{"id":24381,"date":"2019-11-15T14:10:46","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T18:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=24381"},"modified":"2019-11-15T14:10:46","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T18:10:46","slug":"the-real-story-behind-ford-v-ferrari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/the-real-story-behind-ford-v-ferrari","title":{"rendered":"The real story behind &#8216;Ford v Ferrari&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/14\/PDTN\/d5f4ce12-0b93-4a55-b1b9-fc7002edccaa-ford_start.JPG?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The start of the 1966 24 Hour of Le Mans. Having waved the starting flag, Henry Ford II (first suit on the left) hustles across the track while the drivers spring to their cars.\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><p>The start of the 1966 24 Hour of Le Mans. Having waved the starting flag, Henry Ford II (first suit on the left) hustles across the track while the drivers spring to their cars.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Ford)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\">Track-side at Road Atlanta where Ford\u2019s blindingly quick 2019 GT race car was competing in October, I asked Ford performance chief Mark Rushbrook if his company had contributed to the\u00a0\u201cFord v Ferrari\u201d movie that&#8217;s opening this weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">\u201cWe had nothing to do with it,\u201d replied the man who oversees Ford racing. \u201cI hope the Ford still wins.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">I\u2019ve seen the movie and Rushbrook can rest assured that the 1966 GT40 still crosses the line first at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. The movie is not always so historically accurate. Produced by Disney\/Fox, it\u00a0takes broad artistic liberties with the story of Ford\u2019s epic battle with Ferrari in order to create an action-packed, fist-flying, testosterone-fueled Hollywood buddy movie. Good ol\u2019 boy racers Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles (played by Matt Damon and Christian Bale, respectively)\u00a0win the world\u2019s greatest endurance race in spite of the stuffed suits in Dearborn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">It makes for an entertaining 2\u00bd hours at the theater.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">But the real story of Ford\u2019s historic win is just as compelling, even if it can\u2019t be condensed into a 153-minute blockbuster. Ford\u2019s dominance of the 1966 Le Mans under the management of the wise-cracking Shelby not only made racing history \u2014\u00a0it remade Ford as the performance-car company it is today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Today the Blue Oval competes across the globe in endurance supercars, NASCAR stock cars, Focus rally cars, even NHRA dragsters. The latest Ford GT is a state-of-the-art\u00a0carbon-fiber rocket. And Joey Logano took his Team Penske Mustang to last year\u2019s NASCAR title.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">So it\u2019s hard to imagine that 60 years ago, Ford didn\u2019t even race.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The company was\u00a0founded in the early 1900s on Henry Ford\u2019s driving skills \u2014 winning races to attract investors. But in the post-World War II era, that racing spirit had been snuffed out. In one of Washington\u2019s regulatory spasms, Congress pressured the Big Three to agree to a \u201cSafety Resolution\u201d swearing off racing as morally irresponsible. The fragile truce unraveled as General Motors secretly poured money into NASCAR racing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">As Pontiac and Chevy dominated NASCAR, sales followed. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Feeding a post-war Boomer generation\u2019s need for speed, GM captured 61%\u00a0of the market share by March\u00a01962.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SQC1x2kn_nM\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/14\/PDTN\/103f5bc7-dfaf-4bec-9050-907a44c2e060-ford_miles.JPG?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Ken Miles was Shelby's competition director. A successful US racer, he was thrust into the international limelight as the Ford GT40's chief engineer and driver.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/14\/PDTN\/103f5bc7-dfaf-4bec-9050-907a44c2e060-ford_miles.JPG\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/14\/PDTN\/103f5bc7-dfaf-4bec-9050-907a44c2e060-ford_miles.JPG\" \/>Ken Miles was Shelby&#8217;s competition director. A successful US racer, he was thrust into the international limelight as the Ford GT40&#8217;s chief engineer and driver.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Ford)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Ford CEO Henry \u201cThe Deuce\u201d Ford II \u2013 at the urging of his ambitious marketing guru Lee Iacocca \u2013 exited the Safety Resolution in June\u00a01962. Eight months later, Ford dominated the Daytona 500 and sales soared.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Then Enzo Ferrari came knocking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Competing not on ovals but on tree-lined road courses, European racing was fast and often fatal. Ferrari drivers dominated the winner circles \u2013 and the obituaries\u00a0\u2013 leading to a public outcry. Governments opened investigations into Mr. Ferrari\u2019s enterprise. Once hailed for his automotive genius, Ferrari was scorned as the \u201cMonster of Maranello\u201d (home of Ferrari).<\/p>\n<div id=\"ad-position-64\" class=\"partner-placement partner-spike partner-placement-visible\" data-ad-placement=\"native-article_link\" data-ad-sizes=\"[&quot;fluid&quot;,[3,3], [2,6]]\" data-monetization-id=\"native-article_link\" data-monetization-sizes=\"fluid,3,3,2,6\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-news-opinion-8\" class=\"ad-slot\" data-google-query-id=\"COTP9Yzn7OUCFQw9TwodKq0A7w\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_7103\/mi-detroit-C1561\/native-article_link\/news\/opinion_1__container__\">\n<div class=\"tlod\">\n<div id=\"tltpvid_98279\" class=\"tl-unit-mid-article\">\n<div class=\"plr-rr__content\">\n<div class=\"plr-rr__above_title\">Struggling financially, Ferrari invited Ford as a suitor to acquire the sports-car maker in a clever ruse. Ford took the bait, eyeing the opportunity\u00a0to grow its European market behind the continent\u2019s sexiest, fastest chariots.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Suddenly Italians awoke to prospect of their national jewel being sold to\u00a0Americans. The public rallied behind Ferrari and its founder yanked the rug out from under Ford. The unsigned contract that would have created\u00a0the FeFo Corporation (short for Ferrrari-Ford) sits in Ford\u2019s archives today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Livid, The Deuce swore to beat Ferrari no matter the cost. In its backyard. At the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans 24, where Ferrari had dominated for a decade.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SQC1x2ky-hk\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/14\/PDTN\/57976035-4f1e-4462-ac95-ee316571c294-ford_2-gt40s.JPG?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The winning #2 Ford GT40, right, and second-place #1 car, left, in the Le Mans pits prior to the 1966 race.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/14\/PDTN\/57976035-4f1e-4462-ac95-ee316571c294-ford_2-gt40s.JPG\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/14\/PDTN\/57976035-4f1e-4462-ac95-ee316571c294-ford_2-gt40s.JPG\" \/>The winning #2 Ford GT40, right, and second-place #1 car, left, in the Le Mans pits prior to the 1966 race.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Ford)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s a great story because it works on so many levels,\u201d says AJ Baime, author of \u201cGo Like Hell,\u201d the definitive book on the Ford-Ferrari clash. \u201cIt\u2019s a great sports rivalry, a great business story about Ford trying to relaunch its brand in Europe, about two huge auto companies facing off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">&#8220;Ford v Ferrari&#8221; screenwriters translated this epic battle into a fictional culture clash between the free-spirited Shelby and Miles, and corporate overlord Henry II (played by Tracy Letts).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">But the reality was different.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Ford struggled to make its GT40 race car reliable in long races. So the company turned to Shelby and his competition director Miles to lead the team\u2019s assault on Le Mans. The 1960s marked the birth of modern racing where corporate money seeded fledgling racing icons like Shelby, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren, Mario Andretti and a young competitor named Roger Penske.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201c(The movie) does a good job of selling the story,\u201d Shelby\u2019s grandson, Aaron, said at the Shelby Museum in Las Vegas while standing next to the\u00a0Ford GT40 that Miles drove in &#8217;66. \u201cIt will open people\u2019s eyes who have never heard of Shelby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Contrary to the movie\u2019s portrayal of Ford as untrusting of the California mod shop, Iacocca had built a healthy relationship with Shelby, providing his Cobra team with Ford engines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Indeed, Shelby disliked Ferrari as much as The Deuce did. A former Le Mans winner himself in 1959 for Aston Martin, Shelby had seen how Enzo Ferrari pushed his drivers to the ragged limit.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-SQC1x2k4sNs\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/15\/PDTN\/8f14f25d-6094-4dc9-ad70-5942ebe0356b-ford_contract.JPG?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The contract drawn up by Ford to merge Ford and Ferrari in 1963. Enzo Ferrari's signature never appeared on the bottom line.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/15\/PDTN\/8f14f25d-6094-4dc9-ad70-5942ebe0356b-ford_contract.JPG\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/11\/15\/PDTN\/8f14f25d-6094-4dc9-ad70-5942ebe0356b-ford_contract.JPG\" \/>The contract drawn up by Ford to merge Ford and Ferrari in 1963. Enzo Ferrari&#8217;s signature never appeared on the bottom line.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Ford Archives, Ford)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">When Ford-powered Shelby Cobras beat Ferrari in the GT-class at Le Mans in 1964 \u2013 while Ford\u2019s GT40s struggled against Ferrari in the premiere prototype class \u2013 Ford handed the reins to Shelby and his brilliant competition director.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s a remarkable piece of history that a company with unlimited funds wound up relying on these World War II-veteran hot-rodders,\u201d says author Baime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The pairing thrust Miles \u2013 a skilled-but-unknown driver played to the hilt by Bale as a quirky, ornery Brit\u00a0\u2013 into the international limelight where he thrived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Contrary to the film, Ford did not conspire to keep Miles from driving at Le Mans. Nor did Shelby shame The Deuce by reducing him to a shaking puddle of tears after a tire-smoking test drive. In truth, Ford\u2019s technical resources meshed with Shelby-Miles\u2019 racing instincts. Ford II communicated only one message, hand-scrawled on small cards: \u201cYou\u2019d better win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Miles piloted the 1966 GT40, stuffed with Ford\u2019s brutish 427-cubic inch NASCAR V-8, at speeds over 220 mph against the sleeker\u00a012-cylinder red Ferraris. He\u00a0barely missed out as endurance racing\u2019s first triple-crown winner of the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours\u00a0and Le Mans 24-hour due to a late race technical error.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Miles would perish in a crash \u2013 like many of his peers \u2013\u00a0just two months later. But Fords would win Le Mans three more years running, taking Dearborn to the racing summit it still occupies today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">On the 50th anniversary of Ford\u2019s 1966 win in 2016, Rushbrook\u2019s team led Ford to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans\u2019 GT class after an epic duel with a Ferrari 488. The win has helped sell Fords like the Mustang globally, making it the best-selling sports car in the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">One of the Mustang\u2019s trims is called the Shelby GT350\u00a0in honor of the race shop that built Ford\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The start of the 1966 24 Hour of Le Mans. Having waved the starting flag, Henry Ford II (first suit on the left) hustles across the track while the drivers spring to their cars.\u00a0(Photo: Ford) Track-side at Road Atlanta where Ford\u2019s blindingly quick 2019 GT race car was competing in October, I asked Ford performance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24381\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}