Le Mans '66 (2019) [Ford vs Ferrari]
20/11/19 Filed in: Cinema
A film made just for me! In 1966 I was 18, car mad, and driving a Ford Prefect 100E. That will only mean something to people of a certain age with some knowledge of cars, but for anybody else suffice it to say my car was about as far removed from a Ford GT40 as it is possible to imagine. To be fair I hankered more for an E-type or a Triumph TR 4 than a GT40, both equally unrealistic dreams, but the goings on at Le Mans weren't lost on me.
This film relates how Henry Ford II was talked into joining the endurance motor racing scene and, having been rudely rebuffed by Enzo Ferrari when trying to buy into the action, decided to teach the venerable Italian a lesson. But, as Carroll Shelby (of AC Cobra fame) says when approached by a Ford executive, it's not about the money. What's more, Ford wanted to condense what should realistically have been a long term project into a rush job.
Shelby approaches his friend Ken Miles, an Englishman who races on the American circuits. Ken is a first class engineer as well as a proven racer but he has a bit of an attitude problem, seriously upsetting Ford's executive Leo Beebe before being formally introduced to him. He points out all that is wrong with the new Ford Mustang, something Beebe didn't really want to hear. This bad start will haunt Miles throughout the film.
However, after Ford's first outing to Le Mans ends badly, Shelby gets Henry Ford's ear and Miles is on the team.
For me this was a fascinating story. For us car enthusiasts there's plenty of detail around the development of the car. I was a bit confused when it first arrived on the scene "from Britain", but some post film research confirmed that it was based on a Lola car made by a small English company. And it was in fact an expat Brit called Roy Lunn who worked in Ford's advanced vehicle development department who kicked things off. Lunn is featured in the film but more as an onlooker. A massaging of the facts but we'll let them off as it doesn't detract from the adventure.
There are some impressive racing sequences as well as plenty of technical details to keep the connoisseurs happy. I remember that the GT40s went through disc changes during the race, which at the time amazed me. Not pads, but the actual discs, this because of the tremendous braking effort required to slow down from over 200mph along the 6km Mulsanne Straight (since slowed by two chicanes) before meeting the Mulsanne Corner. Theres a bit of fun in the pits when Shelby removes a couple of the Italian team's stopwatches, and drops a nut causing the Ferrari mechanics to panic a bit. All dramatic licence I'm sure. And there's the ongoing feud between Ford's Leo Beebe, who is in overall charge of the project, and Shelby who's continually covering for Miles.
So we have a blend of racing history, nerdy technical stuff and, above all, intertwined human stories, which combine to make a very good film. In addition to the trailer below, I've also added a video on the making of the film that is almost as absorbing as the film itself. And finally, a mention for Matt Damon (Carroll Shelby) and Christian Bale (Ken Miles) who are utterly convincing in their respective roles.
Enjoy.
There are some impressive racing sequences as well as plenty of technical details to keep the connoisseurs happy. I remember that the GT40s went through disc changes during the race, which at the time amazed me. Not pads, but the actual discs, this because of the tremendous braking effort required to slow down from over 200mph along the 6km Mulsanne Straight (since slowed by two chicanes) before meeting the Mulsanne Corner. Theres a bit of fun in the pits when Shelby removes a couple of the Italian team's stopwatches, and drops a nut causing the Ferrari mechanics to panic a bit. All dramatic licence I'm sure. And there's the ongoing feud between Ford's Leo Beebe, who is in overall charge of the project, and Shelby who's continually covering for Miles.
So we have a blend of racing history, nerdy technical stuff and, above all, intertwined human stories, which combine to make a very good film. In addition to the trailer below, I've also added a video on the making of the film that is almost as absorbing as the film itself. And finally, a mention for Matt Damon (Carroll Shelby) and Christian Bale (Ken Miles) who are utterly convincing in their respective roles.
Enjoy.