Loved Ford vs. Ferrari, but...

[Alphamacaroon]

... it would have been nice to see the original Ferrari killer as more than a backdrop prop.

Also, they made it seem like Ford picked Shelby simply because he was the only American to have won Le Mans to that point, but wouldn't it be more historically accurate to say that they picked him because of his success with the Coupe? Can any racing history buffs shed more light?

[Fixit]

Get a copy/watch the "24 Hour War" , then maybe make some distinctions between Hollywood artistic license, and what really went down.

I haven't seen "Ford vs. Ferrari yet, so I can't compare.

[Alphamacaroon]

Thanks, I will definitely watch it!

I've read a lot of the history of Shelby's Cobra->Daytona->GT-40 progression, so I had a bit of a historical background before going into the movie. On the whole I think they did a pretty good job of keeping it fairly historically accurate where it counts (certainly with some artistic license). They just left out a large part of the nuanced backstory which I think would have been interesting to see (and obviously I'm biased as a Coupe builder).

Still, I highly recommend a watch— Matt Damon did a pretty impeccable Carroll Shelby in my opinion.

[stevo7896]

They have 24 Hour War on Netflix.

[Swamplife2]

They have 24 Hour War on Netflix.

Many thanks would have missed it. Watching now.

[TNcoupe]

The Daytona Coupe in the movie had 17" wheels on it too.

[japollon]

Alpha, Like many here I am sort of a history buff and have read, listened to and studied much of the Shelby story. I have yet to see the movie. I will give my two cents regarding your original question.

Carroll Shelby had a very strong relationship with Lee Iacocca from the early days of the AC Bristol/Cobra development. Henry Ford II was very anxious to beat Ferrari and had already begun the GT 40 project prior to Shelby arriving. The GT40 was a Lola variant and Ford developed a relationship with Eric Broadley and a team of others to further develop the car. After some failed attempts at racing the car, Shelby entered the picture because of his success building and racing Cobras and his strong relationship with Iacocca. There is a fascinating interview with Shelby, "Carroll Shelby--The Lost Interview" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzq4DeTjZ1A) that details pretty specifically how he got involved in the GT40 program. It's long but worth the time if you are interested. Joel

[chmhasy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhBesrEN18w

[RAMRobAZ]

I didn’t think this was a documentary. Just a fun film for the masses.

[stevo7896]

I agree it was a fun film, with some added creative liberties. I took my wife and 19yo son. Loved it! The next day we were out shopping and my son ended up taking one of his sisters to see it again. She is 13 with no interest in cars and enjoyed the film. So it appears the movie will entertain many age groups. I was just thrilled to see a movie where cars react realistically. So tired of special effects and CGI. I did read somewhere that most of the crash scenes were real, and they had an air cannon to blast a shell of a Ferrari off the track. Nice attention to details. Just a refreshing movie.

[nleblanc79]

Netflix has 24 hour war and Shelby America. Although the movie was great the 2 documentaries on Netflix were better IMO.....

[flynntuna]

[QUOTE=Alphamacaroon;388790]... it would have been nice to see the original Ferrari killer as more than a backdrop prop

And did you notice it had roll up windows.

[ARGardner]

It was a great movie, I'm sure quite a lot of "artistic license" but a terrific piece of entertainment. My wife, myself and my son and his fiancee saw it together and all loved it.

[Alphamacaroon]

And did you notice it had roll up windows.

I can't believe an owner of one of the original 6 didn't offer one up, especially since it never moved in the movie.

[denn1s48]

Finally had a chance to see the movie today and really enjoyed it. I'm not very knowledgeable about the GT-40 but there was a point where it dawned on me that there are a lot of racing scenes where it looks to be a right hand drive, some from the front when on the track, the start at Le Mans when the door won't say shut, when Shelby took Henry Ford II for a ride and in the pits during driver changes. However, the scenes in the car during a race showed him shifting with his right hand. I have never seen a right hand drive car with the shifter on the right.
Maybe I'm nit picking but it's just something that I noticed and really wished I hadn't so I wasn't looking for it the rest of the movie.

[Garage Guy]

Finally had a chance to see the movie today and really enjoyed it. I'm not very knowledgeable about the GT-40 but there was a point where it dawned on me that there are a lot of racing scenes where it looks to be a right hand drive, some from the front when on the track, the start at Le Mans when the door won't say shut, when Shelby took Henry Ford II for a ride and in the pits during driver changes. However, the scenes in the car during a race showed him shifting with his right hand. I have never seen a right hand drive car with the shifter on the right.
Maybe I'm nit picking but it's just something that I noticed and really wished I hadn't so I wasn't looking for it the rest of the movie.

I think The shifter was on the right side of the driver in the real car.

[denn1s48]

Well this shows my ignorance, after I posted the last msg I found a photo of the original and the shifter is on the right.

[KTMMike]

Well this shows my ignorance, after I posted the last msg I found a photo of the original and the shifter is on the right.

From the info I’ve seen they put the shifter on the right because there were a lot of American drivers who weren’t used to the shifter being on the left. There’s pictures of the shift linkage on the web. It was an intricate setup with several joints.

Also with regard to the coupe with the roll up windows, a lot of the cars were supplied by Superformance.