The Return

So, Edsel, where does this story begin?

That's the hardest question I've ever been asked.

I think this really starts on October 10th, 1901,

when Henry Ford won a car race

with a vehicle called "Sweepstakes."

It set the path

for Ford Motor Company.

Ford was born on a racetrack.

It really is how we began as a company

and with my great-grandfather,

and so, ever since then, we've raced.

The GT40 program was our first venture

into European-style road racing

against European cars.

We wanted to go racing in Europe to beat the Europeans.

Especially Ferrari.

In the early '60s,

Enzo Ferrari realized that he needed some corporate help

if he wanted his company to continue to grow

and if he wanted to compete at the uppermost levels of motorsport.

And at the same time, Ford Motor Company

realized they wanted to change their image.

They wanted to, sort of, appeal to the younger buyers

and they thought racing might be a good way to do that,

so emissaries from each company

sort of found the other and they started negotiating.

Ford sent Don Frey who was high up in the hierarchy,

to negotiate with Enzo Ferrari.

Things went well for a while, and then they didn't go so well,

and Ferrari left Ford at the altar.

Henry Ford II, who was then running the company,

he was really peeved

that he had essentially gotten the finger from Enzo Ferrari.

And that's when he told Don Frey,

"If we can't join him, we'll go beat him."

Back then, the pinnacle of road racing

around the world

was going to be Le Mans.

Le Mans is quiet little French community most of the year,

until the month of June,

when nearly half a million racing enthusiasts

transform it into the motor racing capital of the world.

That was about

as ambitious as you can get as an American company,

to go to Europe and race at Le Mans to beat Ferrari,

who was dominant at that time,

actually, had just won so many years in a row.

Ferrari of Italy

has won the race seven times out of the last eight.

No American car has ever won.

My father wanted to beat Ferrari

and it didn't make any difference what it cost.

He was really serious about winning the race.

We had all the budget, the facilities and materials that we needed.

Anything we thought that we needed was right there.

The first Ford GT was actually a modified Lola coupe

with a Ford racing body on it.

It was an elegant, beautiful car.

Problem is, at speed the air would lift the front wheels.

They got to Le Mans in '64.

Phil Hill set the fastest lap of the race,

but he said it's almost undriveable.

I think the first car caught fire in the third hour or something.

It was a huge bust.

We didn't win that first year, but we learned a lot.

They came back in '65. It was a little better.

They showed up at Daytona and had some success.

And then by '66, they were ready.

Ford challenged last year with the GT40 Mk. I.

Now they are here with the faster Mk. II.

Henry Ford, his wife, and young son, Edsel,

have arrived to see the investment pay off.

In the first lap, the track was wet from a light rain.

Still, the Americans' aggressive strategy is clear from the start.

Take the lead early, set a fast and punishing pace, and outlast the competition.

All afternoon, all night, all morning,

the Ford GTs were still in the lead.

And here they come for the finish.

First place, the number two Ford GT.

Second place, the number one Ford GT.

Third place, the number five Ford GT.

An authoritative win for the American challengers.

The iconic one-two-three finish at Le Mans was, you know,

perhaps, of all the great moments,

that was probably the defining moment in Ford's race history.

My history at Le Mans, as a kid, started

when I was four months old, the first time I went.

And then, pretty much uninterrupted till I was about 18.

I've had five top threes at Le Mans.

Um, I've raced there 11 times.

This is my 36th time to Le Mans.

Um, so a lot of my life has been spent there,

and a lot of exposure to big teams.

There's a genuine excitement that the Ford GT is in there.

There are fans there that will have remembered

the cars in 1966.

The sad part about modern sports car racing

is that no one really goes.

You feel that you're doing it for TV, not for the crowd.

Go to Le Mans, you feel like you're doing it for real people.

For drivers that have never been there before,

it must seem like a zoo.

I'm down here at the drivers' parade.

This is a tradition on the Friday of Le Mans.

And we are here to, uh,

go around the town.

The fans have come out in their droves.

It could be 100,000 people just over there

and we'll drive round for half an hour.

We've got 8,000 wristbands and flags to throw out to them.

It's a chance for them to see the drivers up close

before the big race tomorrow.

It's a unique experience.

You feel like a bit of rock star because thousands of fans

are screaming your name, everything like that.

It's an incredible experience.

This is where I studied driving

when I was 15 years old, and I know a lot of people around here.

They saw me grow from the new kid

in town trying to make it, you know, to, kind of,

an accomplished race car driver.

At least a professional who's making a living from his passion,

which was all I could really hope for in the beginning.

Le Mans is Le Mans.

It's the Super Bowl of sports car racing.

To come back on the 50th anniversary,

of course we would love to do it again.

I think there's more competition this year,

if I'm allowed to say that.

There's more manufacturers.

We have Aston, Ferrari, Porsche...

Corvette, us,

the three other Fords racing.

The competition has never ever been stronger,

particularly in this category.

Whoever wins this year is gonna really deserve it.

I am someone who love the history of this sport.

Ford won this race four times in a row between '66 and '69.

To be coming back with the new Ford GT

with four incredible cars is very exciting for everybody.

I'm very excited to get on with it and get racing on Saturday

'cause that's what really matters.

What I became a sports car driver for was to race here at Le Mans.

And I can't imagine what it would be like to win this thing.

So, you know what, I...

I'm not here really to give you a pep talk.

You guys are all professionals.

And you know why we're here. You know what we're here to do.

But I think there is one thing that I will remind you of, maybe.

All of you have probably raced in events

that were more important to you,

but there is one thing that I guarantee you.

You will never race again for as many people

as we're racing for this weekend.

Ford's raced a lot, you know that.

We've won at the Monaco Grand Prix.

We've won Formula One championships. We've won the Indy 500.

Fifty years ago, we raced here,

we swept the podium, and it meant a lot,

because it meant we took on the world and we won.

So, I'm gonna be totally unfair,

and remind you that unfortunately there's only one chance

to celebrate a 50th anniversary.

The only thing they're asking of us,

this weekend, is to go like hell.

So, let's do that.

I can't remember the time that I actually fell in love with motor racing.

It's strange because there's no one in my family that is into cars.

Like, you know, it wasn't something my dad introduced me into.

From as long as I can remember,

it's something I've been in love with.

This is really Raj's baby.

He absolutely has been the driving force behind this

and the one who had the vision for all of this to happen.

So, all we're doing is executing on his vision.

We've always been thinking about building another Ford GT.

The 50th anniversary of the win in '66 was coming up.

We felt we really have to do something to honor that win.

Raj and Mark came to me and said,

"We got something you're gonna like."

In the car business,

dates count and anniversaries count.

We have the 50th anniversary of Le Mans coming up.

Why don't we do another GT?

When you talk Ford GT, that's a higher calling within the company.

That's an icon that lives on.

Fifty years later, they're still talking about it.

They're still talking about it in France.

Well, I mean, one thing's for sure, when we decided to do the GT,

the birthday party was gonna happen,

the 50th anniversary, one way or another, and the time was ticking.

We've got a lot to prove to not only the world,

but even the people inside our company, and we intend to do that.

The rules in GT racing are these are production-based race cars,

and so, you have to have a production car that you're building from,

but we're still developing the production cars,

so, we got agreement from all the other manufacturers

to allow us to race,

as long as we delivered the production car in a customer's hands

by the end of the year.