(car engine revving) - Cats vs Dogs. Good vs evil. Me vs Bart. These are some of the greatest
rivalries of all time, but none of them hold a
candle to the clash of titans that went down at Le Mans in the 1960's. From this meeting of giants
came the greatest sports car the Ford motor company has ever produced! It's a motor sport legend
that changed the way people perceived American cars around the world. And put Ford at the top of the food chain. This is everything you need
to know to get up to speed on the Ford GT. (electronic music) Our story begins in 1963. Italy. Henry Ford II was in
talks with Enzo Ferrari to buy the Ferrari brand and the deal was at the cusp of completion. Ford wanted to improve
their image for performance because they didn't really have one. So instead of building a whole new car, Henry decided it would
just be easier to buy up a struggling sports car brand from Europe. Luckily, at the time, Ferrari
was a struggling car brand from Europe. But as Enzo was about to sign the contract selling his namesake to
the Americans, he noticed a clause that he hadn't seen earlier. With the agreement Ford
would own the Ferrar-- (laughs) I was choking on my spit. With the agreement Ford
would own both the Ferrari road car division, and the race team. Enzo did not like that. Ferrari stormed out of the
room with his lawyer in tow, leaving the Ford guys
scratching their little noggins. Back home in Dearborn,
Henry Ford II gathered his most trusted associates
and gave them an order. "Build a car that'll crush Ferrari." To do that, the Ford motor company turned to British Racing Boutique ♪ L-O-L-A Lola ♪ The Lola company had
competed in Le Mans before, and used Ford small block V8's to do it. Knowing this, Ford offered to do a collab on their new race car. Kind of like Nelly and Tim Mcgraw. Ford's first car based on
the Lola, the GT40 MK1, didn't do so hot when they
first took it to France in 1964. All three cars they took broke down. Clearly, Ford had some work to do. The man Ford hired to right
the sinking ship was none other than Texan Chicken Farmer
and American hero, Carroll (beep) Shelby. - My name's Carroll Shelby and
performance is my business. - His Daytona Coupe had won
it's class the same year all the Fords broke, so
Henry figured that if there was anyone who could help
beat Ferrari, it was him. Shelby and his team started
tinkering with the GT40. They took the MK1 out to
Willow Springs and measured air movement around the car. Shelby estimated the GT
was losing 75 horsepower on airflow alone. So they went back to
the shop and redesigned the inlets and outlets. They put some big old
brakes on it so the car would stop faster for longer. Then, Shelby did what Shelby did best. He turned the motor to
make over 450 horsepowers. (car engine revving) They took the GT to one
of America's most hallowed endurance races--raceses. The 2000 kilometers of Daytona. That's 1242.74 miles
for you frickin' yanks. No one knew how the Ford would do. Ferrari had won the
previous year, and their car for the 1965 season was brand new. To beat Ferrari in Daytona
would be a huge boost to morale. Kind of like pizza day here at Donut. - There's pizza? - [Man] No. - Oh. Damn. - Luckily for Shelby's team,
the Ferrari blew a tire letting the GT gain a huge
lead and take the win. Not so luckily, the victory
at Daytona would be the only win for the entire season. Even worse, Ferrari won
at Le Mans that year. Again. (thunder booming) Ferrari! In 1966 Henry Ford II is
getting a little antsy in his little pantsies. They put so much time
and money into these cars but have nothing to show for it. Enzo Ferrari is chilling back at Maranello laughing to himself every
night before he goes to sleep. (throaty laugh) "Not this year," Henry thought to himself. They had to win. Shelby redesigned the GT
again, this time with a Goliath seven-liter V8. The 427 was good for 485 horsepower. It was the same engine
Ford was using in NASCAR. It was American as-- (beep) But Shelby wouldn't be the
only guys racing for Ford. Since Henry was getting
a little impatient, he brought in Holman
Moody, the guys in charge of Ford's NASCAR program. Henry figured having two teams
would create some competition and better his chances of beating Ferrari. And, guess what, he was right. The two Ford teams fought hard all season, and when they arrived at Le
Mans, it was frickin' on. Ford had to remind them, "Hey,
you're hear to beat Ferrari. Settle your differences on your own time." As the green flag dropped on
race day, the GTs were off to a great start. And by 3AM that morning,
three of Shelby's cars were in the lead. And the Ferrari team had
suffered serious damage on their most dominant cars. The hours and laps went
by with each becoming more tense than the last. Could Ford finally win? At 4PM, two Shelby's and
one Holman Moody crossed the finish line in Le Mans
in a triangle formation. Ford had beat Ferrari. (beep) I just almost started crying. (laughs) The GT would win three
more races at Le Mans, cementing it as one of the
greatest sports cars of all time. It proved that Americans
could win at the race track, not just at the ovals, but
at the most hallowed ground in all of European motor sports. It was kind of a big deal. Ford continued the GT
program with the GT70, except this GT wasn't meant for Le Mans. It was deigned for the
dusty back roads of the World Rally Circuit. Ford UK wanted to beat Lancia
and Portia in the rally game like they had done in
NASCAR and at Le Mans. But unlike those efforts, the
GT70 didn't really work out, and the project was scrapped in 1973. After that, Ford didn't really
make any more sports cars. They made sporty cars, like
the Mustang and Escort, but nothing that captured
that classic world-beating Le Mans fight flavor of the GT40. But, in 1995 Ford unveiled a
new concept called the GT90. Ford took the Chassis from
the Jaguar XJ220 Supercar and put a quad turbo
V12 behind the driver. This insane power plant made
the GT90 concept the fastest car in the world with a top
speed of 253 miles an hour. In 1995. Coolio was still on the Billboard Hot 100 and this thing was putting
up Bugatti Veyron numbers. But sadly the GT90 was
just a one-off concept car and never went into production. Ford fans would never
see the GT name again. (sad music) Until 2002. It had been nearly 60 years
since Henry Ford II's deal with Ferrari fell through. And to commemorate Ford's
crowning achievement, they introduced their GT40
concept car to the world at the Detroit Auto Show. And unlike the GT90 before
it, this GT actually made it to production in 2004. The GT made 550 horsepower from
a 5.4-liter supercharged V8. (car engine revving) Some people think the engine is the same as the Ford Lightnings, but
the GT's was all aluminum, had more valves, duel fuel
injectors, a dry sump system, and piston skirt oil squirters. The GT40 was in projection from 2004-2006, and in that short time, it
reminded the world that Ford could make a stellar supercar. But it would be 10 more
years until the GT returned to Le Mans. In January 2015, Mariah
Carey was single again. Shia Labeouf was in that Sia
video, and most importantly, Ford shocked the world yet another time! (thunder crashing) With the reveal of the 2016 Ford GT at the Detroit Auto Show. People lost their frickin' minds. It's the coolest car I have ever seen. And I saw the Weinermobile twice. The new GT is powered by
a twin-turbo ecoboost V6 this time around, making 647 horsepower. The car is almost entirely carbon-fiber, weighing in at just over 3000 pounds. Only twice as much as my dad. Buttresses are sculpted
into the sides of the body, reducing drag and guiding
air to the rear wing. That wing deploys at high speeds
to keep the tail in check, and flattens when you step on the brakes to slow the car down. If you want to take your GT to the track, you don't have to worry
about installing a cage, because it already has a cage. This thing is a real
race car for the road. I've driven one. I drove it before the Stig did. You know, we have a lot in
common because we're both professional drivers. The race version of the GT
differed from the street one in a few key ways. Front splitter, rear
diffuser, a fixed wing, and exhaust outlets inside the taillights. Sick. It was no coincidence that Ford chose 2016 as the launch year of the GT. It would be the 50th
anniversary since their victory over Ferrari at Le Mans. And Ford wanted to go back and win again. That would be pretty
sweet, but other people like winning too. Ford rivals Chevy and Ferrari
weren't going to let old blue take the wind just because
it was his anniversary If Ford wanted the checkered
flag, they were gonna have to work for it. The way to the Ford's name
was on this team's shoulders. Miraculously, two American
GT's locked out the front row in qualifying with Ferrari
close behind in third. The stage was set for war! With heavy rain pouring on
the track, the 2016 24-hours of Le Mans started behind the safety car. After the start, Ford traded
the lead with Ferrari all day, battling mechanical issues
and other cars along the way. At certain points, it looked
like Ford wouldn't be grasping at victory that day. But then, with four and a half hours left, the number 68 GT pulled off
a pass on the leading Ferrari down the Mulsanne Straight. A few laps later, the
Ferrari spun, giving the Ford plenty of breathing room. All they had to do was
hold on until the end. Then, as the checkered flag
waved, the number 68 crossed the finish line, securing
the LMGT pro-class victory. Ford had won Le Mans. (laughs) (beeps) Holy sh**. I started crying, it's such a good story. Subscribe to Donut Media
so you never have to miss an episode of Up to Speed. This car has got two turbos,
want to know how they work? Check out this episode of Science Garage. Oh, you want to see a
better video than that? Check out this Up to Speed on the eclipse. If you want a shirt,
go to shop.donut.media. Follow me on Instagram @jamespumphrey. Follow Donut on Instagram @donutmedia. I love you. (burps)
donutmedia is quickly becoming one of my favorite youtube channels
he did forget that Lotus did a ton of suspension tuning on the GT
I'm pretty sure that in every video there is at least one dad joke and one about "Jessica."
Is anyone else really turned off my all the random screaming? It’s kinda hard to listen to and pretty annoying imo...