1966 Ford vs Ferrari

Lore & Background

In 1963, Ford Motor Company vice president Lee Iacocca proposes to Henry Ford II to boost their car sales by purchasing Ferrari. Owner Enzo Ferrari uses Ford's offer to secure a deal with Fiat and insults Ford. Ford orders his racing division to build a car to compete against Ferrari at Le Mans. Iacocca hires Shelby American owner Carroll Shelby, who enlists Ken Miles.

Shelby and Miles develop the UK-built Ford GT40 Mk I prototype. At the launch of the new Ford Mustang, Miles gives a witheringly rude appraisal of it to Ford senior vice president Leo Beebe. Beebe campaigns against sending Miles to Le Mans. Shelby reluctantly excludes Miles and sends Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren to Le Mans; none of the Fords finish.

Ford tells Shelby to continue the project. During testing of the GT40 Mk II, a crash and fire occur, which Miles survives. In 1966, Beebe takes over the racing division. Shelby makes an agreement with Ford: if Miles wins the 24 Hours of Daytona, he will race at Le Mans.

Miles wins. At Le Mans, Miles struggles with a faulty door, sets lap records, and duels with Lorenzo Bandini until the Ferrari breaks down. With Fords in the top three positions, Beebe orders Shelby to have Miles slow down for a three-car photo finish. Miles complies.

Bruce McLaren is declared the winner. Miles is placed second. Two months later, Miles is killed in a crash while testing the J-car at Riverside International Raceway. A textual epilogue reveals that Ford continued its Le Mans winning streak in 1967, 1968, and 1969, and Miles was posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001.

Reader's Guide

The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 15, 2019, by 20th Century Fox. It grossed $117.6 million in the United States and Canada and $107.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $225.5 million. At the 92nd Academy Awards, the film received four nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing. Bale also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

Did You Know?

• The film was originally going to star Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt from a screenplay titled Go Like Hell, but the project fell apart due to budget issues.
• Filming began on July 30, 2018, and lasted for 67 days, taking place in California; New Orleans; Atlanta; Savannah; Statesboro, Georgia; and Le Mans, France.
• The first trailer debuted on June 2, 2019, during Game 2 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
• Composer Marco Beltrami scored the film, having previously worked with Mangold on 3:10 to Yuma, The Wolverine, and Logan.