1992 Tojeiro/DAX GT40

The way in which John Tojeiro became a constructor is typical of the 1950s — he built a special intending to race it himself, then another and when a customer arrived on his doorstep suddenly he was no longer a special builder but a small scale constructor. Although only around 30 Tojeiros were ever built, achieving occasional success mainly in British Club racing, John himself is assured of a place in motoring history as the father of the AC Ace and consequently, the AC Cobra. There is not enough space here to even touch on his numerous achievements, however, a copy of John’s biography Toj will be included in the sale. 

Although not directly involved with the original factory GT40, his DNA is inextricably linked with the car as he was responsible for the design of the Ecurie Ecosse EE1, arguably the first proper rear-engined GT prototype which morphed into the Eric Broadley Lola Mk6 which was the basis for Ford's legendary GT40. 

Dax Cars started in 1968 as a fibreglass moulding company, named DJ Sportscars Int. and became the first British company to make a kit-based replica of the AC 427 Cobra. In 1975, John Tojeiro, the original designer of the AC Ace chassis became a director of the company and the car was renamed the Dax Tojeiro. In the early 1990s, DAX developed their own version of the GT40 and we understand that over 30 were sold.

This particular car is unique as it was built and engineered by John Tojeiro incorporating myriads of design tweaks and modifications as one might expect from an established racing car designer. It was based around a DAX GT40 and within the car's massive history file is an invoice dated 5th June 1990 for £8,926.04, relating to John's initial purchase of a complete body, centre section and doors plus everything else needed to get started. Within the car's history files are over 1,000 invoices, items of correspondence, build sheets, spec details and much, much more. It needs to be emphasised that this is more of a Tojeiro race car than a DAX kit.

More recent expenditure;

• 2008, a full re-trim £11,256.50. Air conditioning fitted at a cost of £ 3,440.09 
• In 2013 J40 TOJ started a recommissioning with the matching numbers 1968 FORD 302 V8 fully stripped and rebuilt by David Gilliver Engines in Hinckley for £1,395 (just labour). New parts included camshafts, pistons, rings, rods, bearings, valves, gaskets, water pump, thermostat, oil pump, lifters, bolts, plugs etc.
• Chris Cole rebuilt the gearbox with a full Quaife gear set, Quaife diff, high-ratio fifth gear, new clutch bearing, new master cylinder etc. £ 4,693
• Knight Racing Services tuned and set the engine up before fitting the rebuilt Holley carbs £638.40
• Stripping and cleaning the chassis and paintwork/full detailing £7,186