Ford GT - Everything You Need to Know | Up to Speed

(car engine revving) - Cats vs Dogs. Good against evil. Me against Bart. These are some of the greatest rivalries of all time, but none of them compare to the clash of titans that occurred at Le Mans in the 1960s. From this meeting of giants came the greatest sports car the company has ever produced! Ford company! He is a motorsports legend who changed the way people perceived American cars around the world. And put Ford at the top of the food chain. This is

everything

you

need

to

know

to get up to

speed

with the Ford GT. (electronic music) Our story begins in 1963.

Italy. Henry Ford II was in talks with Enzo Ferrari to buy the Ferrari brand and the deal was close to being finalized. Ford wanted to improve their performance image because they didn't really have one. So instead of building an entirely new car, Henry decided it would be easier to buy a struggling European sports car brand. Fortunately, at the time, Ferrari was a struggling European car brand. But when Enzo was about to sign the contract selling his namesake to the Americans, he noticed a clause he hadn't seen before. With the deal, Ford would own the Ferrar... (laughs) I was choking on saliva.

With the deal, Ford would own both the Ferrari road car division and the racing team. Enzo didn't like that. Ferrari stormed out of the room with his lawyer in tow, leaving the Ford guys scratching their heads. Returning to his home in Dearborn, Henry Ford II gathered his most trusted associates and gave them an order. "Build a car that will crush Ferrari." To do that, the Ford motor company turned to British Racing Boutique ♪ L-O-L-A Lola ♪ The Lola company had competed in Le Mans before and used small-block Ford V8s to do it. Knowing this, Ford offered to collaborate on his new race car.

Kind of like Nelly and Tim McGraw. Ford's first car based on the Lola, the GT40 MK1, didn't fare so well when it was first taken to France in 1964. All three cars they took broke down. Clearly, Ford had work to do. The man Ford hired to right the sinking ship was none other than Texas chicken farmer and American hero, Carroll (bleep) Shelby. - My name is Carroll Shelby and performance is my business. -His Daytona Coupe had won its class the same year that all the Fords broke down, so Henry thought that if there was anyone who could help beat Ferrari, it was him.

Shelby and his team began experimenting with the GT40. They took the MK1 to Willow Springs and measured air movement around the car. Shelby estimated that the GT was losing 75 horsepower due to airflow alone. So they went back to the shop and redesigned the entrances and exits. They put some big old brakes on it so the car would stop faster and longer. So, Shelby did what he did best. He cranked the engine to generate more than 450 horsepower. (car engine revving) They took the GT to one of America's most sacred endurance races: drag racing. The 2000 kilometers of Daytona.

That's 1242.74 miles for you damn Yankees. No one knew how the Ford would fare. Ferrari had won the previous year and their car for the 1965 season was new. Beating Ferrari at Daytona would be a huge morale booster. Kind of like pizza day here at Donut. - There is pizza? - No. - Oh. Curse. - Luckily for the Shelby team, the Ferrari punctured a tire allowing the GT to gain a big advantage and take the victory. Not so fortunately, the victory at Daytona would be the only victory of the entire season. Worse yet, Ferrari won at Le Mans that year.

Again. (rumbling thunder) Ferrari! In 1966, Henry Ford II is getting a little restless in his pants. They invest a lot of time and money into these cars but have nothing to show for it. Enzo Ferrari relaxes in Maranello and laughs to himself every night before going to sleep. (husky laughter) "Not this year," Henry thought to himself. They had to win. Shelby redesigned the GT again, this time with a seven-liter Goliath V8. The 427 had 485 horsepower. It was the same engine that Ford used in NASCAR. He was American like... (bleep) But Shelby wouldn't be the only one racing for Ford.

Since Henry was getting a little impatient, he brought in Holman Moody, the guys in charge of Ford's NASCAR program. Henry thought that having two teams would create some competition and improve his chances of beating Ferrari. And guess what, he was right. The two Ford teams fought hard all season, and by the time they got to Le Mans,

everything

was screwed. Ford had to remind them: "Hey, you gotta beat Ferrari. Work out your differences in your own time." When the green flag fell on race day, the GTs were off to a great start. And at 3 a.m. that morning, three of Shelby's cars were in the lead.

And the Ferrari team had suffered serious damage to its most dominant cars. The hours and turns passed and each one became more tense than the last. Could Ford finally win? At four in the afternoon, two Shelby's and a Holman Moody crossed the finish line at Le Mans in a triangle formation. Ford had beaten Ferrari. (beep) I almost started crying. (laughs) The GT would go on to win three more races at Le Mans, cementing it as one of the greatest sports cars of all time. He proved that Americans could win on the race track, not just on ovals, but on the most hallowed ground in all of European motorsports.

It was something very important. Ford continued the GT program with the GT70, except this GT was not intended for Le Mans. It was designed for the dusty back roads of the World Rally Circuit. Ford UK wanted to beat Lancia and Portia in the rally as they had done in NASCAR and Le Mans. But unlike those efforts, the GT70 didn't really work out and the project was scrapped in 1973. After that, Ford didn't really make any more sports cars. They made sports cars, like the Mustang and the Escort, but nothing that captured that classic Le Mans world-fighting flavor of the GT40.

But in 1995 Ford introduced a new concept called GT90. Ford took the chassis of the Jaguar XJ220 supercar and put a quad-turbo V12 behind the driver. This crazy power plant made the GT90 concept the fastest car in the world with a top

speed

of 410 kilometers per hour. In 1995, Coolio was still on the Billboard Hot 100 and this thing was putting up Bugatti Veyron numbers. But sadly, the GT90 was just a one-off prototype and never went into production. Ford fans would never see the GT name again. (sad music) Until 2002. Almost 60 years had passed since Henry Ford II's deal with Ferrari fell through.

And to commemorate Ford's greatest achievement, they presented their GT40 concept car to the world at the Detroit Auto Show. And unlike the previous GT90, this GT reached production in 2004. The GT made 550 horsepower from a 5.4-liter supercharged V8. (car engine revving) Some people think the engine is the same as the Ford Lightning, but the GT was all aluminum, had more valves, dual fuel injectors, a dry sump system, and oil sprayers in the apron. piston. The GT40 was in production between 2004 and 2006, and in that short time, it reminded the world that Ford could make a stellar supercar. But it would be 10 more years until the GT returned to Le Mans.

In January 2015, Mariah Carey was single again. Shia Labeouf was in that Sia video and most importantly, Ford shocked the world once again! (thunder) With the reveal of the 2016 Ford GT at the Detroit Auto Show. People lost their minds. It's the coolest car I've ever seen. And I saw the Weinermobile twice. This time, the new GT is powered by a twin-turbo ecoboost V6, producing 647 horsepower. The car is almost entirely carbon fiber and weighs just over 3,000 pounds. Only twice as much as my dad. The buttresses are sculpted into the sides of the body, reducing drag and guiding air towards the rear wing.

That wing deploys at high speeds to keep the tail under control and flattens out when you hit the brakes to slow the car. If you want to take your GT to the track, you don't have to worry about installing a cage, because it already has one. This is a real race car for the road. I have driven one. I drove it before the Stig. You

know

, we have a lot in common because we are both professional drivers. The racing version of the GT differed from the street version in some key ways. Front splitter, rear diffuser, fixed wing and exhaust outlets inside the rear lights.

Sick. It was no coincidence that Ford chose 2016 as the launch year for the GT. It would be the 50th anniversary of his victory over Ferrari at Le Mans. And Ford wanted to come back and win again. It would be very nice, but other people like to win too. Ford's rivals, Chevy and Ferrari, weren't going to let the old blue go with the wind just because it was his birthday. If Ford wanted the checkered flag, they would have to work for it. The path to the Ford name fell on the shoulders of this team. Miraculously, two American GTs took the front row in the standings, followed closely by Ferrari in third place.

The stage was set for war! With heavy rain on the track, the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans began behind the safety car. After the start, Ford traded the lead with Ferrari throughout the day, battling mechanical issues and other cars on the road. At times, it looked like Ford would not be victorious that day. But then, with four and a half hours to go, the number 68 GT managed to overtake the leading Ferrari on the Mulsanne straight. A few laps later, the Ferrari spun, giving the Ford plenty of room to breathe. All they had to do was hold on until the end.

Then, as the checkered flag waved, the number 68 crossed the finish line, securing the LMGT pro class victory. Ford had won Le Mans. (laughs) (bleeps) Holy shit. I started to cry, it's a good story. Subscribe to Donut Media so you never miss an episode of Up to Speed. This car has two turbos, do you want to know how they work? Check out this episode of Science Garage. Oh, do you want to see a better video than that? Check out this Up to Speed ​​​​about the eclipse. If you want a t-shirt, go to shop.donut.media. Follow me on Instagram @jamespumphrey.

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