Ford V Ferrari

[Adam Wright]

This is going to be a good one, Ford V Ferrari. The 906 and 904 make a cameo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yplCYUkuRGU

[Doug McDonnell]

Oh Yeah!

[Adam Wright]

New trailer is out, this is looking better and better!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h9Z89U9ZA

[Adam Wright]

Checking out the new trailer, a Speedster makes a cameo!

[Adam Wright]

Did not disappoint!!!!!!!!

[Mark Reich]

Great movie, but fake Speedster!

[C J Murray]

My wife and I saw the movie last night. As a movie it was pretty good and my wife enjoyed it enough to Google some of the names of the characters this morning. It's not a racing movie really. Grand Prix and LeMans do a much much better job of providing realistic racing action. I do find it interesting that they chose Ken Miles to focus so much attention upon. He deserves attention but I wouldn't have thought the movie producers would have zeroed in on him. Porsche hadn't yet become a force in the big classes at LeMans and they are depicted as "in the way" in filming. The plastic Speedster was yet another sign that the movie wasn't trying to be accurate as a "car movie". I would still recommend it as very entertaining and you won't have to sit through any gratuitous sex scenes! Bonus!

[Mark Reich]

I agree that for hardcore car guys the racing scenes were not perfect, but they sure were fun to watch and better than the scenes in Rush. In order to make a successful movie the filmmakers needed a Hollywood-ready story, and Ken Miles fit that need. A true car movie would be more of a documentary, which was why LeMans failed at the box office. My wife’s non-car loving best friend loved it for Matt Damon - enough said!

[Adam Wright]

I agree that for hardcore car guys the racing scenes were not perfect, but they sure were fun to watch and better than the scenes in Rush. In order to make a successful movie the filmmakers needed a Hollywood-ready story, and Ken Miles fit that need. A true car movie would be more of a documentary, which was why LeMans failed at the box office. My wife’s non-car loving best friend loved it for Matt Damon - enough said!

I agree, they made the movie palatable for the general public, I took my wife and two young kids (ages 9 and 11) and everyone loved it, we spent the ride home talking cars, asking and answering questions. Sure they could have made it more of an authentic movie, but it might not have gotten made that way.

[Adam Wright]

Year's ago I interviewed Dr. David Helmick for a story and as an aside he told me he was the team Dr for the GT40 team. Ford was spending sooooo much money that he convinced them to rent a copter to have him in the air and shadowing the cars as they raced, that way if they wrecked he could land and be on site in seconds. Never landed but he said he had the best seat in the house!

[Vic Skirmants]

Year's ago I interviewed Dr. David Helmick for a story and as an aside he told me he was the team Dr for the GT40 team. Ford was spending sooooo much money that he convinced them to rent a copter to have him in the air and shadowing the cars as they raced, that way if they wrecked he could land and be on site in seconds. Never landed but he said he had the best seat in the house!

WOW! I raced against Dave for years, and never knew that. Toward the end of his racing career, he was racing a Peugot(!) in Showroom Stock. During the run-offs at Road Atlanta one year, he was having a heart issue and would only show up for the qualifying sessions and the race.

[Richard Holler]

Probably not historically accurate, but there was a great opening scene with Carroll Shelby driving a 356 (replica?) Was a great movie, worth a watch.

[Wes Bender]

Already being discussed in the Open Forum. See it here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48396

[Chuck Allard]

As a teenager living in Paris from '61 to '66 I became very interested in racing. I have to admit that I was a Ferrari fan having visited the factory on a trip through Italy in '63. I started going to Le Mans and a track outside Paris (Montlhery) in '62 and cheered for the Ferraris but noticed the Porsches were winning something called the index of performance. In '64 Ford showed up at Le Mans with their GT-40s and Cobras. I managed to get a job with ABC as a translator/gofer in their attempt to film the race. Unfortunately, the GT-40s all suffered gearbox failures and didn't finish the race. I'm not sure if the ABC effort ever got broadcast. I did go back to Le Mans in '65 and '66 and was there for Ford's three car wide last lap. By that time my ardor for Ferrari was waning and I was rooting more for the Porsche racers. Several years later when I was in the service in Germany, 911s were becoming a thing on the Autobahns. Woo Hoo.
I'm looking forward to seeing the Ford/Ferrari movie soon.

[John Linden]

The Ford vs Ferrari movie screenplay is based on the book Go Like Hell written by A. J. Baime. The book came out in 2009. It is still available on eBay if you are looking for a copy. Since the book came out, there have been a number of screen plays written and finally one actually made it to the big screen. Mr. Baime writes the WSJ column "My Ride". He is considered an auto journalist but has also written books about Ford's B-24 production during WWII and Harry Truman. He has done a lot of studying of the Ford Motor Company and the Ford Family. Reading the book provides a lot of detail on both the Ford side and the Ferrari said of this battle. I especially enjoyed Bamies writing about John Surtees on the Ferrari side. I plan to see the movie on Friday.

Best to All!

John Linden
Alamo, CA
63 Cab