Motorsport · 1966 · Le Mans, France
Ford Ends Ferrari's Reign at Le Mans
Built specifically to beat Ferrari after Enzo Ferrari rejected a Ford buyout, the Ford GT40 finishes 1-2-3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, ending six straight years of Ferrari domination.
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 attempted to buy Ferrari outright in 1963, only for Enzo Ferrari to walk 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 the project succeeded completely: Ford GT40 Mark IIs finished first, second, and third, a clean sweep of the podium that ended Ferrari's run outright. Ford attempted to stage a dead-heat finish between its two leading cars for maximum publicity, only for a scoring technicality, based on starting positions and distance covered, to award outright victory to the McLaren/Amon car over the Miles/Hulme car that had appeared to cross the line alongside it.
The 1-2-3 finish remains one of the most complete demonstrations of corporate will in motorsport history, an American manufacturer out-engineering and out-spending Italy's most storied racing marque on its own ground. The story was later dramatised in the 2019 film 'Ford v Ferrari'.
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