I'm always surprised that there are so few movies about some of the history of the car industry, and even fewer ones that are actually decent. If you take a look back over the lifetime of the car, there are huge family dynasties, self-made success stories, and dramatic you-couldn't-make-it-up characters (like DeLorean) all there for the taking. I'm thrilled then that Michael Mann, hardly a newcomer to quality drama, will be taking on a movie about Ford's entry into the legendary Le Mans 24hr race in the sixties.In the early sixties, Henry Ford II (grandson of Henry) heard that Enzo Ferrari was interested in selling his company, including the hugely valuable and prestigious motorsport division. A deal was pursued but after a protracted negotiation, Enzo decided he wanted control over the company that bore his name, and pulled out. Ford was absolutely furious at this and decided to take Ferrari on at their own game, and commissioned a race car that would compete with the Ferraris at Le Mans. The resulting car was the GT40, a beautiful and now-legendary car that went on to win Le Mans four times in a row, and was the only American car ever to do so. Even more impressive was that the first, second and third cars in 1966 were all GT40s. A few years ago, Ford even brought out a brand new model called the GT that looked almost identical to the GT40, so popular and revered it was in the sixties.
Of course, there's a wealth of potential material in this story, be it in the actual racing or the behind the scenes stuff, and Showblitz report that Brad Pitt is under consideration for the movie, which will be called Go Like Hell. Whilst Public Enemies was a bit of a snooze, I have no doubt that with this great story Mann will be able to create something fantastic.
Incidentally, it's not the only time that Enzo Ferrari seriously annoyed somebody in the car business. When the owner of a tractor factory complained about the build quality and sales service of his Ferrari to Enzo himself, Enzo dismissed the man and took no notice. As a result, the man was so angry he decided to start building cars to compete with Ferrari, and his name was Ferruccio Lamborghini.
