Myth Buster
Le Mans ‘66 (Ford vs Ferrari)
LE MANS ‘66 (FORD VS FERRARI) MOVIE 1 FORD DIDN’T BUY FERRARI BECAUSE OF FIAT
Le Mans ‘66 – the story of Ford’s racetrack rivalry with Ferrari – was a (surprisingly) big cinema hit last year, and is now available on DVD and via streaming. While largely accurate, where does what happened on screen diverge from reality? In the film, one of the reasons Ford doesn’t get its Blue Oval mitts on the Prancing Horse in 1963 is because Fiat gets wind of the deal and buys Ferrari instead. However, Fiat only acquired a 50 per cent stake in early 1969, and it was 1988 – after Enzo Ferrari’s death – before it increased its holding to 90 per cent by purchasing his shares.
2 KEN MILES DIDN’T LIKE FORD TESTING TECHNOLOGY
The film portrays British driver Ken Miles as frustrated and dismissive of Ford’s testing technology on the prototype GT40s, preferring instead to go with gut instinct and bits of string taped to the exterior. It seems there was no such conflict, though – both hiand low-tech methods were used simultaneously, with computers recording things like internal air pressure and temperature and the string showing air flow and exhaust. They served very different purposes.
3 ENZO FERRARI WAS AT LE MANS IN 1966
In the movie he was, but not in reality. While Henry Ford II did show up to watch his GT40s win 1966’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, his Italian nemesis wasn’t there. According to director, James Mangold; ‘I insistently put him there. I couldn’t stand the idea of cutting to the kid and mom and Ferrari on the phone or on radios, I couldn’t do it. Sorry, history!’