Henry Ford II vs. Enzo Ferrari -- a new book about an old rivalry

It's always been one of my favorite stories about the car biz. Back in the early 1960s, Henry Ford II, grandson of the founder of Ford Motor Co., and one of the larger-than-life characters in an otherwise... Henry Ford II vs. Enzo Ferrari -- a new book about an old rivalry Henry Ford II vs. Enzo Ferrari -- a new book about an old rivalry

It's always been one of my favorite stories about the car biz. Back in the early 1960s, Henry Ford II, grandson of the founder of Ford Motor Co., and one of the larger-than-life characters in an otherwise bland corporate world, decided he wanted to buy Ferrari.

Enzo Ferrari, no slouch when it came to manifestation of ego, said, fuhgeddaboutit.

Ford had this thing about Ferrari and his fabulous race cars and grand touring cars. Envy is a word that comes to mind. So Ford did what comes naturally -- when Ferrari snubbed him, he decided to beat Ferrari at his own game. He would build a car that would clean Ferrari's clock at Le Mans.

And therein lies the tale in a new book by A.J. Baime, "Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans." Ferrari had won Le Mans six years running (1960-1965). In 1966, having put Carroll Shelby in charge of its racing program, Ford won Le Mans, vanquishing Ferrari with a Ford GT40 sporting a monster 427-cubic-inch motor.

I mention all this because the Ford GT40 was always one of the cars I've lusted after for years. There were enough other GT40 lusters to convince Ford to make a streetgoing version of the car. It was produced in model years 2005 and 2006, and sold for about $150,000 each -- I think Ford made fewer than 4,000 of them.

I drove one of the modern Ford GTs three years ago. We had it for 48 hours and I think I spent 47 of them in the car. And, yes, it was not your ordinary Ford.

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