Gulf Oil GT40: Midnight Club Tribute

So I was looking through my old games, and I discovered I hadn't put away my copy of Midnight Club Los Angeles.  I was taking out my stable of cars, re-sharpening my skills, and realized I didn't have a car that was truly mine.  I mean, I have a Lamborghini Murcielago with a few vinyl decals, but no car which was truly a work of art, nothing I had put time and effort into making my own.

So I set out to the Vehicle Showroom and purchased a 2006 Ford GT, to create one of the most iconic race cars ever made: one of the 1969 Gulf Oil Ford GT40s from the 24 Heures du Mans.  Now I had a pretty decent idea of what I wanted to do, the paint scheme and the decals, but I needed reference.  While using my Google-fu, I happened across a website decribing the full restoration of one of those cars from the livery, specifically Chassis #1076:

In the late 1990's, #1076 was purchased by a collector who decided the time had come for #1076 to be proud of it's own racing heritage and not just be viewed as a #1075 "look alike". After much discussion, a state-of-the-art restoration was commissioned to bring #1076 back to its "most significant point" in time:

1969 LeMans.

I decided to make my own #1076, decals, racing strip, roundels, and all, out of this new Ford GT.  Of course, the body of the '06 is different from the '69, and Midnight Club's decal placement and options list leaves quite a bit to be desired, so I had to take a few liberties in places.  However, I remained faithful to the appearance of #1076, and dug deep inside of my creative right brain to design my very own Gulf logo.  More after the break.




So, after a few hours' work, here is my tribute to Chassis #1076, the first Midnight Club Los Angeles 2006 Ford GT to wear Gulf Oil livery colors.  Enjoy.

P.S. If you play Midnight Club, or track stats on the Rockstar Games Social Club, I entered this car into Rate My Ride, seeing as there were no Gulf GTs anywhere.  So if you see this car, chances are it's mine.