The new movie starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale tells only a portion of auto racing's most bitter rivalry, Ford vs. Ferrari. This is the complete tale, one of high-speed ambition, supercars and a race to the death
Most stem from a power grab or wounded pride—a few are a combination of the two. The best contentious relationships, however, are the ones that create the most legendary tales. Take the saga of how Henry Ford II—a.k.a.,
It was decided that the most expedient way bring a vehicle to market would be to acquire one. That’s when the idea was floated to purchase Ferrari, which in those years was primarily a race car company that sold street-legal machines only to fund its track exploits. Triple Threat: While a trio of GT40 MK IIs passed the finish line in Le Mans together, none of the Ferraris even finished the race.
Ultimately, the Ford team couldn’t figure out how to make the cars stay firmly on the tarmac, let alone run continuously for 24 hours, two musts for a win in Le Mans. After losing to Ferrari at Le Mans in 1964 and 1965, Ford turned to the legendary Los Angeles car designer Carroll Shelby, one of the only American drivers to ever win at Le Mans, to run race operations. Shelby was already a consultant on the project, but now he was in charge, responsible for its success—or failure.
The brake problem was solved by Phil Remington, an engineer on the Ford team. He devised a quick-change brake system that allowed the mechanics to swap in new pads and rotors during a driver change, so the team didn’t have to worry about making the brakes last the entire race. The finish wasn't without controversy. Late in the race, Miles was well ahead of the competition, on his way to ending Ferrari's dominance at Le Mans and becoming the only driver to win the world's three biggest endurance race—the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans—in the same year.
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