Motorsport · 1966 · Le Mans, France
Ford Ends Ferrari's Reign at Le Mans
Built specifically to beat Ferrari after Enzo Ferrari walked away from a Ford buyout, the Ford GT40 finishes 1-2-3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Ford GT40 1-2-3
Result
6
Ferrari's consecutive wins ended
Tens of millions of dollars
Ford's development budget
Henry Ford II had tried to buy Ferrari outright in 1963, and Enzo Ferrari walked away from the deal at the last stage. Ford's response was to commission a purpose-built endurance racer, the GT40, with the explicit goal of beating Ferrari at its own showcase event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Ferrari had won six years running.
In 1966 it worked completely. Ford GT40 Mark IIs finished first, second and third, ending Ferrari's run outright. Ford then tried to stage a dead-heat finish between its two leading cars for the publicity, only for a scoring technicality based on starting positions and distance covered to hand outright victory to the McLaren and Amon car over the Miles and Hulme car that had appeared to cross the line alongside it.
An American manufacturer had out-engineered and out-spent Italy's most storied racing marque on its own ground, inside three years, because of a deal that fell through. The story reached cinemas in 2019 as 'Ford v Ferrari'.
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