A battle of the automobile titans took place. At the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance event, a long-awaited battle pitting upstart Ford against reigning champion Ferrari for the checkered flag and bragging rights.
Enzo Ferrari, a former race car driver and the creator of the brand bearing his name, was the representative of the old world. The Ford GT40, a new version of a car that would go on to become a classic of international motor racing, and the skills of automotive designer Carroll Shelby were used by Henry Ford II to carry the torch for the new world.
In This Article...
The Ford v Ferrari film, featuring Christian Bale as Ken Miles and Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby, brought the tale of Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby, and Ford’s GT40 defeating Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966 to the attention of the world. But what was the actual sequence of events that led to what happened?
As you might anticipate from a Hollywood movie, the plotline strayed from reality a bit. What portions of the movie are therefore accurate, and what details were exaggerated for artistic and dramatic effect? Check out the second in a series of videos covering the actual race and the movie in the one up top.
At a race in California, did Ken Miles actually throw a wrench at Shelby? Has he ever thrown a punch at him in public? Was Ford management sabotaging Miles after he had a multiple-lap lead at Le Mans because they wanted their other drivers to win? At the finish line, what actually transpired? What did the actual podium scenario look like?
Using exclusive footage from Motorsport.tv’s Le Mans archive and images from Motorsport Images, we tell the story of what actually happened with interviews with a number of motorsport experts, including Miles’s son Peter, who was a young boy when all the real-life drama unfolded. Tom Kristensen, a nine-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, serves as the narration.
Carroll Shelby has various jobs, including creating renowned automobiles.
Few people would be more qualified to complete the task than Carroll Shelby if your objective were, say, to dethrone an Italian racing titan. A larger-than-life personality in the world of fast cars through the second half of the 20th century, Shelby was a WWII flight instructor, chicken farmer, racing car driver, and manufacturer of renowned automobiles. He was regarded as a man of huge ideas with little patience for specifics and for his enormous personal charisma. In an Autoweek obituary, a friend of Shelby’s noted, “He is an entrepreneur who borders on the con man — he is a legitimate con man.” It is the traditional American success tale.
Shelby didn’t start out making cars; instead, he competed in and won races. Early in the 1950s, while still a farmer, he entered his first races and took first place in events held in the American Southwest. He started competing for the Aston Martin team in 1954, and he and Roy Salvadori eventually won the Le Mans race for the British automaker. Shelby finally had to retire from competitive racing due to heart problems. He made the decision to create fast automobiles instead of driving them. He established Shelby American, a stand-alone sports vehicle manufacturer, in 1962. The company started importing English AC coupes and modifying them with potent Ford engines before rebranding the result the Shelby Cobra.
Shelby and his team began work on Ford’s brand-new racecar, the GT40, in 1965. The GT40 would later defeat Ferrari, a performance behemoth that had won the prestigious race for six consecutive years, to win the coveted Le Mans championship.
Who was the Shelby driver who defeated Ferrari?
The other half of the Ford v Ferrari motorsport bromance was Ken Miles (Christian Bale), an English race car driver who ended up being the victor for an American automaker. According to Motorsport, Miles was born in 1918 in Sutton Coldfield, England, and as a youngster worked as an apprentice at an engine manufacturer before enlisting in the British army at the outbreak of World War II and finally taking part in the 1944 D-Day landings.
One of Miles’ last competitions would be Le Mans in 1966. Later that year, a new experimental Ford was being tested in California when it overturned while traveling at 150 mph, killing the driver.
Which Shelby car defeated the Ferrari?
Gurney’s triumph signaled the start of the infamous Cobra-Ferrari Wars, which came to an end in 1965 when Shelby American overcame Ferrari to win the championship, the first and only time for an American team.
Has Ford ever won a race over Ferrari?
In 1964, Ford Motor Company began making an effort to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans. After two disastrous seasons in which Fords were unable to even complete the race, the American carmaker experienced an exciting 1-2-3 sweep in 1966. On the podium, Henry Ford II celebrated the decisive victory alongside the two New Zealand-born race winners, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon.
In 1966, how did Ford defeat Ferrari?
The decision to end the race in a manner that would solidify Ford’s growing racing supremacy and openly display Ferrari’s strength as a track leader was made in the pits with Ford now poised to dethrone Ferrari. In order for three Ford cars to cross the finish line at once, Leo Beebe, then-director of Ford racing, came up with the idea of staging a dead heat by having the leading teams slow down and pull alongside one another.
Despite being informed by track officials that a dead-heat stunt win like the one intended would not be possible owing to the race’s staggered start, Beebe persisted, and the vehicles crossed the finish line side by side. Ford had finally defeated Ferrari in front of a large audience.
Ford won every podium position in 1966 at Le Mans after traveling more than 3,000 miles at an average pace of almost 130 mph. The Miles crew came in a little bit behind the McLaren squad after slowing down to account for the Ford finish decision. In the event that they had arrived simultaneously as anticipated, McLaren would have won despite starting the race a few positions behind Miles and covering a little more ground overall.
“Regrettably, Ken Miles, who passed away subsequently, didn’t take first place that year. To be honest, I struggled a lot with that “Hemmings quotes Beebe as saying that the decision to have a dead heat was made. “He was, however, a daredevil, so I drew him in and essentially arranged the end of that race, with the numbers one, two, and three. I called Ken Miles in and kept him back out of concern that the drivers would collide. All it takes is one fortunate mishap to wipe out all of your investment.”
Two months after the Le Mans race, Miles lost his life while testing the new Ford GT40 at Riverside International Raceway in Southern California. His car abruptly flipped and burst into pieces as he neared the back straight of the race at full speed, ejecting Miles, who perished instantly.
Ford’s convincing victory over Ferrari in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans has not been subject to speculation despite decades of heated debate over the decision to conclude the race in such a carefully orchestrated manner. Ford would return to Le Mans in 1967, 1968, and 1969, capitalize on its investment and podium finish, and win the event once more in each year.
Ford or Ferrari, who won?
The actual world Le Mans ’66 came to a thrilling conclusion with a historic result as all three Ford vehicles tied for first place when they passed the finish line.
Ford v. Ferrari: Was it real?
James Mangold directed the true story-based film Ford vs. Ferrari. The movie is about a 24-hour endurance event that occurred at the 1966 Le Mans race. A team of auto engineers engaged by Ford to develop a racing that can outperform a Ferrari sports vehicle at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France is the center of the movie’s plot. Carroll Shelby, a pioneer in the automotive industry, and British race car driver Ken Miles are in charge of the Ford team. Carroll Shelby is portrayed in the movie by Matt Damon, while Ken Miles is portrayed by Christian Bale, who also plays Batman.
Did Ferrari lose to the GT40?
This article is about the winning racing vehicle from the 1960 Le Mans. See Ford GT for the supercar that was inspired by it. See DEC GT40 for more information about the graphic computer terminal made by Digital Equipment Corporation. Ford GT is a trademark.
The Ford Motor Company commissioned the high-performance endurance racing Ford GT40. It developed from the “Ford GT” (for Grand Touring) project, an attempt to fight against Ferrari in renowned 24 Hours of Le Mans races in Europe from 1960 to 1965. Ford had success with the GT40, winning the competitions from 1966 until 1969.
The project got underway when Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough, UK, started producing the GT40 Mk I, which was based on the Lola Mk6. The engineering team was relocated to Dearborn, Michigan in 1964 as a result of dismal race performances. Several American-built Ford V8 engines that had been adapted for racing powered the range.
The GT40 Mk II ended Ferrari’s winning streak at Le Mans in 1966, becoming the first American manufacturer to win a significant European race since Jimmy Murphy’s Duesenberg victory at the 1921 French Grand Prix. The Mk IV was the only vehicle wholly developed and produced in the United States to take home the overall Le Mans victory in 1967.
The Mk I, the oldest of the vehicles, won in 1968 and 1969, becoming the second chassis to do so. (Until the Ferrari 275P chassis 0816 was found to have won the 1964 race after winning the 1963 race in 250P format and with an 0814 chassis plate, this Ford/Shelby chassis, #P-1075, was thought to have been the first.) With the addition of bespoke alloy Gurney-Weslake cylinder heads, its American Ford V8 engine’s 4.7-liter displacement capacity (289 cubic inches) was increased to 4.9 liters (302 cubic inches).
The “40” stood for its minimum permitted height of 40 inches (1.02 m), measured at the windshield. The initial 12 “prototype” cars had serial numbers ranging from GT-101 to GT-112. The Mk I, Mk II, Mk III, and Mk IV were officially referred to as “GT40s” once “production” started and were given the numbers GT40P/1000 through GT40P/1145. J1–J12 were the Mk IVs’ serial numbers.
Shelby allegedly made Ford cry.
11 Henry Ford II Cried When He Saw The Speed And Power In the film, Shelby seizes Beebe and drives Henry Ford II away in the prototype to demonstrate the GT40’s capabilities. In the film, Henry Ford II sobs as a result.
Ford owns Shelby, right?
Carroll Shelby worked with Dodge during the 1980s as a result of his close friendship with Lee Iacocca. However, the Shelby name will always be associated with the Ford Performance Division. Shelby American, however, continues to exist separately. Enterprise, Nevada serves as the location of the headquarters.
Ford Performance re-released the Shelby Mustang in 2005. The GT badge was also brought back shortly after. Carroll Shelby died on May 11, 2012, yet he was able to secure the future of his business.
Shelby American creates authentically American performance vehicles with roots in Carroll Shelby’s past that go all the way back to his father’s two-door Ford car and his passion for flying extremely quickly in the storied B-26 bomber. Although Shelby American isn’t formally owned by Ford Motor Company, the Shelby story isn’t done, and collaborations with Ford Performance are certain to continue.