User:The359/Sandbox4

=Michelotto=

Michelotto Automobili is a automotive design, development, and race car constructor based in Padua, Italy. Founded in 1969 by Giuliano Michelotto as a Ferrari dealership, the company entered Italian auto racing series in 1971 before they became an outright constructor of racing cars when they co-developed with Ferrari the 308 Group 4 rally cars in 1978. Since then Michelotto has developed or built nearly all of Ferraris racing cars in the sports car and rally disciplines, as well as assited Ferrari in the development of production supercars such as the Ferrari F40. Michelotto has also developed sports prototypes for Osella.

Models
Since their initial development of the 308 Group 4 in 1971, Michelotto has been involved in the development or construction of the following road and racing cars.

Background
John Wyer and John Willment founded JW Automotive Engineering in 1967 to campaign Ford GT40s before switching to Porsche 917s in 1970. JW Automotive had success in the International Championship for Makes, assisting Ford's championship title in 1968 and Porsche's 1970 and 1971 championships. The team also was victorious at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning with Ford in 1968 and 1969. Outside of running the racing team, JW Automotive also developed their own racing cars under the Mirage name, starting with modified GT40s before creating their own designs from scratch. Rule changes for the International Championship made the 917 no longer legal for the 1972 season, so a new prototype was developed by the company, the Mirage M6. Involvement from Gulf Oil, who had financially supported all of JW Automotive's efforts since 1967, also increased as the team was renamed Gulf Racing Research Company. The M6 proved competitive against Matra, Ferrari, and Alfa Romeo, winning the Spa 1000 km in 1973. Mirage improved on the M6's design with the Gulf GR7 in 1974, finishing second in the International Championship behind Matra despite not achieving a victory that season. By the end of 1974, Gulf was looking to withdraw their motorsports funding but Wyer was able to convince the company to have a final attempt at Le Mans for 1975.