Ford went on to win Le Mans four consecutive times: 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969. Ford's 1967 win was especially sweet as it was an all-American affair. Where the 1966 winners drove a British-designed chassis and driven by Kiwis, the GT40 MkIV was designed by Ford and Americans Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt brought home the glory for Ford--and America. Ken Miles was crucial to Ford’s triumph at Le Mans in 1966, having developed and raced the Ford GT40, as depicted in the film Ford v Ferrari (Le Mans ’66 in Europe).). Miles famously missed out on winning at Le Mans when he gave up a dominant lead in an effort to ensure a tied finish with the second-placed GT40 — to underline their defeat of the previous victorious Ferrari t It was 1966 that Ford finished 1-2-3 at the historic French endurance race, and this year, they came close to a repeat with a 1-3-4 finish. Crossing the finish line of Circuit de Sarthe, the track On what would have been Carroll Shelby’s 96th birthday, watch him win the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours. Legendary constructor and racer Carroll Shelby took Le Mans victory with Aston Martin in 1959, and we’ve found some excellent newsreel footage of the race from British Pathé. Shelby helped David Brown realise his long-held dream of winning the 250,000 spectators showed up to watch the Ford and Ferrari showdown in 1966. The Le Mans course is 8.5 miles and whatever team does the most laps in a 24-hour time period wins. Writer David Phipps of Competition Press & Autoweek likened the Ford effort at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans to a “steamroller at work.” He also noted the “confusion at the finish when the Then came the sensational 1-2-3 win at Le Mans, for which Ford’s preparation included running a development engine on a dyno for 48 hours of simulated laps at La Sarthe, gearchanges and all Ford hired Shelby as their engineer and Ken Miles as their driver. Their effort paid off finally, and the GT40 was born. Ford humiliated the Italian stallions at the 1966 edition of Le Mans, scooping first, second and third places. Ford would then dominate Le Mans consecutively for the rest of the '60s. GT Holman Moody Car Honors Ford's '66 Le Mans Win Chassis P/1046’s glory was short-lived. Following stints as a test mule, it ran in the 1967 Daytona 24-hour race but dropped out, along with Now, in time for the 50 th anniversary of Ford's first win at the Circuit de la Sarthe, chassis P/1046 heads off for a 20-month restoration. A victory for Ford at Le Mans in 1966 was all but given. Though the racing program was shadowed by the tragic death of Walt Hansgen in April testing, the Ford GT40 Mk IIs had been developed to a point nAiP.