Earlier today we reported that Ford was returning to Le Mans in 2016 with their all-new Ford GT. The original Ford GT40 was one of the most iconic cars in American racing, because it proved that it could be competitive in an international setting. America has huge racing culture- everything from dirt ovals to rallycross, but fighting against teams from around the world is something that they rarely do.
In this short video, Ford talks about their history at Le Mans, blended with a little bit of CGI to show the transition between the old model and new. It’s an interesting announcement video- perhaps not as cool as Audi’s “Welcome Back” video for Porsche, but a cool video nonetheless.
From 1966 to 1969, the Ford GT40 took victory at Le Mans. There’s a bit of controversy as to how ‘American’ the car was, because the MkII and MkI Ford GT40s that took victory in 1966, 1968, and 1969 were all British-American joint ventures, though powered by American engines. At the very least, the 1967 Le Mans victory was taken by the MkIV Ford GT40- a full on American car.
In 1995, Ford eventually produced the Ford GT- which is a car that has seen competition around the world in various privateer teams over the last two decades or so. The introduction of the all-new Ford GT may mean a big revival of Ford’s racing image, especially under the Ford Performance umbrella.
