JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I'm sure most of you have seen ads or trailers for the Ford vs. Ferrari movie opening tomorrow. I am especially interested because I was there, at the 1966 24 hours of LeMans. Growing up my family went on wonderful road trip vacations around the USA. I was the oldest child with a younger brother and sister, and my parents had long planned to do a tour of Europe the summer before I went to college. So my father booked one of those "If it's Tuesday it Must be Belgium" type three week tours. Most days had activities, but the last day was a free day in Paris. Now I had been a motor racing fan since I was a young child, and I had seen an international racing calendar showing that day was the second day of the 24 hours of LeMans. I asked my father to see if we could go to it, and he checked with the travel agent, who found out we could take the train from Paris. He got tickets for the family.

For some odd reason, my mother and sister decided they would rather stay in Paris, so my father and brother and I took the train. We met a couple young French men who were also going but didn't have tickets yet, so my father gave them the extra tickets. It was hard to figure out what was going on, since we couldn't understand the French PA system. But I especially remember the difference between the deep roar of the big V8 Ford GT 40 engines compared with the high whine of the European cars. And at the end we were stunned to see the Fords (and America) had won, cruising slowly across the finish line in a formation of three. That's an image burned into my brain, and I can see it in my mind even now.

I only learned about the back story about ten years ago, on an episode of Top Gear. Henry Ford II was going to acquire Ferrari, and had spent millions on the initial legal and financial groundwork. Enzo Ferrari was going to remain the head of Ferrari racing. So Enzo goes to Henry and says he wants to bring Ferrari powered cars to the Indy 500, and Henry says no, we're bringing Ford powered cars. So Enzo called off the merger. Henry plotted revenge by beating Ferrari at LeMans, aided by Carrol Shelby, and that's the story the movie tells.

I called my father and told him about it, but he already knew the story because he had read Henry Ford II's autobiography. He passed away shortly after that, and that's the last time I spoke to him. Before the funeral the pastor asked for stories we remembered him by, and arranging for us to go to that race was mine. So I was delighted to see the great reviews for the movie and even best picture buzz. I'm seeing it this Saturday.

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

Wonderful story! What an experience!

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

That's a great story.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Terrymac Loc: LONDON U.K.

Great story and experience. Thanks.

TonyF Loc: Bradenton, FL

Great story, thanks for sharing!

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Great story about your family trips. I had a friend who was into drag racing, NASCAR, and the 24 Hour Le Mans in France. He told me about this 1966 race. The Ford GT40 Mark 2 won the race. And in 1967, the GT40 Mark 4 won the race. Both American Teams. From 1963-1965, the Ferrari sports car won 3 races in a row. Ford stopped Ferrari from winning 4 in a row. Those two Ford GT40 sports cars, shocked the European dominance of The 24 Hour Le Mans in France. The greatest of all sports car racing. Never thinking an American sports car, could ever beat a Ferrari. Twice.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, I remember all that drams and the famous finish.

architect Loc: Chattanooga

Ken Miles, who drove one of the Fords, was my favorite race driver. I watched him several times at the Laguna Seca raceway near Monterrey, California in the 60's. His driving was perfectly consistent, kicking up just a small amount of dust every time at my favorite corner, six.

alexol

As you'll discover when you see the movie and/or read the book (or various other books), the team trickery and deceitful behaviour doesn't make a good advert for Ford.

It wasn't until the following year, 1967, that an all-American team won, with the completely US-designed & built Mk IV GT40.

The movie takes a number of liberties - without which the movie wouldn't have been half as exciting - and was really excellent, very much worth seeing. The politics were a disgrace though.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Saw the movie last evening. I was surprised at the quality of the production, top-notch! Casting is superb, except thew role of Enzo. There are a few-too-many double-clutching-gearshifter shots but the racing scenes are very well produced and photographed. The action is the real star and it is done very well. The stupidity of automobile executives is well thrashed, as it must be in any authentic car-movie. The actor who delivered Hank-Deuce was a master and deserves an Oscar for his performance as Shelby's passenger in the GT-40. To create a character that just shit his pants while stuffed into a tiny racing car and can hardly move and is wearing a 3-piece suit is NOT a role to be lightly passed along. Never saw it done better. Males will like the action and story. Women enjoyed the story and how racing transcends the barriers of the sexual aspects of life in general. The script wis superb, racing enthusiasm isn't required to understand the tension they lived under. A few items in the story were reworked for "Hollywood" as the saying goes but in general this IS a car movie of fact.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I saw the Trailer on this movie on TV. It looks like a good movie. Matt Damon and Christian Bale are starring in the movie. I may see it at a matinee time.

jaycoffman Loc: San Diego

Waiting to see it--I didn't get to go see it but I was following it from afar. LA Times review of the movie today was very positive--not that I care too much about reviews but this one was pretty detailed so worth a bit more than a lot of reviews. Anyway it was one of the few times I've rooted for US cars over European cars and I still love Cobras today.

JoAnneK01 Loc: Lahaina, Hawaii

What a wonderful story and remembrance of your father. Happy that this movie was able to bring back such great memories for you.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Thank you for sharing your memories. Sounds fantastic.