Ford's American headquarters organisation withdrew from sports car racing at the end of 1967,[2] leaving those teams committed to running the aging GT40 without factory support.

[4] In order to keep the P68 on the road, Bailey incorporated a patented, vortex-generating tail scoop, intended to create downforce without adding to drag.

Underneath the curvaceous bodywork, the chassis was a riveted, aluminium monocoque, with steel bulkheads onto which the suspension components were mounted.

Contemporary observers commented on the oversized front hub components, potentially allowing the car to be converted to four-wheel drive at some point.

A fully open spyder prototype was produced with almost completely new bodywork panels; even lower and wider, it also included a dramatic reduction in length.

In an attempt to cure the same stability problems that afflicted the P68, the P69 had an innovative system of interconnected, hydraulically-controlled, partially automatic, adjustable aerofoil wings.

[5] However, following several accidents with similar systems during Formula One races, the wings were swiftly banned by the FIA early in the season.

Without wings, AMR judged that the car would require a complete redesign to be competitive with the dominant Porsches and therefore, lacking funds, the P68/P69 project was abandoned.

Although initially slow during practice, gradual tuning and tweaking meant that by the end of qualifying McLaren had managed to put in a lap fast enough to take second place on the grid, splitting the works Porsche 907s.

With Mike Spence's death during practice for the 1968 Indianapolis 500, fellow Brit Chris Irwin was drafted in for the P68's next race: the 1968 1000km Nürburgring.

One tantalising highlight occurred when Frank Gardner, who performed much of the P68's limited developmental testing, took pole position at the 1000km Spa race.

A large, high-mounted wing was attached directly to the tops of the rear suspension towers, which went some way to reducing rear-end lift at speed, but again an engine failure stopped the car before the end of the race.