Ford v Ferrari: the real story of Le Mans '66 and Ken Miles

Ford v Ferrari

The Ford v Ferrari battle at the Le Mans 24 Hours race of 1966 was a personal feud between Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari that played out on endurance racing’s grandest stage, the story dramatic enough to warrant a Hollywood telling of the story that took Ford to the top step at La Sarthe.

The deal

The early 1960s was dominated by Ferrari but, behind the scenes, Enzo Ferrari was in the process of putting the famous brand up for sale. And it had attracted the attention of one American businessman in particular.

An incensed Henry Ford gave the command: ‘You go to Le Mans and beat his ass.’

With a desire to win the most prestigious endurance race on the motor racing calendar, Henry Ford II’s ambition coincided neatly with Ferrari’s apparent willingness to sell. Diligence was carried out, money offered and the transaction drawn up.

After 22 days of negotiations, and with a waiting army of Ford lawyers and engineers that had flown out to Italy, the deal was close to being signed. But at the last minute, on May 20, 1963, il Commendatore showed the squad of Ford personnel the door.

Leo Beebe and the makings of the GT40 team

Leo Beebe, Ford’s racing director, was the conductor and problem solver. Henry Ford’s right-hand man in the pursuit of Ferrari was tasked to oversee and ensure the Blue Oval achieved overall victory at Le Mans and endurance racing’s other premier events, including Sebring and Daytona.

The project began almost immediately, and it soon turned to obsession as more millions of dollars were pumped into the project: determination, revenge and perhaps slight desperation the driving force.

Initially, Eric Broadly of Lola was tasked by Beebe with producing a Ferrari-beater. A succession of retirements and thin patience meant control of the project was then handed over to Shelby American; Carol Shelby heading up the new Kar Kraft division dedicated to the GT40 operation.

Shelby then drafted Ken Miles into the fold.

Ken Miles 

Ken Miles, born Sutton Coldfield, England, in 1918, was vital in the development of the GT40 and was a prominent racer too — although having fought in WW2, he began racing a little later than others.

Initially he served with an anti-aircraft unit in the Territorial Army, but was later posted to guards armoured troops workshops in North-West Europe.

After returning from the front, he began to take his first steps into motor sport: first racing at Silverstone on April 23, 1949. Two years later he’d moved to the US, working for Gough Industries, and entered races for the company in a stock MG-TD. In 1953, Miles then won his first race at Pebble Beach and went on to win every race in the under-1500cc class that year.

The MG was later modified to carry a 1500cc engine and dubbed the “Flying Shingle”, which brought him success in the SCCA Modified class against the likes of actor James Dean. Miles graduated to a Porsche 550 the following year, in 1956, and in ’57 he fitted the Porsche engine and drivetrain to a Cooper chassis.

Now established Stateside, Miles had become renowned a brilliant tester and was soon recruited by Shelby to test and develop Cobra’s for his race team Shelby American.

When Shelby then joined forces with Ford, Miles was naturally appointed as the GT40’s lead developer — although his success was far from instant.

Ford’s false start

The Ford GT40 made its Le Mans debut in 1964, but out of three entries — driven by the likes of Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Richie Ginther, Masten Gregory, Richard Attwood and Jo Schlesser — none saw the chequered flag. Meanwhile, Ferrari took a 1-2-3 victory.

Further disappointment followed in 1965, as again, despite doubling their entires, Ford failed to see the chequered flag. Poor reliability struck down all six GT40s, while Enzo’s red cars took victory.

Operations were then shifted between Shelby Automotive and Holman and Moody in the United States as well as Alan Mann Racing in the UK. There was infighting but, under the mediation of Beebe, the competitive atmosphere meant that intense development of the GT40 followed, creating the MkII.

Mann constructed three GT40 entries to Ford Advanced Vehicles specification, with Shelby and H&M separately responsible for another three MkIIs each. The competition for Ford’s primary backing led to frayed relationships between the Ford teams, with each entry desperate for the majority of the funds to be directed toward their efforts to become the winning Ford.

That competition bled from the teams to drivers also, with Jerry Grant, team-mate to Dan Gurney, explaining in Twice Around the Clock: The Yanks at Le Mans: “The real competition was between the Ford drivers…our main concern was beating the Ford drivers from the other camp. If a Ferrari beat you, you always had that ‘well, it was a Ferrari’. But if a Ford beat you, it was the driver.”

Six privateer entries also competed as ultimate effort was afforded in the third attempt to steal away endurance racing’s crown jewel from the Prancing Horse.

20 tons of spare parts, equipment, dedicated car and crew that had the backing of Ford Motor Company behind it all were dispatched to La Sarthe for ’66.

Le Mans ‘66 — Victory at last

Henry Ford, honorary starter in ’66, waved the flag to open the chapter of the story he had been so desperate to author.

Leading from the start, Fords quickly established a lead, although Ken Miles’ collision with John Whitmore’s Alan Mann Racing Ford brought him into the pits at the end of lap one.

A quick slam of the door was all that was needed before he was sent on his way once more.

Ford headed the field after hour one in a 1-2-3, Dan Gurney leading the charge of 13 GT40s, brought to ensure that at least one would win.

The Gurney/Grant Ford battled for the lead throughout the night, but retired through an engine issue following temperatures that skyrocketed in the morning, leaving Miles to push on.

As the race wore on, the fleet of GT40s slowly dwindled to leave a three-pronged attack, but Ferrari wilted too, succumbing to the brutal pace of the leading MkIIs. The final Ferrari P3, in the hands of Lorenzo Bandini and Jean Guichet, submitted to a nagging water leak and clutch failure.

It left the No1 Mk II of Miles and Hulme out front leading the American effort and victory virtually assured for Ford.

A staged finish 

Without any real challenge, Beebe began to put plans into action that were intended to see both leading Mk IIs cross the line side-by-side in a dead heat.

The ideal photo opportunity that would underline Ford’s dominance against the competition, positive publicity would not be squandered.