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‘Ford v. Ferrari’ hype prompts Ford to open its Le Mans GT40 vault

“Ford v Ferrari,” the big-screen adaptation of a book about the famous rivalry over racing supremacy in the 1960s, opens next week, and the fevered anticipation has prompted Ford to revisit that period of its storied history by opening its GT40 Le Mans vault. Literally. The Detroit Free Press reports that a group of Ford executives and staffers gathered this week at the Ford Engineering Laboratory in Dearborn to view vintage artifacts from the years-long duel between the intercontinental automakers and reminisce. Those archives contain an incredible 3 miles of shelving, a video vault maintained at 41 degrees and an actual safe. The archives manager reportedly wore protective white gloves and removed the only known copy of the original plans for the GT project. Also shown was an exact replica of the GT40 driven by Bruce McLaren at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, the year Ford finally vanquished perennial winners Ferrari form the victory podium. It was created and used for the film, with more than 500 miles added to the odometer during filming. Directed by James Mangold (“Walk the Line,” “The Wolverine”) and produced by 20th Century Fox, the film hits theaters Thursday and opens wide Nov. 15. ItÂ’s based on A.J. BaimeÂ’s 2009 book “Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans.” The film predictably takes some liberties with the real-life story and characters. It focuses on the relationship between Carroll Shelby (played by Matt Damon), whom Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca charged with developing a Ferrari-beating GT, and maverick British driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale). The Blue Oval had no involvement in the making of the film, beyond offering up archival material for background research. “It was, wow, especially if you had to go out and service a car during a pit stop,” Mose Nowland, a retired mechanic and sports car engineer who worked on the GT40 Le Mans program and spent 57 years with Ford, told the Freep. “Your hip pockets are only several inches away from cars going by at 160 mph.” Read the full Freep story here.

Autocar pits Formula Ford against Germany's finest

Ford has quite the racing pedigree, but usually, its racers are relegated to the track. Not the new Formula Ford EcoBoost, though. It's a turbocharged, open-wheeled racer complete with a 200-horsepower, 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine... and it's legal on the roads of the UK.
That's stressed in this video from Autocar, with the mag going so far as to show the car's tax disc and license plates. Being a road-legal offering, it's tempting to see just how well an open-wheeler that delivers racecar-like performance while also netting over 100 miles per gallon (assume this is on the British cycle, for obvious reasons) stacks up against modern performance cars.
Autocar lined up the Formula Ford against an Audi R8 V10, a BMW M6 Gran Coupe and a Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG in a number of situations to see which would come out on top. Take a look below for the full video.

Ford Edge ST and Mercedes-AMG E 53 | Autoblog Podcast #557

On this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Reese Counts. They talk about driving the Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes-AMG E 53 Coupe and Ford Edge ST. Then they run down the news: Lexus LFA prototype spy shots and the Buick Cascada's death knell. Then Green Editor John Beltz Snyder crashes the studio to talk about reducing your carbon footprint. Finally, the fellas help spend a listener's hard-earned money on a new car.Autoblog Podcast #557 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: Cadillac Escalade and Mercedes-AMG E 53 Coupe First drive of the Ford Edge ST Lexus LFA prototype spied at the Nurburgring with new body work Buick Cascada at death's door? Climate change sucks, but it doesn't have to Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: Green Podcasts Buick Cadillac Ford Lexus Mercedes-Benz Car Buying Used Car Buying Convertible Coupe Crossover SUV Luxury Performance lexus lfa buick cascada