Ford V Ferrari: 5 Real Historical Connections (& 5 Made Exclusively For The Movie)

Ford v Ferrari stars Matt Damon as the driver-turned-engineer Carroll Shelby, and Christian Bale as Ken Miles, a war veteran and maestro behind the wheel. The two are weapons in the battle for supremacy between American automobile tycoon Henry Ford II and sports car founder Enzo Ferrari. The movie tells the real-life story of how Shelby and Miles developed a racing car for Ford that eventually ended Ferrari’s dominance at the popular Le Mans competition.

But make no mistake. Ford v Ferrari isn’t a movie about engineering. Racing is what takes center stage and it’s so good that the movie received a nomination for Best Picture from the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. But is it entirely factual? Well… not entirely. let’s take you through what’s real and what’s not.

10 Fact: Enzo Ferarri Almost Accepted Ford’s Takeover Bid

Henry Ford II wanted to buy Ferrari for two reasons. First, was he loved racing yet his company didn’t have a racing car. The second reason was to attract younger buyers because sales were dwindling. So, he sent representatives to Modena, Italy to agree on terms with Enzo Ferrari. The offer was $10 million.

Enzo Ferrari had initially agreed to the takeover but after seeing the sale that stated that Ford would be in charge of the racing decisions, he changed his mind. He also sent the representatives back with a harsh message. “Tell him he’s not Henry Ford. He’s just Henry Ford II.” Oops!

9 Fiction: Ferarri Used The Ford Negoatioations To Force Fiat To Invest

In the movie, Ferrari seems to use the negotiations with Ford to coax Fiat to buy a stake. Ferrari’s sales were also dwindling so an investor was badly needed. Enzo Ferarri’s message to Fiat was basically if you are not going to do this, Ford will.

In real life, this didn’t happen. The movie’s events take place in the years and months leading to the 1966 Le Mans competition. Fiat did indeed buy shares in Ferrari but they did so in early 1969. This was years after Le Mans 66 in which Ford was victorious.

8 Fact: Miles Drove Tanks In World War II

In the film, we get to learn that skilled driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) was a World War II veteran who drove tanks. This is entirely accurate. At the start of the war, Miles joined an anti-aircraft unit in the British Territorial Army. He then shifted to machinery where he drove tanks and received a promotion to staff sergeant.

Miles was also part of the British military crew that took part in the Normandy landings. The operation which had the codename Operation Neptune was the largest seaborne invasion of all time. it’s regarded as one of the first steps that led to the allies winning the war.

7 Fiction: Miles And Shelbey Developed The GT40 Mostly By Themselves

Ford v Ferrari implies that Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles did deserve all the credit for creating the Ford GT40. They fought off interference from Henry Ford II’s right-hand man Leo Beebe and did most of the things their way. This isn’t entirely accurate. Perhaps the story was told this way to make the two main characters appear more iconic.

In reality, there was a huge team that was involved in the making of the car and the eventual success on the track. Ford bureaucrats who were stationed at Dearborn, Michigan also had plenty of influence. In addition to that, plenty of engineers contributed to the vehicle’s creation.

6 Fact: Shelby Quit Racing Due To Heart Problems

In Ford v Ferrari, Shelby is said to have been a racing driver who quit due to heart ailments. This is accurate. Shelby was the third American driver to be victorious at Le Mans. He was driving the Aston Martin DBR1 at the time of his victory.

Shelby did indeed have a heart ailment called angina pectoris. He thus quit the track and focussed on building high-performance vehicles. He also used to take prescription medicine on a regular as seen in the movie. In 1990, he underwent a heart transplant surgery. He died in 2012 at the age of 89.

5 Fiction: The Conflict Between Miles, Shelbey, And Beebe

Miles and Shelbey often clash with Ford bureaucrats in the movie, especially Beebe. The ford executive seems to be totally against the idea of Miles competing at Le Mans. It is true that he didn’t like the risks that Miles often took on the track but the tension was never as serious as portrayed.

At one point, Shelby places a bet with Henry Ford II so that Miles can be allowed to race. And in the most ridiculous of moments, Shelbey locks Beebe in an office so that he can take Henry Ford II on a wild test drive that leaves the boss crying. Apparently, Beebe was objecting to it. This never happened. In real life, it was Miles who actually took Henry for a wild drive.

4 Fact: GT40 Went From Being Imperfect To Unfairly Perfect

Expert driving aside, the reason Ford won at Le Mans was because of superior vehicles. Ford engineer Phil Remington (Ray McKinnon) developed a brake system that made the cars safer and made it possible for the pit crew to easily swap pads and rotors. The engines were also perfected by running them through dynamometers (instruments that show how far can engine can run before failing). Just like in the movie, other teams complained about Ford’s perfection but since it wasn’t illegal, nothing was done.

However, Ford racing cars, especially the GT40 were very imperfect and dangerous at first. Ford lost in 1964 and 1966 because gearboxes often failed and engines overheated.  who was once a test driver for Ford gave an interview to Popular Mechanics where he said, “I had to quit to save my life.”

3 Fiction: The California Race

Some of the races in the film didn’t take place in real life. A perfect example is the Willow Springs Raceway in California. It was only fictionalized to aid in character development. We aren’t complaining. The character development was quite exemplary.

The fake races also served a great purpose because if the director had stuck to facts, we would have gotten way less action. If you are a sucker for total historical accuracy, you can still check out Rush which has been compared to Ford v Ferrari and is also quite accurate to actual events.

2 Fact: Three Ford Cars Finished Together At The End Of Le Mans 66

There’s actual video footage of the three Ford cars that participated in Le Mans 66 finishing together. Even though Miles was initially ahead of the other cars, he received instructions to wait for the others so that Ford would appear to be even more dominant.

Ken Miles is said to have been outraged by the order and so was Shelby. But there can only be one boss. In the end, Henry Ford II got a much-needed victory and ego boost. He had silenced Enzo Ferarri and was not the king of the circuit. Miles and Shelby were simply pawns in this corporate war.

1 Fiction: Enzo Ferrari Was At Le Mans 66

Director James Mangold has even come out to clarify that Enzo was never at Le Mans 66 as portrayed in the movie. He told IndieWire in an interview, “The biggest cheat in this movie: Ferrari never showed up at Le Mans. I insistently put him there. I couldn’t stand the idea of cutting to the kid and mom and Ferrari on the phone or on radios, I couldn’t do it. Sorry, history!”

It looks like he didn’t want to look Henry Ford II in the eye. Ford was actually present at Le Mans when his drivers sped to victory. Ford cars also went on to win in 1967, 1968 and 1969. An additional fact from Mangold was that the race scenes were very real. No CGI was used, except for the crowd because its hard to gather 10,000 people to watch the shooting of a film.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1215 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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