The Ford GT40 is one of the most iconic racing machines ever built — but the story behind it is far stranger and more dramatic than most people realize. In this video, we uncover the complete history of the most expensive personal grudge match in the history of motorsport, from the ruined contract negotiation in a Maranello office in the spring of 1963, to the secret weapon Ford hid in a Texas workshop, to the staged photo finish in the French rain that robbed one driver of the greatest win in racing history.
We cover the 18 million dollar deal that collapsed when Enzo Ferrari read a single clause about Indianapolis racing and walked out to lunch, the six-word mission statement Henry Ford II gave to Don Frey that launched a 250 million dollar revenge campaign, the British race car designer Eric Broadley and the Lola Mk6 design that became the foundation of the GT40, and the catastrophic 1964 and 1965 Le Mans attempts where every Ford on the grid broke down while Ferrari swept the podium twice in a row. We also explore the moment Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles took over the program and tore it apart, the decision to drop the small block engine and install the 7.0-liter 427 cubic inch NASCAR V8, the test track speed run where Miles hit 201 miles per hour on tires that would not pass modern safety standards, and the deliberate horsepower underrating that hid the GT40 Mk II’s true 550 horsepower output.
From the rainy 1966 Le Mans race where 13 Ford GT40s carpet-bombed Ferrari’s seven-car team, to the Mulsanne Straight where the GT40s hit 210 miles per hour in the pouring rain, to the staged side-by-side finish that gave the win to Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon over Ken Miles by an 8 meter starting grid technicality nobody at Ford knew existed, to Ken Miles’s tragic death two months later at Riverside Raceway, this video covers the full, unfiltered history of the car that broke Ferrari’s six-year Le Mans winning streak. We also break down the four consecutive Le Mans victories from 1966 to 1969, the 60-year drought that followed for Ferrari until their 2023 return to the top step, the brake rotor controversy that Charlie Agapiou took to his grave believing was deliberate sabotage, and the 20 million dollar auction values of the surviving 1966-winning chassis GT40 P/1046.
Whether you are a lifelong Ford enthusiast, a motorsport historian, a Le Mans fan, or simply someone who loves the golden era of endurance racing, this deep dive into the Ford GT40 will give you a completely new perspective on the American machine that humiliated Ferrari on European soil.
Topics covered in this video include the Ford GT40 development story, the failed 1963 Ferrari acquisition, the Henry Ford II revenge campaign, the Eric Broadley Lola Mk6 connection, the Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles partnership, the 7.0-liter 427 NASCAR V8 engine, the 1966 Le Mans staged finish controversy, the ACO grid position tiebreaker rule, the GT40 Mk II and Mk IV variants, the Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt 1967 victory, and the four consecutive Le Mans wins that ended Ferrari’s prototype dominance.
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