Walt Hansgen made his name in his hand-made Special.  It looks like a fairy good clone of a C-Jag.  I gather Briggs Cunningham took note and hired Hansgen to drive his D-Jags and Listers, and later his Maseratis.  This led to a ride in factory Ford GT40s and an Indy ride.   And an early demise in a 7-liter GT40 crash in practice at LeMans.