FORD VERSUS FERRARI

FORD VERSUS FERRARI

THE BATTLE FOR LE MANS AND SPORTS CAR SUPREMACY by Anthony Pritchard

As the author explains, the original version of this book was published in 1968 before the full story of Ford versus Ferrari had played out to its conclusion. Now, all these years later, so much more detail can be told of this wonderful decade of sports car racing and the result is a sumptuous work that offers enthusiasts a tantalising feast.

The intense and bitter rivalry between these two giants, stoked by Enzo’s rejection of Ford’s attempted takeover, centred around Le Mans of course. But it was far from confined to one race a year. Pritchard offers the widest context, including details of Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall’s essential roles in the period and picking his way through the other big races of the era. Even so, winning seasonlong titles mattered to the big makes but not as much as winning Le Mans. Just like today, in fact.

Ford vs Ferrari is hardly unfamiliar ground, of course. But delving into this book will delight any enthusiast, no matter how knowledgeable. The collection of over 600 photographs are stunning: a full-page colour shot of Graham Hill at Reims in 250LM; the original ‘clean’ GT40 passing under the Dunlop bridge in ’64; Gulf GT4O5 lapping a Porsche 356 on the Daytona infield… They’re just personal highlights. Take your pick as you flick through the super-glossy pages. Colour-coded results of all the major races and tech specs of the key cars complete an authoritative and engaging work. DS Published by Haynes, ISBN 978 1 84425 930 4, £50