Last weekend I watched the 2019 film, Ford v Ferrari. The movie follows the true story of a rivalry that developed between Italian automotive legend Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford II.
In 1966, Ford was looking to invigorate his company's image. He wanted Ford vehicles to be associated with the idea of speed and an adventurous spirit. Ford admired the race cars being built by Enzo Ferrari, which were consistently dominating in international competition. Most notably, Ferrari had been shutting out all competition at the 24 hours of Le Mans endurance races for years. These races were grueling affairs not only for the drivers and teams, but for the cars themselves. The type of high performance vehicle needed to compete in a race like this was typically not also one that could be run ragged for 24 hours straight.
Developing and strategically driving such a car was the challenge at Le Mans, and none had so thoroughly risen to that challenge as Enzo Ferrari.
So when looking to put his cars on the map in the world of endurance racing, Henry Ford II made the obvious move and went to Ferrari. Ford wanted to fold the Italian manufacturer under his company's umbrella, and sent emissaries to make an offer to Ferrari. The proposal gave Enzo total control of the operation but split ownership and attribution of the Ferrari name with the Ford Motor Company. Enzo rejected the offer and sent Ford's emissaries home with a message insulting not only the Ford Motor Company but Henry Ford II personally.
Incensed, Henry Ford II decided that his company would develop a new race car themselves and beat Ferrari at his own game at Le Mans. To do this, he enlisted the aid of legendary car designer and former Le Mans winner, Carrol Shelby. Shelby brought on veteran driver Ken Miles and the two began to develop a car capable of competing and winning at Le Mans.
The film is worth watching not only for the central rivalry of the plot, but also because it does a great job of exploring the awful nature of bureaucracy and corporate committee-think. Shelby and Miles were experts at their craft who were stonewalled and subverted at every step by petty corporate tyrants and bureaucratic nonsense. While the film is about a struggle between the two automotive titans, the fight between men with a vision like Shelby and Miles versus the clueless and faceless corporate structure becomes the more interesting conflict.
The setting of the 24 Hours of Le Mans got me thinking about other endurance races and why I found the whole idea so fascinating. Throughout history and across civilizations, humans have always felt some innate pull towards the spectacle of a race. Starting in our earliest days with simple foot races, each advancement in our ability to travel raised the question of who could do it the fastest.
While a 100 meter dash or a drag race is satisfying and entertaining in its own right, there is something even more compelling about the concept of the endurance element being added to a race. The advent of the automobile propelled the concept to new extremes.
Peking to Paris
In keeping with our competitive nature, it wasn't long after the invention of the automobile that owners began racing each other. One of the first races to add an endurance element was held in 1907. A writer in a Parisian newspaper was opining on the freedom provided by cars and released a prompt for a race of grand scale. Who would answer the call to compete in a race from the French embassy in Peking (now Beijing) to Paris?
Many signed on to participate but ultimately the race was officially cancelled. This didn't stop five entrants from holding the race anyway. The entrants raced from China to Paris and endured the hostile terrain, inclement weather and endless technical and mechanical difficulties. Only two cars actually finished the race, the others being unable to navigate the landscapes and conditions.
The winner was Prince Scipione Borghese of Italy. In Paris he claimed his prize: a magnum of champagne.
Cannonball Run
A coast-to-coast speed run of the United States is referred to as The Cannonball Run. Traditionally, this would be from the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan to the Portofino Hotel in Redondo beach, California. While not a race in the technical sense, the object here is for an individual or team to clock the best time. The challenge got its start as a proposition from the editors of Car and Driver Magazine in the early 1970's as a response to nationwide traffic and speed crackdowns.
Drivers trying to make the Cannonball Run face immediate complications because there is no sanctioning for their attempts, meaning that the speed necessary for a serious attempt leaves a driver vulnerable to law enforcement and traffic the entire way. This has led to the use of radar detectors and spotters to avoid police along the route. Vehicles are usually modified with auxiliary fuel tanks and fortified cooling systems. The current record is 25 hours and 39 minutes, completed in 2020 by Arne Toman and Doug Tabbutt. They used a 2016 Audi A6 that had been disguised as a Ford Taurus police cruiser. Toman and Tabbutt completed the run at an average speed of 110 miles per hour.
Dakar Rally
In 1977 a French motorcycle racer named Thierry Sabine got lost while competing in a rally race in North Africa. Surveying his desert surroundings, he decided that the harsh environment would make for a great arena to hold a long distance endurance race. The following year marked the first Paris to Dakar Rally. Starting in Paris, the racers would compete to reach Dakar, the capital of Senegal. This would take them across a tremendous stretch of the inhospitable Sahara Desert. These rallys became legendary shows of grit, endurance and ingenuity as the demands on vehicles and crews were extreme.
Political turmoil made the rally's original route untenable over time and revised routes were adopted. The rally was even moved to South America at one point but is now held in Saudi Arabia. The desert conditions and nature of motorsports in general have lead to several casualties since the inaugural race, with a total of 76 deaths of competitors or crew members.
Worldwide
Similar events are still held all over the world.
Redline
What is it about these events that draw so many people in? Across the globe, in every culture and environment imaginable, human beings really want to know who can cover a certain distance the fastest. We are naturally drawn to competitions of any kind, and a race is one of the most raw and uncomplicated versions of that. There is little room for nuance or subjectivity. Who crossed the line first? That’s all that matters. I think we may be wired to appreciate something so direct.
We are also drawn to the type of mentality that is required to compete in races like these. The attitude and constitution shown is something we find inherently admirable. There is no room for hesitation or concern for personal safety. We respect the nerve and grit required to put everything on the line in pursuit of excellence. To come across a deadly situation in the road ahead and respond by flooring it. There is something awe-inspiring in the abandonment of the instinct for self-preservation in these moments. It becomes a testament to the fortitude of man. To gamble everything in order to experience life at an absolute maximum. To ride all the way out to the edge and sometimes to keep going.
During his time riding with the Hell’s Angels in the 1960’s, Hunter S. Thompson took many late night solo rides up and down the California coast. He wrote the following about encountering that edge:
But with the throttle screwed on, there is only the barest margin and no room at all for mistakes. It has to be done right … and that’s when the strange music starts, when you stretch your luck so far that fear becomes exhilaration and vibrates along your arms. You can barely see at a hundred; the tears flow back so fast that they vaporize before they get to your ears. The only sounds are wind and a dull roar floating back from the mufflers. You watch the white line and try to lean with it … howling through a turn to the right, then to the left and down the long hill to Pacifica …letting off now, watching for cops, but only until the next dark stretch and another few seconds on the edge…The Edge…. There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others – the living – are those who pushed their control as far as they felt they could handle, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to do when it came time to choose between Now and Later.
-Hunter S. Thompson, Hells Angels
After
In 1966 Ken Miles carried the Ford team to victory at Le Mans. For technical reasons that are somewhat questionable, he took second at the event behind another Ford driver. Undeterred, he continued working with Shelby to improve on their designs and compete again the next year.
Unfortunately, Miles died on the track later that year, pushing a prototype to top speed and ultimately past its limits. While tragic, it was something Miles himself may have seen coming:
“I'd rather die in a racing car than get eaten up by cancer,"
-Ken Miles
Fair enough, Ken. Godspeed.
Yes, we definitely all admire those who go for it and ignore the safety first mantra. I think especially so now in our technocratic controlled era. Society is also more feminized too, so security is top of the agenda.
But real daring is always admired. We see an element of ourselves in these heroes. Perhaps it reminds us who we could be if we just let go and tried ourselves.
VERY well-written! I have the movie in my queue! Looks like I gotta cue it up! Maybe “before bed tonight!”