Sixty years ago, the Ford GT40 achieved history as the first (and so far only) American car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In this anniversary year of Ford’s legendary victory over Ferrari, a GT40 has achieved another stunning feat of endurance—at a smaller scale.
Diecast Endurance is a YouTube channel focusing on the very niche content of running diecast cars to the point of failure. It recently put a Hot Wheels GT40 (in this case, a Mark IV like the one that gave Ford its second Le Mans win in 1967) through the wringer. The tiny Ford kept going for five days, one hour, 10 minutes, and 42 seconds before breaking. The entire run was live-streamed in 12 parts, but for those of us with less patience, there’s an edit that condenses the whole thing into about five minutes.
A belt sander turned on its side served as a dynamometer. A plastic clip held the car in place but still allowed the wheels to roll freely and the body to move up and down as it normally would. With that setup, the Hot Wheels GT40 and a camera both rolled until the car couldn’t anymore. Before breaking, it covered 13,549 scale miles at 111 mph.
The wheels proved to be the point of failure. Grinding against the rough belt sander, they gradually eroded until the fronts locked up. As they did, they deposited a layer of microplastic grime that any model-car builder would be proud of. The car looked like it had competed in a real endurance race. The wheels had deep grooves, and vertical motion also caused the wheels to wear away the paint on the inner fenders.
Run #1 The Ford GT40 MkIV – 5 Days in 5 minutes – Includes Autopsy
Hot Wheels cars are pretty tough, but if the test hadn’t stopped when it did, the belt sander could have turned the entire car into dust (yes, somebody also made a video of that). It’s possible the GT40 could have gone even longer using a purpose-built dyno, or more durable wheels, to limit friction and keep the car from getting chewed up.
Keeping speed in check seems to help as well. Diecast Endurance has already done another livestream with a Z30 Toyota Soarer (a.k.a. first-generation Lexus SC to us Americans), achieving a top speed of 214 mph but with a shorter distance of 7,964.8 scale miles over three days, four hours, 41 minutes, and 49 seconds.