In 1965, the 24 Hours of Le Mans made headline news as word of the battle between the might of Ford, with its multi-million-dollar budget, and Ferrari, a multiple winner of the endurance classic despite its considerably smaller budget, captured the imagination of millions of Europeans who had never previously witnessed a motor race.
Ford had developed a GT prototype based around American V8 stock engines while the Italian marque opted for smaller, complex multi-cylinder engines. Despite Fords almost unlimited supply of dollars, Enzo Ferrari knew what was required to win. Huge crowds of race fans descended on the La Sarthe circuit and the photograph shows a small part of the busy Le Mans paddock as a Ferrari team transporter rolls in with its precious cargo. On the top deck are a pair of Ferrari 365 P2’s; car number 18 was entered by the American NART team and driven to fourth place by Pedro Rodriguez and Nino Vaccerella while number 17 is the Marenello Concessionaires entry for David Piper and Jo Bonnier. The 1965 race saw a record number of retirements, amongst them the Piper/Bonnier 365 that lasted for 101 laps. On the lower deck is car 22, a factory-entered Ferrari 275 P2 for Lorenzo Bandini and Giampiero Biscaldi, destined to retire on lap 221. In the background, on top of another transporter, a pair of mechanics’ work on car number 40, the Ferrari Dino 166 P of Giancarlo Baghetti, that departed the race on the second lap with valve gear problems. Yet another Ferrari is seen (car number 24) parked to the right in the photograph, the only Ferrari entered in the GT category with the intention of beating the Ford-backed Shelby Daytona Coupes in the GT class. The yellow 275GTB ‘road car’ was entered by the Belgian Ferrari importer, Ecurie Francorchamps, but in reality had been fully race-prepared within the Ferrari factory and waved through scrutineering despite protests from Ford. As the numerous Ford entries retired, the 275GTB kept circulating for the full 24 hours to win its class and finish a remarkable third overall, just 8 laps behind the winner and 36 laps ahead of the only Ford-powered entry to take the chequered flag, a Shelby Daytona Coupe.
From the book ‘Moments in Motorsport’ by Trevor Legate
