EXREYFord v Ferrari: The True Story of Le Mans 1966 and Ken Miles
Yes. Ford v Ferrari (2019, called Le Mans '66 in some countries) tells the true story of how Ford, after failing to buy Ferrari in 1963, hired car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles to beat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1966 Ford finished first, second and third - and a staged photo finish meant Miles, who was leading, was officially placed second.
Ford v Ferrari is a racing film about a corporate grudge. In 1963 Ford tried to buy Ferrari; Enzo Ferrari walked away from the deal at the last moment over who would control his racing team. Henry Ford II decided that if he could not buy Ferrari, he would beat it at the one race Ferrari owned: the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The people
Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) was a Texan who had won Le Mans as a driver in 1959 before a heart condition ended his racing career. He built sports cars - the Shelby Cobra - and Ford hired his company to turn its GT40 race car into a winner.
Ken Miles (Christian Bale) was an English-born engineer and driver, a tank sergeant in the Second World War who emigrated to California. He was brilliant at developing cars and famously blunt, which is why Ford's managers did not want him as the face of their programme. Both of these characters are close to the real men.
Le Mans 1966
After failures in 1964 and 1965, Ford arrived in 1966 with a fleet of GT40 Mk IIs. Ferrari's challenge collapsed during the race, and by Sunday Ford's cars were running first, second and third, with Miles and Denny Hulme in the lead.
Ford's management then asked for a photo finish: all three cars crossing the line side by side. Miles slowed to let the others catch up. But the officials ruled that the car of Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, which had started further back on the grid, had travelled a greater distance in the 24 hours - so it was the winner. Miles, who had led, was placed second. That moment in the film is true.
What the film changed
- Leo Beebe, Ford's director of racing, is the film's villain. He was behind the staged finish, but historians describe a more complicated relationship than the cartoon rivalry on screen.
- Shelby locking Beebe in an office while Henry Ford II takes a joy ride did not happen as shown; it dramatises real tension inside Ford.
- Details of the 1966 race - pit stops, the brake trouble, who said what on the radio - are compressed for the story.
After Le Mans
Two months later, on 17 August 1966, Ken Miles was killed while testing Ford's next car, the experimental J-car, at Riverside in California. He was 47. Ford went on to win Le Mans four years in a row, from 1966 to 1969. Shelby died in 2012.
What it is really about
The film's heart is not Ford or Ferrari but the people between them: two men who loved making a car go faster, and a company that needed their talent and did not trust them. Miles lost the race he had won, and the film makes sure you remember his name.
Questions people ask
Is Ford v Ferrari based on a true story?
Yes, on Ford's GT40 programme, Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles and the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Why didn't Ken Miles win Le Mans in 1966?
Ford wanted its three cars to cross the line together. Because the McLaren and Amon car had started further back on the grid, it had covered slightly more distance, so it was declared the winner and Miles was second.
How did Ken Miles die?
He was killed on 17 August 1966, two months after Le Mans, while testing Ford's experimental J-car at Riverside International Raceway in California.
Was Leo Beebe really a villain?
Leo Beebe was Ford's director of racing and was behind the decision to stage the finish; the film makes him a sharper antagonist than most accounts do.
