaguar. Les voitures construites à Coventry avec leurs merveilleux moteurs 3,4 litres puis 3,8 litres à double arbres à cames en tête de la série XK avaient dominé la catégorie, se montrant imbattables et avaient tout simplement écrasé toute opposition.

Mais ici, ce que nous proposons est la Ford Galaxie 500 de l'écurie John Willment Automobiles Ltd, une voiture-jalon avec laquelle le défunt et immensément populaire pilote Jack Sears a tenu tête à la concurrence mondiale et a fait vaciller la domination de Jaguar pendant des années.

Au milieu de l'année 1963, Ford avait dévoilé une Galaxie modifiée (aussi connue sous le nom de 1963½ ou « R-Code ») avec une ligne de toit fastback abaissée et le nouveau « big-block » 427ci (7 litres), un moteur V8 à deux carburateurs de 425 ch. Ce n'était pourtant pas encore suffisant pour certains et Ford commanda environ 210 versions « Lightweight » de la R-Code 427, seulement disponibles en blanc Corinthien avec intérieur en vinyl rouge. Ces Galaxies allégées recevaient une boîte à quatre rapports Borg¬Warner T10, avec un rapport de pont de 4,11:1 et une suspension renforcée. Pour gagner du poids, des panneaux de carrosserie en acier étaient remplacés par de la fibre de verre pour le capot, le couvercle de coffre et les ailes avant, associés à des pare-chocs, des carters de transmission et des cloches d'embrayage en aluminium. La roue de secours et les outils étaient absents, ainsi que tous les matériaux insonorisants et une grande partie des garnitures intérieurs. En tout, ces spéciales « Lightweight » étaient allégées de 170 kg !
En vue de la compétition, Ford avait expédié plusieurs fastback R-Code Lightweight au spécialiste des « stock cars » NADSCAT, Holman & Moody en Caroline du Nord, aux États-Unis. L'équipe Holman & Moody eut une influence décisive sur la compétition automobile avec ses innovations.

Holman & Moody fit appel à sa vaste expérience en NASCAR pour créer la voiture qui allait changer la face du championnat d'Angleterre des voitures de série. Pour le championnat d'Angleterre, Holman & Moody conçut et construisit seulement trois voitures avec ces spécifications. Inclus dans la vente, on trouvera une copie de la correspondance entre Ford, Holman & Moody et la FIA concernant l'homologation pour les courses internationales en Europe, ainsi qu'une fiche constructeur de l'époque.
La Galaxie de Sears/Willment allait être la première des trois construites pour les courses de voitures de série britanniques, les deux autres étant destinées à Sir Gawaine Baillie et Alan Brown. Les modèles Willment – tels que celui proposé ici – ne furent pas livrées avant le printemps. Parmi la nombreuse documentation accompagnant ce lot se trouve le reçu original Holman & Moody, N° 814, daté du 20 juin 1963, confirmant la vente à « John Willment Automobiles Ltd, 161 Chertsey Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, England », le prix était de 3 342,98 $.

Comme on peut le lire dans la biographie de M. Sears Gentleman Jack (avec Graham Gauld) « Dans le premier virage, les trois Jaguars étaient en tête, Graham Hill, suivi de Roy Salvadori et Gawaine Baillie. À ma grande surprise, je doublais les trois Jaguars dans une manœuvre. J'enfonçais l'accélérateur en sortant du virage à gauche en haut de la montée d'Abbey et la Galaxie laissa les Jaguars sur place. À la fin du second tour j'avais une confortable avance, mais j'étais toujours inquiet pour l'embrayage et je restais en quatrième pour le reste de la course – et ne changeais plus de rapport ». La grosse auto blanche avec sa bande rouge au centre du capot gagna insolemment, l'ère de suprématie des berlines Jaguar était finie et Jack Sears « ...avais l'impression de flotter en l'air ».

« La rencontre du lundi de pentecôte » au Crystal Palace ne pouvait pas être un plus grand défi pour la Galaxie de l'équipe Willment, car ce petit circuit exceptionnellement étroit de l'espace boisé de Londres favorisait à coup sûr les Jaguar, les Mini-Cooper des basses classes.

Jaguar, en la personne de son efflanqué directeur général « Lofty » England, fit de son mieux pour contrer les irrésistibles progrès de l'envahisseur américain en « ayant une petite discussion » avec le représentant du Royal Automobile Club et les commissaires de course partout où cette Galaxie Willment se trouvait face à ses berlines Mark II 3,8 litres.

Les commissaires britanniques avaient certainement passé la nouvelle venue au peigne fin à la rencontre de Silverstone en mai. Comme on le sait, un grand argument se fit jour à propos de la cage de sécurité de la Galaxie, entre autres, qui fut en grande partie démontée pour éviter qu'elle soit déclarée illégale parce que renforçant la rigidité du châssis (on peut encore la voir dans la voiture aujourd'hui). Malgré les divers messages d'Amérique aux commissaires, après de nombreux pourparlers, la Galaxie fut retirée des Six Heures de Brands Hatch, causant la déception (pour dire le moins) des engagés, des pilotes et des organisateurs.

Quoiqu'il en soit, « Succès après succès...Jack Sears gagna à chaque fois qu'il termina avec la Galaxie. Graham Hill pilota ensuite la Galaxie Willment que nous proposons ici dans la course de berline en ouverture de la Gold Cup de Formule 1 cette année-là à Oulton Park en septembre. Pour la décisive épreuve du championnat britannique à Snetterton, dans la course des 3 Heures d'Autosport, Jack Sears reprenait le volant de notre Galaxie Willment – et se qualifiait en pole position, battant son propre record du tour de cinq secondes. Son temps de 1 minute 45 secondes était plus rapide que celui des Aston Martin DB4GT et des 1 150 cm3 Sport et Grand Tourisme de la principale épreuve des 3 Heures.

Le 2 novembre 1963, l'équipe Willment engagea la Ford Galaxie dans la course d'endurance des 9 Heures de Kyalami à Johannesburg, en Afrique du Sud. La voiture devait être co-piloté par Jack Sears et le solide Australien Paul Hawkins dans cette improbable épreuve. Ils tournèrent en un impressionnant temps de 1 minute 50 secondes, tandis que la course était globalement dominée par le couple David Piper et Tony Maggs, dans l'ancienne Ferrari 250GTO verte de BP.
La Galaxie mena au général à l'indice de performance, dépassant de loin son temps au tour attendu. En Janvier 1964 la grande Galaxie retourna en Angleterre où Jack Sears reprit le volant pour disputer le titre de champion d'Angleterre.

Bob Olthoff prit la tête de la course de berline en ouverture du Grand Prix d'Afrique du Sud de 1965 à East London, avant de battre en retraite sans frein. Il allait racheter la Galaxie à Willment à la fin de la tournée africaine. Son ambition était de remporter toutes les courses de tourisme dans son pays natal et engagé par Willment South Africa dans la saison 1965. Il devint champion d'Afrique du Sud en Tourisme avec la Galaxie, qui à l'époque suffisait, rien que par sa présence, à attirer les foules partout où elle courait.

En janvier 1966, Olthoff sur la Galaxie gagna à East London, après quoi la Galaxie prit une honorable retraite. Bob Olthoff garda la grosse voiture en souvenir du bon vieux temps jusqu'en 1988, quand il accepta finalement de la revendre à un citoyen britannique – l'acheteur étant nul autre que Jack Sears, pour les mêmes raisons.

Un dossier complet de documentation qui accompagne aujourd'hui la voiture détaille l'achat de son cheval favori par « Gentleman Jack » et comprend la facture originale de Bob Olthoff Racing (Pty) Ltd, datée du 26 mai 1988. Le prix était de 25 000 £ avec une quantité de pièces détachées et de composants retirés de la voiture au fil des ans. Une grande quantité d'autres factures détaille la restauration entreprise par Jack Sears pour remettre la voiture en état de marche. En juillet 1990, le moteur a été refait avec un bloc 427. Le collecteur d'admission H&M a été installé avec un carburateur Holley, tandis que l'amortisseur de vilebrequin et le volant moteur d'origine ont été équilibrés et installés ensemble avec un nouveau disque d'embrayage et une cloche d'embrayage reconditionnée.

Ce travail a été mené par The Engine Shop de Maids Moreton, Buckingham, et au cours des années 2012-2013 des travaux supplémentaires ont été effectués par Steven James Engineering de Sprowston, Norwich, Norfolk. Mike Brown était l'ingénieur en chef de Jack Sears à l'époque de l'écurie Willment, et au milieu des années1990 sa société d'ingénierie automobile Rally Service Ltd de Hayes, Middlesex, exécuta aussi des travaux sur la Galaxie, comme spécifié dans les documents au dossier. M. Brown se souvient : « depuis que la voiture avait été pilotée par Jack, Bob Olthoff avait fait quelques modifications. Les freins avant avaient été agrandis et l'intérieur des passages de roue arrière découpés pour loger de plus grandes roues. Quand Jack nous a confié la rénovation de la voiture, nous avons formé des cuvettes en aluminium pour les passages de roues et ajouté un échappement de plus petit diamètre pour que Jack puisse la conduire sur route... ».

Sears prenait grand plaisir à conduire sa Galaxie régulièrement sur route et accepta les invitations de Lord March pour des démonstration de ce modèle d'importance historique au Goodwood Festival of Speed et au Goodwood Revival, pas moins de six fois.

En 2008, Sears et sa Galaxie retournèrent sur le lieu du Archie Scott-Brown Memorial Trophy de 1963 à Snetterton, où ils gagnèrent deux courses. Des images de Jack avec la Galaxie dans les stands sur le circuit figurent au dossier et montrent clairement le plaisir que la voiture a procuré à Jack. Cette voiture étant immatriculée au Royaume-Uni, le dossier contient de nombreux certificats du MoT, montrant l'accroissement régulier du kilométrage de 5 306 en juillet 1990 aux 7 800 affichés aujourd'hui.

L'aspect le plus intéressant de l'histoire de cette Galaxie tient peut-être au fait que les deux pilotes qui ont gagné le championnat à son volant ont tous deux décidé de la racheter, Sears la conservant jusqu'à sa mort en 2016. En septembre 2017, la Galaxie a été proposée à la vente aux enchères par Bonhams au Goodwood Revival où elle fut la vedette de la vente dépassant largement son estimation.

On trouvera également au dossier historique, une considérable correspondance originale entre Jack Sears et le British DVLA pour reprendre l'immatriculation originale de la BML 9A. Le 12 juin 1989 un officier du Department écrivait à M. J. G. S. Sears à son domicile de Uphall Grange dans le Norfolk qu'il confirmait, que « en raison de la place très particulière que tient votre Ford Galaxie dans l'histoire automobile de la Grande-Bretagne, il a été décidé très exceptionnellement, que le véhicule soit immatriculé avec le numéro BML 9A.»

Pour justifier cette rare récompense, nous n'aurions pas pu trouver plus approprié. Nous recommandons la Ford Galaxie Willment 1963 de Jack Sears aux collectionneurs avertis d'une part en tant que berline de compétition historique mais de façon encore plus significative, en tant que jalon emblématique et de grande valeur à respecter, à préserver et à choyer pour le plaisir des futures générations.