Ford Le Mans Race

Ford went to le mans with the gt40 a british built race car inspired by designer eric broadley s lola mark 6 gt.

Ford le mans race. Ford gt40 mk ii front. It was the mark ii that mclaren and amon drove to victory at le mans in 1966. After 50 years the 66 le mans winning ford gt40 is reborn 4 photos it was in 1966 when ford had a feud with ferrari after a failed attempt to buy the italian racing empire. The 1966 24 hours of le mans was the 34th grand prix of endurance and took place on 18 and 19 june 1966.

Henri pescarolo who went. Ford dominated the le mans 24 hours race in 1966 winning it for the first time and taking all the podium places with its updated mkii and stellar driver line up. Ford s dominance of the 1966 le mans under the management of the wise cracking shelby not only made racing history it remade ford as the performance car company it is today. The realization was forced on ford in 1965 that the 289 race car was not fast enough to win le mans.

It was decided early in may to build the mark ii version around the ford 427 engine. But instead of euphoria on the podium chris amon and bruce mclaren who were classified first were strangely subdued. It was also the debut le mans start for two significant drivers. This car took second place overall all three top finishers were ford gt40s in the 1966 24 hours of le mans the 1 car was driven by ken miles and denny hulme and together with the 2 car driven by bruce mclaren chris amon 1st overall and 5 car driven by bucknum hutcherson 3rd overall gave ford its first victory in a 24 hour race.

It was also the seventh round of the 1966 world sportscar championship season this was the first overall win at le mans for the ford gt40 as well as the first overall win for an american constructor. After a six month break the fia world endurance championship returns to the race track this week with the 6 hours of spa francorchamps the sixth round of the 2019 2020 season and the final race ahead of the 24 hours of le mans in september. Henry ford ii center stands behind celebratory bottles of moet chandon on the podium next to drivers bruce mclaren left and chris amon right who won the prestigious 1966 le mans race in. Today the blue oval.

The first gt40s carried ford s 289 cubic inch v 8.