1966 Ford GT40

The Story

The Ford GT40 was born of a grudge. In the early 1960s Henry Ford II tried to buy Ferrari, only to have Enzo Ferrari abruptly walk away from the deal at the last moment. Insulted, Ford ordered his company to beat the Italians at their own game on the world's greatest stage, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The GT40 was the weapon, and its name came straight from its dimensions: a sleek, mid-engine racer standing just 40 inches off the ground.

The early cars were fast but fragile, and Ferrari kept winning. Then came 1966. Three 7.0-litre Mk II GT40s, prepared with the help of Carroll Shelby's team, crossed the Le Mans finish line in a staged 1-2-3 formation, finally ending Ferrari's long dominance and delivering the first all-American victory in the French classic. The big-block 427, detuned to roughly 485 horsepower so it could survive twenty-four hours flat out, could top 200 mph down the long Mulsanne Straight.

Production was tiny. Only about 105 GT40s of all types were ever built between 1964 and 1969, including a handful of road-legal Mk I cars and the precious few Mk II racers campaigned in 1966. Those genuine race cars are now among the most valuable automobiles on the planet, with one 1966 Mk II selling for over thirteen million dollars and even a Mk I road car bringing more than seven million at recent auctions.

The GT40's story was reintroduced to new generations by the film Ford v Ferrari, but for those who remember the original headlines, the drama needed no embellishment. This is the car that turned a corporate vendetta into one of motorsport's greatest triumphs, humbling the proudest name in racing and proving that American muscle, money, and determination could conquer Europe's most hallowed endurance race. Ford would go on to win Le Mans three more times with the GT40 through 1969, but the 1966 victory remains the one that mattered most, the moment a giant American corporation answered an insult with engineering. For enthusiasts who watched it unfold, the GT40 is more than a fast car. It is a symbol of ambition fulfilled, a low blue-and-orange shape forever linked with the day Ford finally beat Ferrari.