The 24 Hour War - a new film shows the rivals Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans like never before

TEXTNovember 8, 2016 · 3 min

Balz Schreier, automatically translated

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Bruno von Rotz1 PhotoChristoph Dubach1 Photo

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Poster for the movie "The 24 Hour War" (movie announcement)

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Director Nate Adams from the movie "The 24 Hour War" (movie announcement)

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Ford GT40 (1966) - Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1966

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Ford GT40 MkII (1966) on display at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2013 in honor of the 90th anniversary - The overall winner of Le Mans 1966 is only rarely shown to the public

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Ferrari 365 P2 (1966) - Ecurie Francorchamps car at Le Mans in 1966

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Ford GT 40 (1966) - Victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 - in the special Le Mans show at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show

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Regisseur Nate Adams vom Film «The 24 Hour War» (Film Ankündigung)

Ford GT40 (1966) - Sieger der 24 Stunden von Le Mans 1966

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Ford GT40 MkII (1966) ausgestellt beim 24 Stunden Rennen von Le Mans 2013 zu Ehren des 90. Jubiläums — Der Gesamtsieger von Le Mans 1966 wird nur äusserst selten der Öffentlichkeit gezeigt

Ferrari 365 P2 (1966) - Wagen der Ecurie Francorchamps in Le Mans im Jahr 1966

Ford GT 40 (1966) - Sieg bei den 24 Stunden von Le Mans im Jahr 1966 - in der Sonderschau Le Mans am Genfer Automobilsalon 2014

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Even today, many motorsport enthusiasts still associate "Le Mans" with "Ferrari versus Ford". The legendary rivalry between the then bosses Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari in the 1960s has already been described, photographed and documented on film many times. Nevertheless, new people are constantly venturing into this subject with new ideas and never-before-seen material, such as the directors Adam Carolla (his first car film was "The Racing Life Of Paul Newman") and Nate Adams with a film called "The 24 Hour War".

Subject of the movie: Ford versus Ferrari at Le Mans 1966

The rivalry between Ford and Ferrari shown in the movie is one of the most famous battles in racing history. It began in 1963 when Henry Ford II tried to buy Ferrari to save the ailing Ford Motor Company, which was being crushed by GM and the Corvette in motorsport. Ferrari was the most successful racing team in the world at the time. After months of intense negotiations, Enzo Ferrari still said "no". Henry Ford II was furious and hatched a plan that would hurt Ferrari the most. He vowed to build a race car that would dethrone Ferrari and developed a revolutionary race car called the GT40. The battle was to take place in the place where Ferrari had been nestled in a winning position for years and where any defeat would be most painful, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Director Nate Adams from the movie "The 24 Hour War" (movie announcement)

The documentary-style film is a play between interviews from the modern era and lots of historical footage that has probably never been seen on screen before. Accordingly, you can look forward to seeing many familiar faces: Carroll Shelby, Mario Andretti, Ralph Nader, David Hobbs, Dan Gurney, Peter Brock, Henry Ford , John Surtees, Jackie Oliver, Brian Redman and many more.