Obstacles are frightening things, that appear, when you stop looking at your goal.
Henry Ford
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(car engine revving)
- Cats vs Dogs.
Good vs evil.
Me vs Bart.
These are some of the greatest rivalries of all time,
but none of them hold a candle to the clash of titans
that went down at Le Mans in the 1960's.
From this meeting of giants came the greatest sports car
the Ford motor company has ever produced!
It's a motor sport legend that changed the way people
perceived American cars around the world.
And put Ford at the top of the food chain.
This is everything you need to know to get up to speed
on the Ford GT.
(electronic music)
Our story begins in 1963. Italy.
Henry Ford II was in talks with Enzo Ferrari
to buy the Ferrari brand and the deal was
at the cusp of completion.
Ford wanted to improve their image for performance
because they didn't really have one.
So instead of building a whole new car,
Henry decided it would just be easier to buy up
a struggling sports car brand from Europe.
Luckily, at the time, Ferrari was a struggling car brand
from Europe.
But as Enzo was about to sign the contract
selling his namesake to the Americans, he noticed a
clause that he hadn't seen earlier.
With the agreement Ford would own the Ferrar--
(laughs)
I was choking on my spit.
With the agreement Ford would own both the Ferrari
road car division, and the race team.
Enzo did not like that.
Ferrari stormed out of the room with his lawyer in tow,
leaving the Ford guys scratching their little noggins.
Back home in Dearborn, Henry Ford II gathered
his most trusted associates and gave them an order.
"Build a car that'll crush Ferrari."
To do that, the Ford motor company turned
to British Racing Boutique
♪ L-O-L-A Lola ♪
The Lola company had competed in Le Mans before,
and used Ford small block V8's to do it.
Knowing this, Ford offered to do a collab
on their new race car.
Kind of like Nelly and Tim Mcgraw.
Ford's first car based on the Lola, the GT40 MK1,
didn't do so hot when they first took it to France in 1964.
All three cars they took broke down.
Clearly, Ford had some work to do.
The man Ford hired to right the sinking ship was none other
than Texan Chicken Farmer and American hero, Carroll
(beep)
Shelby.
- My name's Carroll Shelby and performance is my business.
- His Daytona Coupe had won it's class the same year
all the Fords broke, so Henry figured that if there
was anyone who could help beat Ferrari, it was him.
Shelby and his team started tinkering with the GT40.
They took the MK1 out to Willow Springs and measured
air movement around the car.
Shelby estimated the GT was losing 75 horsepower
on airflow alone.
So they went back to the shop and redesigned
the inlets and outlets.
They put some big old brakes on it so the car
would stop faster for longer.
Then, Shelby did what Shelby did best.
He turned the motor to make over 450 horsepowers.
(car engine revving)
They took the GT to one of America's most hallowed
endurance races--raceses.
The 2000 kilometers of Daytona.
That's 1242.74 miles for you frickin' yanks.
No one knew how the Ford would do.
Ferrari had won the previous year, and their car
for the 1965 season was brand new.
To beat Ferrari in Daytona would be a huge boost to morale.
Kind of like pizza day here at Donut.
- There's pizza?
- [Man] No.
- Oh. Damn.
- Luckily for Shelby's team, the Ferrari blew a tire
letting the GT gain a huge lead and take the win.
Not so luckily, the victory at Daytona would be the
only win for the entire season.
Even worse, Ferrari won at Le Mans that year.
Again.
(thunder booming)
Ferrari!
In 1966 Henry Ford II is getting a little antsy
in his little pantsies.
They put so much time and money into these cars
but have nothing to show for it.
Enzo Ferrari is chilling back at Maranello
laughing to himself every night before he goes to sleep.
(throaty laugh)
"Not this year," Henry thought to himself.
They had to win.
Shelby redesigned the GT again, this time with a
Goliath seven-liter V8.
The 427 was good for 485 horsepower.
It was the same engine Ford was using in NASCAR.
It was American as--
(beep)
But Shelby wouldn't be the only guys racing for Ford.
Since Henry was getting a little impatient,
he brought in Holman Moody, the guys in charge
of Ford's NASCAR program.
Henry figured having two teams would create some competition
and better his chances of beating Ferrari.
And, guess what, he was right.
The two Ford teams fought hard all season,
and when they arrived at Le Mans, it was frickin' on.
Ford had to remind them, "Hey, you're hear to beat Ferrari.
Settle your differences on your own time."
As the green flag dropped on race day, the GTs were off
to a great start.
And by 3AM that morning, three of Shelby's cars
were in the lead.
And the Ferrari team had suffered serious damage
on their most dominant cars.
The hours and laps went by with each becoming
more tense than the last.
Could Ford finally win?
At 4PM, two Shelby's and one Holman Moody crossed
the finish line in Le Mans in a triangle formation.
Ford had beat Ferrari.
(beep)
I just almost started crying.
(laughs)
The GT would win three more races at Le Mans,
cementing it as one of the greatest sports cars of all time.
It proved that Americans could win at the race track,
not just at the ovals, but at the most hallowed ground
in all of European motor sports.
It was kind of a big deal.
Ford continued the GT program with the GT70,
except this GT wasn't meant for Le Mans.
It was deigned for the dusty back roads of the
World Rally Circuit.
Ford UK wanted to beat Lancia and Portia in the rally game
like they had done in NASCAR and at Le Mans.
But unlike those efforts, the GT70 didn't really work out,
and the project was scrapped in 1973.
After that, Ford didn't really make any more sports cars.
They made sporty cars, like the Mustang and Escort,
but nothing that captured that classic world-beating
Le Mans fight flavor of the GT40.
But, in 1995 Ford unveiled a new concept called the GT90.
Ford took the Chassis from the Jaguar XJ220 Supercar
and put a quad turbo V12 behind the driver.
This insane power plant made the GT90 concept the fastest
car in the world with a top speed of 253 miles an hour.
In 1995.
Coolio was still on the Billboard Hot 100
and this thing was putting up Bugatti Veyron numbers.
But sadly the GT90 was just a one-off concept car
and never went into production.
Ford fans would never see the GT name again.
(sad music)
Until 2002.
It had been nearly 60 years since Henry Ford II's deal
with Ferrari fell through.
And to commemorate Ford's crowning achievement,
they introduced their GT40 concept car to the world
at the Detroit Auto Show.
And unlike the GT90 before it, this GT actually
made it to production in 2004.
The GT made 550 horsepower from a 5.4-liter supercharged V8.
(car engine revving)
Some people think the engine is the same
as the Ford Lightnings, but the GT's was all aluminum,
had more valves, duel fuel injectors, a dry sump system,
and piston skirt oil squirters.
The GT40 was in projection from 2004-2006,
and in that short time, it reminded the world that Ford
could make a stellar supercar.
But it would be 10 more years until the GT returned
to Le Mans.
In January 2015, Mariah Carey was single again.
Shia Labeouf was in that Sia video, and most importantly,
Ford shocked the world yet another time!
(thunder crashing)
With the reveal of the 2016 Ford GT at the
Detroit Auto Show.
People lost their frickin' minds.
It's the coolest car I have ever seen.
And I saw the Weinermobile twice.
The new GT is powered by a twin-turbo ecoboost V6
this time around, making 647 horsepower.
The car is almost entirely carbon-fiber,
weighing in at just over 3000 pounds.
Only twice as much as my dad.
Buttresses are sculpted into the sides of the body,
reducing drag and guiding air to the rear wing.
That wing deploys at high speeds to keep the tail in check,
and flattens when you step on the brakes
to slow the car down.
If you want to take your GT to the track,
you don't have to worry about installing a cage,
because it already has a cage.
This thing is a real race car for the road.
I've driven one.
I drove it before the Stig did.
You know, we have a lot in common because we're both
professional drivers.
The race version of the GT differed from the street one
in a few key ways.
Front splitter, rear diffuser, a fixed wing,
and exhaust outlets inside the taillights.
Sick.
It was no coincidence that Ford chose 2016
as the launch year of the GT.
It would be the 50th anniversary since their victory
over Ferrari at Le Mans.
And Ford wanted to go back and win again.
That would be pretty sweet, but other people
like winning too.
Ford rivals Chevy and Ferrari weren't going to let old blue
take the wind just because it was his anniversary
If Ford wanted the checkered flag, they were gonna
have to work for it.
The way to the Ford's name was on this team's shoulders.
Miraculously, two American GT's locked out the front row
in qualifying with Ferrari close behind in third.
The stage was set for war!
With heavy rain pouring on the track, the 2016 24-hours
of Le Mans started behind the safety car.
After the start, Ford traded the lead with Ferrari all day,
battling mechanical issues and other cars along the way.
At certain points, it looked like Ford wouldn't be grasping
at victory that day.
But then, with four and a half hours left,
the number 68 GT pulled off a pass on the leading Ferrari
down the Mulsanne Straight.
A few laps later, the Ferrari spun, giving the Ford
plenty of breathing room.
All they had to do was hold on until the end.
Then, as the checkered flag waved, the number 68 crossed
the finish line, securing the LMGT pro-class victory.
Ford had won Le Mans.
(laughs) (beeps)
Holy sh**.
I started crying, it's such a good story.
Subscribe to Donut Media so you never have to miss
an episode of Up to Speed.
This car has got two turbos, want to know how they work?
Check out this episode of Science Garage.
Oh, you want to see a better video than that?
Check out this Up to Speed on the eclipse.
If you want a shirt, go to shop.donut.media.
Follow me on Instagram @jamespumphrey.
Follow Donut on Instagram @donutmedia.
I love you.
(burps)
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