They said it could not be done.
Enzo Ferrari walked out of Henry Ford’s office rejecting Henry’s demands of buying Ferrari, saying that a truck maker would never be able to build a race car.
Le Man’s laurels looked a long way off but with sheer determination, Henry Ford II created a legacy that would live for ever. The Ford GT was built with inputs from British, German and Italian motoring experts. In fact the earliest prototypes, involved the mating of the lotus chassis and the truck engine, happened in my very own University of Michigan. The only thing that Ford could offer from its side was the unmistakable powerful V8 engine, a distinctive design, plenty of bucks and let me stress this again… an unwavering ambition to be the best.
Ford’s single-minded doggedly pursuit of his ambition led to a 1-2 finish for the Gt40 in the Le Man’s 24 hr endurance race in 1966. And then it could not be beaten, in 1967,68 and 69 as well…
