Ford GT40: A Racing Legend And The Story Of A Historic Feud

The Ford GT40 is one of the most famous performance cars on the world’s race tracks, born from the feud between Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari over the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. The original GT40s from the 60s, along with the 2005 and 2017 Ford GT updates, as well as the 2023 Ford GT Mk IV supercar, have fascinated car, racing and movie fans for many years. decade.

The story of the GT40 was immortalized in the 2019 Hollywood film “Ford v. Ferrari”, recreating the fierce battle between Ferrari and Ford II. Carroll Shelby, the legendary racer, and engineer Roy Lunn, led the GT40 project, helping it reach the podium at Le Mans in 1966. However, few people know that the original design of the GT40 was not a product. the brainchild of Ford or Shelby. It is the result of a collaboration with the Lola racing team in the UK, where Lunn purchased two Lola Mk6 GTs to develop the GT40.

Lola, founded by Eric Broadley, has a distinguished history in racing. Broadley, originally a racing driver and then a designer, created successful racing cars such as the Lola Mark 1 and Mk2, attracting the attention of major racing teams. Lola’s design laid the foundation for Ford’s greatest victory.

Broadley gave up the driver’s seat to focus on design, with cars such as the Lola Mark 1 and Mk2, taking his team to the top of their racing ranks. These designs were not only the premise for the GT40 but also contributed to the development of other racing series such as Formula 1 and IndyCar.