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Ford v. Ferrari


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On 11/1/2019 at 1:12 AM, RPM said:

Corvette only had a 305, too. Criminal. That Shelby Charger was a zippy little SOB (until I wrapped it around a tree).

Sure about that?  I don't think the Vette had anything smaller than a 350 until recently (post-327).  The 84 Corvettes definitely had a 350.  Only 205hp.  Emission controls really fucked up cars for a long time.

Apparently used in the 1980 Corvette in California.  Sumbitch.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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On 10/14/2019 at 7:51 PM, RPM said:

csb, I had an 84 Dodge Shelby Charger 2.2 and there were very few cars that could beat me in a street quarter. When they did it wasn't by much. It only had 110 hp but didn't weigh much. Front wheel drive helped tremendously on takeoff. 

And yes, I'm definitely watching this.

Those little Dodge Omni's were interesting after Shelby got a hand on them as well.  But the 80's Turbo Buicks is what I preferred.    Dodges always smelled like old battleships to me.  

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18 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Sure about that?  I don't think the Vette had anything smaller than a 350 until recently (post-327).  The 84 Corvettes definitely had a 350.  Only 205hp.  Emission controls really fucked up cars for a long time.

Apparently used in the 1980 Corvette in California.  Sumbitch.

I believe only the Monte Carlo SS and the Camaro IROC's were equipped with the 305 as well as a few other models.  I believe the Corvette's had 350's as well.  Even if they were under 1 hp/ci.   

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6 minutes ago, Nivek said:

Those little Dodge Omni's were interesting after Shelby got a hand on them as well.  But the 80's Turbo Buicks is what I preferred.    Dodges always smelled like old battleships to me.  

My first car was a 1981 Dodge Omni.  It was not a Shelby version.  It would rank pretty highly on the list of shittiest American cars ever.

However my next car was a 1986 Chrysler Laser XT Turbo, which was actually pretty quick by the standards of the day.  

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11 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Super stoked about this movie as well.  My 10yo son really wants to see it too.  I think it's rated PG-13, but I'm guessing there won't be anything he hasn't already seen and heard at this point.

 

 

My kid is the same age and that's my feeling as well. There's not going to be anything worse in this movie than comes out of my mouth while watching the Longhorns.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got home from watching. Absolutely no reason not to take kids. As a matter of fact, Ken Miles son is a significant role. Your 10 yo will eat this film up if he's any kind of a gearhead.

I loved it. The soundtrack alone is reason enough to see this. I'm talking about the engine noise, not the music. Damon and Bale were great. About the only thing I didn't like was a couple shots in the racing scenes where they are obviously going 50-60 but pretend they're going flat out. If you can watch it in IMAX, do it.

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Saw the noon showing today, my last day of vacation. i am almost 49 and was easily the youngest in the theater with obvious lifetime gearheads.  Was concerned about the pacing of the movie as some had mentioned on here that it was slow at times; and I fell asleep in recent aladdin and way back in one of the Pirates of Caribbean sequels...  I never remotely got drowsy.  

I thought the animosity between Ford exec and Shelby was a bit contrived/ forced as the obvious shot caller Ford II himself said he was Shelby’s only boss.  Maybe it wasn’t Shelby’s nature or simply the choice of the screenplay’s writers; but if I was as talented as Shelby/ Miles with the sweat equity in the project and everything, I would have told them to straight up go fuck themselves and enjoy the win.  

It also seemed like they wanted to portray Iococca as a good guy too, as he is a car making legend in his own right; but I thought his character came off very soft.

I give it a 3.25 out of 5.   Very good, but not great.  Thought the back and forth between Shelby and Miles was great.  Didn’t really like Damon’s depiction of a Texan.  Oh and it’s ‘Finer than frog hair,’ you fucking yankees.

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On 11/5/2019 at 10:18 AM, utee94 said:

Super stoked about this movie as well.  My 10yo son really wants to see it too.  I think it's rated PG-13, but I'm guessing there won't be anything he hasn't already seen and heard at this point.

 

 

Mild profanity and some of the business dealings/ influences might need to be explained to him later.  It's a very clean movie, IMHO.  No worries taking a 10 year old to it.

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It is a poor movie that fails to tell the story. From my point of view the writers wrote the script as if they were checking off boxes. The movie has all of the time honored tradition in cars, speed, etc. But it totally missed telling the story of how exactly they pulled it off. 

Is it a fun movie? Sure, I think so. But, if you are familiar with Carroll’s career (as well that of Hill, Brabham, Holman-Moody). As well that of Scuderia you will find it leaves you wanting something else. 

 

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As @Iceman link points out, it's not historically accurate. Ask me how many fucks I give? I welcome a Ken Burns series on Shelby. The film is based on the Shelby/Miles/Ford story. It's a fun, family friendly movie that non-racing fans will enjoy. Parts of the script are stilted (Bebe), but they work to move the story. Reviews are loving it. Projected $30m US opening.

Edited by RPM
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Great flick and story. My dad and I are mustangs owners and car enthusiasts. But we had never heard the actual story of Miles until now. Just knew of the name and about Ford’s LeMans history.

 

From what I read after most of it was pretty accurate, although they shortened some parts and minor changes in the involvement of some some character’s. Apparently Iacocca never went to Italy to barter the deal. Even though born of Italian descent.

 

Very well done and the nostalgia was awesome. Go see it in theater to get that race car feel.

 

Gear head in me would love to have seen the details behind the builds, but that’s not this movie’s goal nor was there time. It ran long, but worth it.

 

 

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I have been researching Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles, et al and LeMans like a madman since seeing the movie.

Carroll Shelby

AJ Foyt

Bill Whittington

Don Whittington

Price Cobb are all winners of Lemans who were born in Texas.  That's 5/13 of the winning  American drivers listed for Lemans.

Edited by Iceman
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Solid movie that wife and I both enjoyed. It could have used a few less scenes and more focus on the cars, but all in all it covered quite a bit. It did make me miss the days of racing where it was a lot rougher around the edges and more about the driver than it is now.

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Great movie.  Bale was awesome.  They did a great job shooting the race scenes, swooping in and out.   Really felt as if you were right there in the thick of things.

csb1  I tracked my old M4 at Willow Springs.  It's a fun/fast track, lots of opportunity to pass (and be passed) /csb

csb2  Just before the events here Shelby broke off a partnership with DeTomaso to build a race car.  DeTomaso went on to build it on his own and called it Mangusta, or Mongoose, as in the animal that can kill a Cobra.  /csb

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Thought this movie would be pretty good. It greatly exceeded my expectations. Like a lot of past and current Mustang owners I’m pretty aware of Shelby’s history in general, but didn’t really know much about Ken Miles. Still don’t, but his character in the film was fascinating.

A few years ago I watched a ‘65 Cobra that Shelby personally used go for something like 10+ million at some ritzy auction. Insane...

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On 11/15/2019 at 3:31 PM, Iceman said:

Saw the noon showing today, my last day of vacation. i am almost 49 and was easily the youngest in the theater with obvious lifetime gearheads.  Was concerned about the pacing of the movie as some had mentioned on here that it was slow at times; and I fell asleep in recent aladdin and way back in one of the Pirates of Caribbean sequels...  I never remotely got drowsy.  

I thought the animosity between Ford exec and Shelby was a bit contrived/ forced as the obvious shot caller Ford II himself said he was Shelby’s only boss.  Maybe it wasn’t Shelby’s nature or simply the choice of the screenplay’s writers; but if I was as talented as Shelby/ Miles with the sweat equity in the project and everything, I would have told them to straight up go fuck themselves and enjoy the win.  

It also seemed like they wanted to portray Iococca as a good guy too, as he is a car making legend in his own right; but I thought his character came off very soft.

I give it a 3.25 out of 5.   Very good, but not great.  Thought the back and forth between Shelby and Miles was great.  Didn’t really like Damon’s depiction of a Texan.  Oh and it’s ‘Finer than frog hair,’ you fucking yankees.

I liked the show overall, but yeah Damon came off more like a Missouri guy or something & that frog's fur line just came off forced and stupid. I really like Miles & I loved the way Bale portrayed him. He obviously put a lot into the role imho, like he always does. He may be an asshole in real life by some accounts, but the guy takes his work seriously & I respect that. I also thought the guy who played Phil Remington was outstanding. I read that the scene where they ripped out Ford's computer from the GT40 didn't happen. Seems they left the computer there and added the string to the outside for visual aero observation, like a rolling wind tunnel.

Re: the tension with the Ford execs, it was real, but a bit exaggerated for the movie, from what I've read ... 'cuz Hollywood. Apparently Beebe was a bit of a prick and didn't like the way they pushed the car at Daytona, but Shelby never locked him in the office. Iacocca wasn't the guy doing all the legwork in Italy, taking tours at Maranello, etc. It was an engineer who worked for him. Enzo loved the guy for his awesome engineering knowledge, and called him Dr. Engineer. I've read that Enzo really did say all that shit in the Ford buyout meeting though, but that Ford II didn't react by calling him a fucking wop & actually just something like "Well then, we'll just go beat his ass at Le Mans".

At Le Mans, though Beebe did order the slowdown, there was apparently no big confrontation with Shelby over Miles slowing down to finish 'in formation'. Shelby & Miles went right along with it, but Shelby said later that he regretted doing it because it ended up taking Miles's win away and he took it very hard, & then a few months later he was dead after being ejected in the crash in the J Car.

I still don't understand the reasoning behind awarding the win to Amon & McLaren because they started a little bit farther back. Your race distance doesn't start til you reach the start line. It would be kinda like giving last Sunday's Brazilian GP win to Carlos Sainz because he came from 20th to 3rd. I doubt that rule is the same any longer in Le Mans. If that was how they were going to apply it, then it made qualifying pretty much irrelevant. Also, I thought Miles was like 1.5 laps ahead. If that were true, all they had to do to get their photo op was let the 2nd and 3rd place Fords catch up half a lap on the track but not in terms of distance. Then he'd still be a lap ahead at the finish line and would have won.

Edited by wood
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On 11/16/2019 at 12:40 PM, Iceman said:

I have been researching Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles, et al and LeMans like a madman since seeing the movie.

Carroll Shelby

AJ Foyt

Bill Whittington

Don Whittington

Price Cobb are all winners of Lemans who were born in Texas.  That's 5/13 of the winning  American drivers listed for Lemans.

You should add Texan Jim Hall to that list. He was a partner of Shelby's at his car dealership, and went on to build a series of amazing Chaparrals. His innovations in aerodynamics, ground effects, materials, data acquisition, gearboxes, and more, dramatically changed the way people go racing, right to this day. My son and I got to meet him with his Chaparral 2C at COTA during an WEC race once. Nicest guy, and clearly a genius, but played it all down as a bunch of dumb country boys just playing with cars.

Edited by wood
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OBTW, Ken Miles/Bale's scene where he talks about the 'perfect lap' made the theater a little dusty for me. And Ford II's reaction to the GT40 after Shelby took him for a ride in it -- all that shit was probably fabricated, but got damn if it doesn't hit home with me in terms of how cars can make a person feel. Fewer and fewer people get that these days ... feeling the sound of the car push through you as you drive it, and feeling the way it moves ... and can move you. Some cars seem more animal than machine. 

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Also, I thought Miles was like 1.5 laps ahead. If that were true, all they had to do to get their photo op was let the 2nd and 3rd place Fords catch up half a lap on the track but not in terms of distance. Then he'd still be a lap ahead at the finish line and would have won.


They probably wanted this guy in the shot too.
cc2d39a30d948e821020d6093971fb94.jpg
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On 11/15/2019 at 3:42 AM, RPM said:

Just got home from watching. Absolutely no reason not to take kids. As a matter of fact, Ken Miles son is a significant role. Your 10 yo will eat this film up if he's any kind of a gearhead.

I loved it. The soundtrack alone is reason enough to see this. I'm talking about the engine noise, not the music. Damon and Bale were great. About the only thing I didn't like was a couple shots in the racing scenes where they are obviously going 50-60 but pretend they're going flat out. If you can watch it in IMAX, do it.

Saw it last Friday in mid-town. Was trying to decide on a movie and at the last minute chose this. It was such a good movie. Highly recommend. The racing scenes are very well done. 

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You should add Texan Jim Hall to that list. He was a partner of Shelby's at his car dealership, and went on to build a series of amazing Chaparrals. His innovations in aerodynamics, ground effects, materials, data acquisition, gearboxes, and more, dramatically changed the way people go racing, right to this day. My son and I got to meet him with his Chaparral 2C at COTA during an WEC race once. Nicest guy, and clearly a genius, but played it all down as a bunch of dumb country boys just playing with cars.

Loved the cars/drivers of that era. Especially the awesome Can Am series cars.
Lola T 70, McLaren, Chaparral, Porsche 917.


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On 11/20/2019 at 12:15 PM, wood said:

Some cars seem more animal than machine. 

evil and twisted

On 11/22/2019 at 1:20 PM, RPM said:

Be prepared for 45 minutes of commercials before the previews. Longest I've ever sat through (at Cinemark).

Live 15 minutes from the theater.  We leave home at the time the movie starts, buy tickets and food, still have 1 or 2 fucking previews left.

 

Good flick, I was entertained.  Watched with my 13yo, who loves cars.  He was telling me Miles info. he was looking up on his phone the whole ride home.  I think he liked it.

Edited by mulletpelini
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Wife and I went and saw it last night.

Really good, Damon’s accent was not Texan but at least it wasn’t overdone in some Deep South butchery.

Loved the racing, feel of speed and sound of the engines. Even with a few glaring spots were the cars appeared to be going maybe 30-40mph.

I knew enough of the story to know that miles got hosed but my wife didn’t and she was shocked at the end.

Thought it was good story telling and the creative liberties taken didn’t bother me, some of which I didn’t know so they really didn’t bother me.

My wife did comment as we were walking out, why didn’t I drive us to the movie in my challenger. (I had been drinking)

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"Shelby American" just dropped on Netflix, almost 2 hrs running time, same guys that did the 24 Hour War.  Well done documentary covering Shelby's entire life with appearances by two of his sons and one grandson, plus Gurney, Bondurant, Brock, Ford, Piero and plenty of others.  Peter Miles is featured briefly a few times, including describing his dad's accident (I was really hoping the movie embellished and that he wasn't actually present at Riverside).

Includes plenty of the GT40 story and footage.  New to me was his involvement with Toyota after his Ford days.  Also, great discussion on the number of wives Carroll had, apparently even Shelby himself wasn't quite sure.

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