Leo Beebe, head of public relations for Ford wanted to stage the perfect photo opportunity that showed all three Ford cars crossing the finish line in a dead heat. The other Ferrari crashed earlier on in the race after only 123 laps.Not only did drivers require tremendous skill, focus, and strength, they also required the ability to strategize throughout the race to ensure that their vehicle won’t breakdown prematurely.A good driver has what Lerner called, ‘mechanical sympathy’ – someone who with an intrinsic ‘feeling for what the car was doing at all times.'
Only 15 out of 57 entrants that year finished the brutal endurance challenge that tests the strength of a car’s machinery just as much as it does the stamina and concentration of its driver. But Ferrari’s passion quickly paid off and his insanely fast and futuristic designs dominated racetracks around Europe.After the business deal soured, Henry Ford II devoted tons of resources to his new Le Mans endeavor. He spent $10 million on hiring a team of engineering experts who scrambled to design a car that could properly compete with what Enzo Ferrari had spent years finessing.The result was the Ford GT40, a menacing and innovative car design made of aluminum that looks more like a Stealth Bomber at 40 inches tall. Gallery: After 50 Years, the ’66 Le Mans Winning Ford GT40 is Reborn 4 Photos It was in 1966 when Ford had a feud with Ferrari after a failed attempt to buy the Italian racing empire.
Ferrari was known to be a short-tempered perfectionist who famously created a ‘Museum of Horrors’ which was a wall that displayed every failed car part for all his employees to see,‘These two guys were larger than life,’ explained A.J. Ford Motor Company returned to Le Mans for a rematch with Ferrari in 1967. Sleep deprivation, 200 mph speeds and very little room for human or mechanical error makes fatal disasters a common matter-of-course. He famously created a ‘Museum of Horrors’–a display wall in his factory that showcased every broken car part, ‘…to let us see how many stupid things we had made,’ said Mauro Forghieri, Ferrari's renowned competition manager in the documentary The 24 Hour War.250,000 spectators showed up to watch the Ford and Ferrari showdown in 1966. Miles raced motorcycles before he served as a tank commander in the British Army during WWII. At a separate racing even in 1965, he was introduced to Ray Geddes, a Ford executive who greeted the Italian racing legend: ‘I would like you to know Mr. Ferrari, we at Ford have a great respect for you.’ Ferrari tersely responded, ‘Yes, I know. For those reasons, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is known as the most dangerous sporting event in the world, but also the most prestigious.The stakes in 1966 were just as high for the car makers as well; Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari had been locked in a bitter battle for sports car supremacy – a legendary feud that all started with a business deal gone bad.This high-octane drama is set to make its way to the silver screen November 15 with James Mangold's feature film, Ford v Ferrari - starring Matt Damon as charismatic Texan, Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as the thoughtful British race car driver, Ken Miles.Following the harrowing 1955 Le Mans disaster car crash that claimed the lives of 84 people, the American Automobile Manufacturers Association voluntarily agreed to ban all car racing and cease the development of fast sports cars in 1957. Ford had to spend three years and about $3 million before reaching its goal of becoming a leader in motorsports: In 1966, the Ford GT40 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Foyt piloted a Ford Mark IV around the Circuit de la Sarthe for 24 brutal hours. As chairman of the group, Henry Ford II (also known as the deuce) took the new pact very seriously, but his fellow car manufacturing competitors essentially only paid it lip service and by the early sixties, Chevrolet had designed the Corvette and other companies were light years ahead of Ford in the high-performance vehicle department.Henry Ford II (center) stands behind celebratory bottles of Moet Chandon on the podium next to drivers Bruce McLaren (left) and Chris Amon (right) who won the prestigious 1966 Le Mans race in north-west France driving a Ford GT40. Roy Salvadori, a test driver told Popular Mechanics: ‘I opted out of that program to save my life.’.The GT40s didn’t fare much better in 1965 either.
Only 15 out of 57 entrants that year finished the brutal endurance challenge that tests the strength of a car’s machinery just as much as it does the stamina and concentration of its driver. But Ferrari’s passion quickly paid off and his insanely fast and futuristic designs dominated racetracks around Europe.After the business deal soured, Henry Ford II devoted tons of resources to his new Le Mans endeavor. He spent $10 million on hiring a team of engineering experts who scrambled to design a car that could properly compete with what Enzo Ferrari had spent years finessing.The result was the Ford GT40, a menacing and innovative car design made of aluminum that looks more like a Stealth Bomber at 40 inches tall. Gallery: After 50 Years, the ’66 Le Mans Winning Ford GT40 is Reborn 4 Photos It was in 1966 when Ford had a feud with Ferrari after a failed attempt to buy the Italian racing empire.
Ferrari was known to be a short-tempered perfectionist who famously created a ‘Museum of Horrors’ which was a wall that displayed every failed car part for all his employees to see,‘These two guys were larger than life,’ explained A.J. Ford Motor Company returned to Le Mans for a rematch with Ferrari in 1967. Sleep deprivation, 200 mph speeds and very little room for human or mechanical error makes fatal disasters a common matter-of-course. He famously created a ‘Museum of Horrors’–a display wall in his factory that showcased every broken car part, ‘…to let us see how many stupid things we had made,’ said Mauro Forghieri, Ferrari's renowned competition manager in the documentary The 24 Hour War.250,000 spectators showed up to watch the Ford and Ferrari showdown in 1966. Miles raced motorcycles before he served as a tank commander in the British Army during WWII. At a separate racing even in 1965, he was introduced to Ray Geddes, a Ford executive who greeted the Italian racing legend: ‘I would like you to know Mr. Ferrari, we at Ford have a great respect for you.’ Ferrari tersely responded, ‘Yes, I know. For those reasons, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is known as the most dangerous sporting event in the world, but also the most prestigious.The stakes in 1966 were just as high for the car makers as well; Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari had been locked in a bitter battle for sports car supremacy – a legendary feud that all started with a business deal gone bad.This high-octane drama is set to make its way to the silver screen November 15 with James Mangold's feature film, Ford v Ferrari - starring Matt Damon as charismatic Texan, Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as the thoughtful British race car driver, Ken Miles.Following the harrowing 1955 Le Mans disaster car crash that claimed the lives of 84 people, the American Automobile Manufacturers Association voluntarily agreed to ban all car racing and cease the development of fast sports cars in 1957. Ford had to spend three years and about $3 million before reaching its goal of becoming a leader in motorsports: In 1966, the Ford GT40 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Foyt piloted a Ford Mark IV around the Circuit de la Sarthe for 24 brutal hours. As chairman of the group, Henry Ford II (also known as the deuce) took the new pact very seriously, but his fellow car manufacturing competitors essentially only paid it lip service and by the early sixties, Chevrolet had designed the Corvette and other companies were light years ahead of Ford in the high-performance vehicle department.Henry Ford II (center) stands behind celebratory bottles of Moet Chandon on the podium next to drivers Bruce McLaren (left) and Chris Amon (right) who won the prestigious 1966 Le Mans race in north-west France driving a Ford GT40. Roy Salvadori, a test driver told Popular Mechanics: ‘I opted out of that program to save my life.’.The GT40s didn’t fare much better in 1965 either.