THE FORD THAT BEAT FERRARI
Perhaps it’s time to tell the unvarnished, and glorious truth, about Ford’s GT40 programme, which started in 1963. Criticised, at the time, for being too big, too heavy, and too simply engineered, it was in fact one of the most successful Ford-badged race cars ever produced.
Too heavy? Because in most cases a steel tub was used...? So what! Too crude? Because standard Ford-USA iron block engines were used…? So what! Too simply engineered? Those Detroit-developed V8 engines again..? So what! And in the majority of cases, these were actually British-built machines anyway…
These days, if you get into a pub-quiz argument, you can sum up its successes very simply. In five years, no fewer than 130 cars of all types were built, and only truly dedicated race-car builders such as Porsche, could beat that. Neither Jaguar nor Aston Martin could match it either. From 1966 to 1969 inclusive, Ford GTs won the Le Mans 24 Hour race four times in succession. Jaguar couldn’t match that – it was only Ferrari or, later, Porsche, who could get on terms.
BRITISH DESIGN
It all began in 1963, when Ford-USA was developing its new ‘Total Performance’ image, when money seemed to be no object, and when the company attempted to buy Ferrari. Although the Italian concern was interested at first, enthusiasm evaporated when the first Ford accountants came on to the scene. Ferrari pulled out of the deal, Ford (particularly Henry Ford II himself) was incandescent
