Ford GT: How Ford Silenced the critics, Humbled Ferrari and Conquered Le Mans
By Preston Lerner and Dave Friedman
The story is a familiar one. After Henry Ford II’s attempt to buy Ferrari is rebuffed, he vows to defeat the Italians at Le Mans, creates a bold new car that requires a great deal of development before finally winning, then repeats the triumph the following year and is finally spared the pain of withdrawal by a rules change.
This book comes from two stellar journalists with extensive histories of their own, Preston Lerner, whose previous work includes the definitive story of Lance Reventlow’s Scarabs, and Dave Friedman, who was Shelby American’s official photographer all through the Cobra and Le Mans eras.
While Friedman’s imagery sets a high bar for Lerner to match, the author ferrets out the details behind the scenes and then stirs them into a coherent narrative to simplify the task. He takes readers into tense preliminary meetings, rainy test sessions and, of course, actual races, all while putting everything into precise perspective.
It’s all here: the failures of the first two attempts; the confusion surrounding the mishandled ’66 finish when the team finally won; the vindication of ’67 when Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt delivered the cherished all-American triumph driving a car made in the USA; and an Epilogue discussing the ’68 and ’69 victories by private GT40s while looking ahead to Ford’s official return to Le Mans in 2016.
Available for US$60 from enthusiast bookstores or direct from publisher Motorbooks at www.QuartoKnows.com
