How the Ford GT40 won Le Mans in the 1960s and in 2016, beating Ferrari

So what do we really know about the Ford GT40's historic 1960s racing victories at the Le Mans 24-hour race?

Yes, Ford Motor set out to beat Ferrari at Le Mans, after being rebuffed in its 1963 offer to acquire the company.

And yes, after three years of trying, Ford succeeded in doing just that, in 1966, when GT40s staged a triumphant 1-2-3 finish. Then, Ford followed up with an impressive string of consecutive victories in ’67, ’68, and ’69.

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But the GT40, so named for its 40-inch height, wasn’t exactly a home grown enterprise. Early development was based on a design from the U.K. shops of Eric Broadley, the proprietor of Lola Cars, a prominent producer of racing machines.

The man most responsible for launching the program was Lee Iacocca, who was then president of Ford Division. Chairman Henry Ford II endorsed the idea, but it was Iacocca who lit the fuse after Enzo Ferrari backed out of acquisition negotiations.

There were several failures prior to the 1966 victory, and it wasn’t until Ford adapted its 427-cubic inch (7.0-liter) V8 to the Le Mans mission that the GT40 prevailed. Though big and heavy, the 427’s massive thrust (about 485 horsepower) and reliability made the GT40 unbeatable, and ended Ferrari’s Le Mans streak of six straight wins.

The story is chronicled in the documentary “24 Hour War,” that was shown during the Freep Film Festival last month. The film includes interviews or archival footage of Carroll Shelby, Dan Gurney, Henry Ford III, Edsel Ford II, Piero Ferrari, David Hobbes, Bob Bondurant, Mauro Forghieri and more.

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The number of GT40s actually produced by Ford is open to conjecture. They came from a number of shops: Shelby American, Holman Moody, Alan Mann Racing and Ford Advanced Vehicles prominent among them. A common estimate is 105 cars, but that depends on the interpretation of what is and isn’t a proper GT40 — there have been numerous replicas.

Between the storied GT40 of the 1960s and the new GT on sale now, there was another GT sold for a few years in the 2000s. That GT, presaged with concepts at the 1995 and 2002 Detroit auto shows, went on sale in late 2004. It had the GT40 profile, and plenty of horsepower (550) from a supercharged V8 sitting behind the driver’s shoulders. Some 4,000 were produced, but it was never raced by the automaker.

Shrouded in secrecy, the current GT project got under way in 2013, and from the beginning it was intended for the 2016 Le Mans race.

The original mandate was to adapt the Mustang to the mission, and the design team wrestled with the challenge for about a year before throwing up their hands. It was simply too big, with too much frontal area; the required aerodynamic efficiency wasn’t attainable. 

So, Ford retrenched, and started from scratch. Starting with a blank computer screen, the development team created a car that is a technological tour de force, and one that had the speed and durability to dominate its class in the most grueling endurance race on the planet.

Last year, A Ford GT was first in its class last year at Le Mans , finishing about a minute ahead of a Ferrari, with Ford GT's following in third and fourth place.

The company conveniently glosses over the fact that its triumphant Le Mans renaissance produced a class victory — 18th overall — rather than an outright win. On the other hand, the development costs behind an overall victory at Le Mans these days requires a budget that would finance a moon shot.

What’s next? In a little more than a month (June 17-18), the Ford GTs will be revving up at Le Mans once again. What will they achieve as an encore? Stay tuned.