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FORD VS. FERRARI? AS MOVIES GO, IT WAS ENTERTAINING.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 09:13AM By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. The hype was so thick before the debut of the Ford vs. Ferrari movie that I thought I would skip it altogether. After all, no movie could live up to that kind of hype, no matter what the subject matter. For car enthusiasts, a movie about the sport's history is so refreshing and such a revelation that to read the gushing reviews from car people over the Internet was to be expected. The subject matter was compelling, too, as I wrote a month ago in "Ken Miles: Shelby's Secret Sauce." Miles was the single most important contributor to Carroll Shelby's racing success, and as far as I'm concerned the light shed on Miles made the film worthwhile.
But that said, the inaccuracies throughout the film were glaring and in some cases excruciating (and no, I am not going to list them all because there are frankly too many to list). I get Hollywood and the need to take creative license with the subject matter, but in this case it was annoying and irksome. It's really too bad that a script consultant who had a real feel for the overarching story wasn't there to prioritize the events and bring some accuracy to some of the scenes.
I am happy that enthusiasts think that it's a great movie, because after all, how bad can it be to see Cobras and Ford GT40s on camera with authentic sounds to go with them? That part was fantastic and very entertaining. But is it one of the all-time great racing-oriented movies? I'll pass on that one, because I can name three that are better. And I'm sure you can guess which ones they are.
And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.
(Dave Friedman photo)
Sebring, Florida, March 21, 1964. Ken Miles in the No. 1 Shelby American 427 Cobra Prototype that he and John Morton shared in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Miles went off in practice and hit one of the handful of trees near the Sebring circuit, requiring almost a total rebuild of the Cobra before the race. When running, the special big-block Cobra was really quick, but the duo did not finish the race that day due to a blown engine.