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Sales are slumping for the Ford Motor Company. The first baby boomers are growing up and they don't want Ford's 50s-style cars. They want something cool and sleek, like a race car. Vice President Lee Iacocca (Creator/JonBernthal) proposes Ford go into racing, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, to boost their credibility and public image. Ferrari has won all of the last five Le Mans races and Enzo Ferrari (Creator/RemoGirone) is nearly broke; why not buy him out? However, Ferrari turns down their offer, after playing Ford for a sucker to up the price for Fiat to buy them out instead and with a tirade of pointed insults. Furious, Henry Ford II (Creator/TracyLetts) wants to strike back. He doesn't want to just beat Ferrari at Le Mans; he wants to ''bury'' them. And for that, he needs a car.
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Sales are slumping for the Ford Motor Company. The first baby boomers are growing up and they don't want Ford's 50s-style cars. They want something cool and sleek, like a race car. Vice President Lee Iacocca (Creator/JonBernthal) proposes Ford go into racing, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, to boost their credibility and public image. Ferrari has won all four of of the last five Le Mans races races, and Enzo Ferrari (Creator/RemoGirone) is nearly broke; why not buy him out? However, Ferrari turns down their offer, after playing Ford for a sucker to up the price for Fiat to buy them out instead offer and with a tirade of pointed insults.insults their president. Furious, Henry Ford II (Creator/TracyLetts) wants to strike back. He doesn't want to just beat Ferrari at Le Mans; he wants to ''bury'' them. And for that, he needs a car.
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* AdaptedOut: The 1965 Le Mans is only described through radio broadcasts and dialogue in favor of showing Ken back in the US. What wasn't shown was that the race was a nasty war of attrition between Ford and Ferrari where each side brought in every driver and affiliate they could to try and crowd the other out[[note]]All the actual Ford and Ferrari team vehicles broke down and the two sides resorted to moving their banners to other teams to claim they were still in the race. In the end, ''a'' Ferrari won but it wasn't one of the cars the Ferrari team brought with them.[[/note]].
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Changed line(s) 121,122 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Ford:''' I want the best engineers... the best drivers. I don't care what it costs. We're gonna build a race car...and we're gonna ''bury'' that goddamn greasy wop 100 feet deep under the finish line at Le Mans... and I will be there to watch it.
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Ken outlines this early in the story to Shelby after the initial proposal. Experts like Ken and Shelby know exactly what is needed to make a world-class race car and win races, but layers upon layers of executives will demand every small change trying to earn some level of credit for victory. This is largely represented by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe]] who tries [[ExecutiveMeddling to control the race with phone calls from the executive booth]] and always thinking of the marketing potential, which [[spoiler:results in Ken slowing down to let the other Ford cars meet him at the finish line, which in turn robs him of his rightful victory due to {{Rules Lawyer}}ing. This is explicitly called out by Shelby when Ford asks why he shouldn't fire the Shelby team after the '65 loss. Shelby notes the red folder in Ford's hands (the analysis of the loss), and comments how many people worked to make it, then transfer it up to Ford, and how many people might have gotten a look at it on the way. His point quickly becomes "you want to win, back off and let me make it happen." Ford agrees. . . temporarily]].
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Ken outlines this early in the story to Shelby after the initial proposal. Experts like Ken and Shelby know exactly what is needed to make a world-class race car and win races, but layers upon layers of executives will demand every small change trying to earn some level of credit for victory. This is largely represented by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe]] who tries [[ExecutiveMeddling to control the race with phone calls from the executive booth]] and always thinking of the marketing potential, which [[spoiler:results in Ken slowing down to let the other Ford cars meet him at the finish line, which in turn robs him of his rightful victory due to {{Rules Lawyer}}ing. This is explicitly called out by Shelby when Ford asks why he shouldn't fire the Shelby team after the '65 loss. Shelby notes the red folder in Ford's hands (the analysis of the loss), and comments how many people worked to make it, then transfer it up to Ford, and how many people might have gotten a look at it on the way. His point quickly becomes "you want to win, back off and let me make it happen." Ford agrees. . . temporarily]].
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-->'''Ford:''' I want the best engineers... the best drivers. I don't care what it costs. We're gonna build a race car... and we're gonna ''bury'' that goddamn greasy wop 100 feet deep under the finish line at Le Mans... and I will be there to watch it.
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Ken outlines this early in the story to Shelby after the initial proposal. Experts like Ken and Shelby know exactly what is needed to make a world-class race car and win races, but layers upon layers of executives will demand every small change trying to earn some level of credit for victory. This is largely represented by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe]] who tries [[ExecutiveMeddling to control the race with phone calls from the executive booth]] and is always thinking of the marketing potential, which [[spoiler:results in Ken slowing down to let the other Ford cars meet him at the finish line, which in turn robs him of his rightful victory due to {{Rules Lawyer}}ing. This is explicitly called out by Shelby when Ford asks why he shouldn't fire the Shelby team after the '65 loss. Shelby notes the red folder in Ford's hands (the analysis of the loss), and comments how many people worked to make it, then transfer it up to Ford, and how many people might have gotten a look at it on the way. His point quickly becomes "you want to win, back off and let me make it happen." Fordagrees. . .agrees... temporarily]].
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Ken outlines this early in the story to Shelby after the initial proposal. Experts like Ken and Shelby know exactly what is needed to make a world-class race car and win races, but layers upon layers of executives will demand every small change trying to earn some level of credit for victory. This is largely represented by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe]] who tries [[ExecutiveMeddling to control the race with phone calls from the executive booth]] and is always thinking of the marketing potential, which [[spoiler:results in Ken slowing down to let the other Ford cars meet him at the finish line, which in turn robs him of his rightful victory due to {{Rules Lawyer}}ing. This is explicitly called out by Shelby when Ford asks why he shouldn't fire the Shelby team after the '65 loss. Shelby notes the red folder in Ford's hands (the analysis of the loss), and comments how many people worked to make it, then transfer it up to Ford, and how many people might have gotten a look at it on the way. His point quickly becomes "you want to win, back off and let me make it happen." Ford
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* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler:Despite having a clear lead, Miles decides to be a team player once he had gotten his record setting lap and slowed down to allow the other two cars to finish right behind him for Beebe's publicity stunt, showing he can be a team player when needed. This unfortunately leads to him losing the race on a technicality (due to the fact that Miles started the race at a position ahead of Bruce [=McLaren=], another Ford racer, Bruce ''technically'' traveled more distance by the time he crossed the finish line despite crossing it after Miles did, leading Miles to end up in second place.]] As Shelby states, Miles got screwed.
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* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler:Despite having a clear lead, Miles decides to be a team player once he had gotten his record setting lap and slowed down to allow the other two cars to finish right behind him for Beebe's publicity stunt, showing he can be a team player when needed. This unfortunately leads to him losing the race on a technicality (due due to the fact that Miles started the race at a position ahead of Bruce [=McLaren=], another Ford racer, Bruce ''technically'' traveled more distance by the time he crossed the finish line despite crossing it after Miles did, leading Miles to end up in second place.]] As Shelby states, Miles got screwed.
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-->'''Ford:''' I want the best engineers... the best drivers. I don't care what it costs. We're gonna build a race car...and we're gonna ''bury'' that goddamn greasy wop 100 feet deep under the finish line at Le Mans...and I will be there to watch it.
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-->'''Ford:''' I want the best engineers... the best drivers. I don't care what it costs. We're gonna build a race car...and we're gonna ''bury'' that goddamn greasy wop 100 feet deep under the finish line at Le Mans... and I will be there to watch it.
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** The Ford Motor Company, portrayed as callous car salesmen and marketeers who exist to be an albatross on Shelby-American's neck, deliberately screwing Miles out of his win. In reality, while they had proposed the photo-op for selfish reasons, the decision to award the win to [=McLaren=] was done by the race officials. When Ford learned of what was about to happen, they wanted to tell Miles to speed back up and win, but were unable, as the decision was made in the middle of the last lap.
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* AlliterativeName: Not stated outright, but Molly, being married to Ken Miles, would be '''M'''olly '''M'''iles.
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* PrecisionFStrike: Twice, though one is in Italian, so it didn't raise the films rating to an R.
** When Miles tells Beebe that he'll take a Chevy Chevelle over a Ford Mustang any day, despite the Chevelle being "...a fucking terrible car."
** Bandini fires off a shocked and frustrated "Cazzo!" when [[spoiler:his engine explodes from the strain of keeping up with Miles.]]
** When Miles tells Beebe that he'll take a Chevy Chevelle over a Ford Mustang any day, despite the Chevelle being "...a fucking terrible car."
** Bandini fires off a shocked and frustrated "Cazzo!" when [[spoiler:his engine explodes from the strain of keeping up with Miles.]]
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''Ford v Ferrari'' is a 2019 film directed by Creator/JamesMangold starring Creator/MattDamon as Carroll Shelby and Creator/ChristianBale as Ken Miles, and distributed by Creator/{{Disney}} as Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, centered on the 1966 UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans.
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''Ford v Ferrari'' is a 2019 film directed by Creator/JamesMangold starring Creator/MattDamon as Carroll Shelby and Creator/ChristianBale as Ken Miles, and distributed by Creator/{{Disney}} as Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, Creator/{{Disney}}, centered on the 1966 UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans.
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Changed line(s) 117 (click to see context) from:
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Ken outlines this early in the story to Shelby after the initial proposal. Experts like Ken and Shelby know exactly what is needed to make a world-class race car and win races, but layers upon layers of executives will demand every small change trying to earn some level of credit for victory. This is largely represented by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe]] who tries [[ExecutiveMeddling to control the race with phone calls from the executive booth]] and always thinking of the marketing potential, which [[spoiler:results in Ken slowing down to let the other Ford cars meet him at the finish line, which in turn robs him of his rightful victory due to {{Rules Lawyer}}ing]].
to:
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Ken outlines this early in the story to Shelby after the initial proposal. Experts like Ken and Shelby know exactly what is needed to make a world-class race car and win races, but layers upon layers of executives will demand every small change trying to earn some level of credit for victory. This is largely represented by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe]] who tries [[ExecutiveMeddling to control the race with phone calls from the executive booth]] and always thinking of the marketing potential, which [[spoiler:results in Ken slowing down to let the other Ford cars meet him at the finish line, which in turn robs him of his rightful victory due to {{Rules Lawyer}}ing]].Lawyer}}ing. This is explicitly called out by Shelby when Ford asks why he shouldn't fire the Shelby team after the '65 loss. Shelby notes the red folder in Ford's hands (the analysis of the loss), and comments how many people worked to make it, then transfer it up to Ford, and how many people might have gotten a look at it on the way. His point quickly becomes "you want to win, back off and let me make it happen." Ford agrees. . . temporarily]].
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** The film sees Ford (slobs), a company that churns out mass-produced consumer cars, go up against Ferrari (snobs), a company that painstakingly makes luxury sports cars for individual customers, at Le Mans, a race that was dominated by Ferrari from 1960 to 1965.
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** The film sees Ford (slobs), a company that churns out mass-produced consumer cars, go up against Ferrari (snobs), a company that painstakingly makes luxury sports cars for individual customers, at Le Mans, a race that was dominated by Ferrari from 1960 to 1965. This is clearly demonstrated by visits to a Ford and a Ferrari factory: the Ford factory is a utilitarian assembly line, the Ferrari factory seems to be a repurposed barn where every part is made ''by hand'' and the owner eats lunch at a table just off the factory floor.
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* {{Bloodsport}}: See also NoOSHACompliance. The safety standards of car races at the time were not exactly thorough, and the very real dangers of driving such high performance vehicles on poorly designed race tracks is highlighted throughout. The start of Le Mans involves the drivers having to rush to their cars on foot, and everyone whipping out of their stalls at the same time resulted in more than a few crashes right from the start.
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* {{Bloodsport}}: See also NoOSHACompliance. The safety standards of car races at the time were not exactly thorough, and the very real dangers of driving such high performance vehicles on poorly designed race tracks is highlighted throughout. The start of Le Mans involves the drivers having to rush to their cars on foot, and everyone whipping out of their stalls at the same time resulted in more than a few crashes right from the start. TruthInTelevision, the "[=LeMans Start=]" was eventually removed from the rules because it was just too damn dangerous.
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Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby won Le Mans several years ago before a heart condition forced him to stop racing, and now he builds high-end sports cars. Ford approaches him to with a blank check to build a car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby knows just the man to drive it: Ken Miles, an expert driver and close friend whose temper puts him at odds with Ford's higher-ups, particularly Leo Beebe (Creator/JoshLucas). As the car takes shape, Shelby's and Miles' scuffles with Ford's management may prove just as tough a battle as Le Mans itself.
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Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby won Le Mans several years ago before a heart condition forced him to stop racing, and now he builds high-end sports cars. Ford approaches him to with a blank check to build a car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby knows just the man to drive it: Ken Miles, an expert driver and close friend whose temper puts him at odds with Ford's higher-ups, particularly Leo Beebe (Creator/JoshLucas). As the car takes shape, Shelby's and Miles' scuffles with Ford's management may prove just as tough a battle as Le Mans itself.
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* WimpFight: Shelby and Miles get into a fight when Shelby asks him to drive again after getting fired. Justified in that it is more like two brothers wrestling rather than actually trying to hurt each other, Shelby can be seen finding a can from Miles' groceries and discard it to hit him with a loaf of bread instead.
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* WimpFight: Shelby and Miles get into a fight when When Shelby asks him Miles to drive again after getting fired. Justified in that fired, a comically clumsy and un-damaging tussle ensues. Part of it is more like two brothers wrestling rather than actually trying that they both suck at fighting, but the other part is that no matter how angry they feel they don’t want to ''actually'' hurt each other, other: Shelby can be seen finding a can from Miles' groceries and Miles's groceries, only to discard it to and hit him with a loaf of bread instead.
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* WimpFight: Shelby and Miles get into a fight when Shelby asks him to drive again after getting fired. Justified in that it is more like two brothers wrestling rather than actually trying to hurt each other, Shelby can be seen finding a can from Miles' groceries and discard it to hit him with a loaf of bread instead.
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* AdaptedOut: The 1965 Le Mans is only described through radio broadcasts and dialogue in favor of showing Ken back in the US. What wasn't shown was that the race was a nasty war of attrition between Ford and Ferrari where each side brought in every driver and affiliate they could to try and crowd the other out[[note]]All the actual Ford and Ferrari team vehicles broke down and the two sides resorted to moving their banners to other teams to claim they were still in the race. In the end, ''a'' Ferrari won but it wasn't one of the cars the Ferrari team brought with them.[[/note]].
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* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans. Ditto when he calls Shelby into his office after the embarrassing fiasco of all the cars retiring from their first race due to mechanical issues, calmly telling him: "Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone associated with this abomination, starting with [[OhCrap you]]."
* {{Troll}}: During Le Mans, Shelby steals Ferrari's stopwatches, then nonchalantly drops a lug-nut near their pit stop, causing the crew to assume they didn't reattach the wheels properly and panic.
* {{Troll}}: During Le Mans, Shelby steals Ferrari's stopwatches, then nonchalantly drops a lug-nut near their pit stop, causing the crew to assume they didn't reattach the wheels properly and panic.
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* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans. Ditto when he calls Shelby into his office after the embarrassing fiasco of all the cars retiring from their first race due to mechanical issues, calmly telling him: "Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone associated with this abomination, starting with [[OhCrap you]]."
* {{Troll}}: During Le Mans, Shelby steals Ferrari's stopwatches, then nonchalantly drops a lug-nut near their pitstop, box, causing the crew to assume they didn't reattach the wheels properly and panic.
* {{Troll}}: During Le Mans, Shelby steals Ferrari's stopwatches, then nonchalantly drops a lug-nut near their pit
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Changed line(s) 117 (click to see context) from:
* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans. Ditto when he calls Shelby into his office after the "fiasco" of all the cars retiring from their first race due to mechanical issues, calmly telling him: "Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone associated with this abomination, starting with [[OhCrap you]]."
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* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans. Ditto when he calls Shelby into his office after the "fiasco" embarrassing fiasco of all the cars retiring from their first race due to mechanical issues, calmly telling him: "Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone associated with this abomination, starting with [[OhCrap you]]."
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Changed line(s) 117 (click to see context) from:
* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans. Ditto when he calls Shelby into his office after the "fiasco" of all the GTs retiring from their first race due to mechanical issues, calmly telling him: "Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone associated with this abomination, starting with [[OhCrap you]]."
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* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans. Ditto when he calls Shelby into his office after the "fiasco" of all the GTs cars retiring from their first race due to mechanical issues, calmly telling him: "Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone associated with this abomination, starting with [[OhCrap you]]."
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Changed line(s) 117 (click to see context) from:
* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans.
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* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans. Ditto when he calls Shelby into his office after the "fiasco" of all the GTs retiring from their first race due to mechanical issues, calmly telling him: "Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone associated with this abomination, starting with [[OhCrap you]]."
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* PercussiveMaintenance: The door to Ken's GT won't shut at Le Mans. While the crew tries to see if there's something wrong with the mechanism, Pops just grabs a mallet and bashes it into place.
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* PercussiveMaintenance: The door to Ken's GT won't shut at Le Mans. While the crew tries to see if there's something wrong with the mechanism, Pops just grabs a mallet and bashes it into place. Also, when a USAC official tells Ken his car's trunk isn't big enough, he smashes the underside of the lid with a hammer until there's just enough extra space from all the dents to qualify.
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* NewMediaAreEvil: Parodied - during the initial pitch to market 'cool' cars, Leo Beebe talks about the then-graduating-college cohort of Baby Boomers with the same dismissive 'these kids'll buy stupid stuff' attitude that boomers now hold towards Gen X, millennials and Gen Z-ers.
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* LovedINotHonorMore: In a flip of the usual pattern with these kinds of films, Ken's wife Mollie really doesn't mind his dangerous hobby (especially if he's getting paid for it). She just doesn't want him to ''lie'' to her about it.
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Changed line(s) 10,13 (click to see context) from:
Sales are slumping for the Ford Motor Company. The first baby boomers are growing up and they don't want Ford's 50s-style cars. They want something cool and sleek, like a race car. Vice President Lee Iacocca proposes Ford go into racing, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, to boost their credibility and public image. Ferrari has won all of the last five Le Mans races and Enzo Ferrari is nearly broke; why not buy him out? However, Ferrari turns down their offer, after playing Ford for a sucker to up the price for Fiat to buy them out instead and with a tirade of pointed insults. Furious, Henry Ford II wants to strike back. He doesn't want to just beat Ferrari at Le Mans; he wants to ''bury'' them. And for that, he needs a car.
Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby won Le Mans several years ago before a heart condition forced him to stop racing, and now he builds high-end sports cars. Ford approaches him to with a blank check to build a car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby knows just the man to drive it: Ken Miles, an expert driver and close friend whose temper puts him at odds with Ford's higher-ups. As the car takes shape, Shelby's and Miles' scuffles with Ford's management may prove just as tough a battle as Le Mans itself.
Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby won Le Mans several years ago before a heart condition forced him to stop racing, and now he builds high-end sports cars. Ford approaches him to with a blank check to build a car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby knows just the man to drive it: Ken Miles, an expert driver and close friend whose temper puts him at odds with Ford's higher-ups. As the car takes shape, Shelby's and Miles' scuffles with Ford's management may prove just as tough a battle as Le Mans itself.
to:
Sales are slumping for the Ford Motor Company. The first baby boomers are growing up and they don't want Ford's 50s-style cars. They want something cool and sleek, like a race car. Vice President Lee Iacocca (Creator/JonBernthal) proposes Ford go into racing, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, to boost their credibility and public image. Ferrari has won all of the last five Le Mans races and Enzo Ferrari (Creator/RemoGirone) is nearly broke; why not buy him out? However, Ferrari turns down their offer, after playing Ford for a sucker to up the price for Fiat to buy them out instead and with a tirade of pointed insults. Furious, Henry Ford II (Creator/TracyLetts) wants to strike back. He doesn't want to just beat Ferrari at Le Mans; he wants to ''bury'' them. And for that, he needs a car.
Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby won Le Mans several years ago before a heart condition forced him to stop racing, and now he builds high-end sports cars. Ford approaches him to with a blank check to build a car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby knows just the man to drive it: Ken Miles, an expert driver and close friend whose temper puts him at odds with Ford'shigher-ups.higher-ups, particularly Leo Beebe (Creator/JoshLucas). As the car takes shape, Shelby's and Miles' scuffles with Ford's management may prove just as tough a battle as Le Mans itself.
Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby won Le Mans several years ago before a heart condition forced him to stop racing, and now he builds high-end sports cars. Ford approaches him to with a blank check to build a car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby knows just the man to drive it: Ken Miles, an expert driver and close friend whose temper puts him at odds with Ford's
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* FelonyMisdemeanor: Henry Ford II leaves the final race for a nice dinner and a good night's sleep, while his team continues to race throughout the night. Enzo Ferrari snidely comments on this, but seems most appalled that the owner of a car company left in a ''helicopter''.
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* FelonyMisdemeanor: Henry Ford II leaves the final race for a nice dinner and a good night's sleep, while his team continues to race throughout the night. Enzo Ferrari snidely comments on this, but seems most appalled that the owner of a car company left in a ''helicopter''.
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Sales are slumping for the Ford Motor Company. The first baby boomers are growing up and they don't want Ford's 50s-style cars. They want something cool and sleek, like a race car. Vice President Lee Iacocca proposes Ford go into racing, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, to boost their credibility and public image. Ferrari has won all of the last five Le Mans races and Enzo Ferrari is nearly broke; why not buy him out? But Ferrari turns down their offer with a tirade of pointed insults. Furious, Henry Ford II wants to strike back. He doesn't want to just beat Ferrari at Le Mans; he wants to ''bury'' them. And for that, he needs a car.
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Sales are slumping for the Ford Motor Company. The first baby boomers are growing up and they don't want Ford's 50s-style cars. They want something cool and sleek, like a race car. Vice President Lee Iacocca proposes Ford go into racing, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, to boost their credibility and public image. Ferrari has won all of the last five Le Mans races and Enzo Ferrari is nearly broke; why not buy him out? But However, Ferrari turns down their offer offer, after playing Ford for a sucker to up the price for Fiat to buy them out instead and with a tirade of pointed insults. Furious, Henry Ford II wants to strike back. He doesn't want to just beat Ferrari at Le Mans; he wants to ''bury'' them. And for that, he needs a car.
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It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was released into theaters on November 15, 2019. The film subsequently received four nominations, including Best Picture, and won for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing.
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It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was released into theaters on November 15, 2019. The film subsequently received four UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, including Best Picture, and won for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing.
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It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was released into theaters on November 15, 2019.
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It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was released into theaters on November 15, 2019.
2019. The film subsequently received four nominations, including Best Picture, and won for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing.
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* ButtMonkey: Chevrolet cars, apparently. None of the characters in the film have anything good to say about them, with Miles at one point outright said that Chevy Chevelle is a [[PrecisionFStrike “fucking terrible car!”]], and the Chevy cars we do seen racing on the screen in the race at Willow Springs end up breaking down mid-race.
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* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While for the most part the orchestrated photo finish for the three Ford GT40 cars were correct, the formation they had was completely different from the [[https://the-drive.imgix.net/http%3A%2F%2Fd254andzyoxz3f.cloudfront.net%2F062016-1966-le-mans-finish-hero.jpg?w=1440&auto=compress%2Cformat&ixlib=js-1.4.1&s=4df451ea734529565d603085f9d849fb actual photo finish]] taken during the real-life race.
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* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While for the most part the orchestrated photo finish for the three Ford GT40 [=GT40=] cars were correct, the formation they had in the movie was completely different from the [[https://the-drive.imgix.net/http%3A%2F%2Fd254andzyoxz3f.cloudfront.net%2F062016-1966-le-mans-finish-hero.jpg?w=1440&auto=compress%2Cformat&ixlib=js-1.4.1&s=4df451ea734529565d603085f9d849fb actual photo finish]] taken during the real-life race.
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* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While for the most part the orchestrated photo finish for the three Ford GT40 cars were correct, the formation they had was completely different from the [[https://the-drive.imgix.net/http%3A%2F%2Fd254andzyoxz3f.cloudfront.net%2F062016-1966-le-mans-finish-hero.jpg?w=1440&auto=compress%2Cformat&ixlib=js-1.4.1&s=4df451ea734529565d603085f9d849fb actual photo finish]] taken during the real-life race.
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f_v_f_0.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Tagline}} "They took the American dream for a ride."]]'']]
->'''Ken:''' So the great Carroll Shelby is going to build a car to beat Ferrari, with Ford.\\
'''Carroll:''' Correct.\\
'''Ken:''' And how long did you tell them that you needed? Two, three hundred years?\\
'''Carroll:''' Ninety days.
''Ford v Ferrari'' is a 2019 film directed by Creator/JamesMangold starring Creator/MattDamon as Carroll Shelby and Creator/ChristianBale as Ken Miles, and distributed by Creator/{{Disney}} as Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, centered on the 1966 UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans.
Sales are slumping for the Ford Motor Company. The first baby boomers are growing up and they don't want Ford's 50s-style cars. They want something cool and sleek, like a race car. Vice President Lee Iacocca proposes Ford go into racing, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, to boost their credibility and public image. Ferrari has won all of the last five Le Mans races and Enzo Ferrari is nearly broke; why not buy him out? But Ferrari turns down their offer with a tirade of pointed insults. Furious, Henry Ford II wants to strike back. He doesn't want to just beat Ferrari at Le Mans; he wants to ''bury'' them. And for that, he needs a car.
Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby won Le Mans several years ago before a heart condition forced him to stop racing, and now he builds high-end sports cars. Ford approaches him to with a blank check to build a car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby knows just the man to drive it: Ken Miles, an expert driver and close friend whose temper puts him at odds with Ford's higher-ups. As the car takes shape, Shelby's and Miles' scuffles with Ford's management may prove just as tough a battle as Le Mans itself.
It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was released into theaters on November 15, 2019.
'''Previews:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyYgDtY2AMY Trailer 1]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h9Z89U9ZA Trailer 2]].
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!!''Ford v Ferrari'' contains examples of:
* AntiClimax: Of a sort. Being BasedOnATrueStory, [[spoiler: the goal to beat Ferrari happens a little past the mid-point of the final race, where Ken and Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini push their vehicles to their limits and Bandini's engine blows out. This gives Ken the absolute lead in the race and the last 15 minutes is more about how Ford is looking to market the upcoming victory]].
* AntiVillain: Enzo Ferrari is arguably no less sympathetic than the hypocritical Henry Ford II and his team of sycophantic, scheming executives. Despite the film's title, the Ford/Ferrari conflict is more of a backdrop to the the central conflict of Shelby and Miles versus the constant undermining efforts of the men who hired them. In the end, Ferrari himself [[spoiler: is one of the only people to show Ken Miles his due respect for functionally winning at Le Mans, while the Ford team push him aside and grant the win to another one of their drivers on a technicality.]]
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Part of what makes Ken and Carroll such a formidable duo. As they are both world-class drivers and expert mechanics, they can tell at a glance how certain racing elements will affect their cars.
* BadassDriver: Ken Miles is one of these. Carroll is too since he was a participant of Le Mans 1959 and the winner of that year's competition before his retirement.
* BadBoss: Henry Ford II's Vice CEO is a negative nancy who [[EvilIsPetty continually tries to get Ken kicked off the team for criticizing his pet project]], is a stubborn asshat who nearly sabotages Henry Ford II's dream project ''thrice over'', and is directly responsible for [[spoiler:causing Ken Miles' loss at Le Mans.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Leo Beebe gets his way when Miles agrees to slow down for a tie with the other Ford racers. Not only this, Beebe uses a technicality to grant one of those other drivers the win, spitefully stabbing Miles in the back after Miles had willingly cooperated with Beebe's plan.]]
* BerserkButton: When Iacocca relates Ferrari's insults to Ford, he's faintly amused at first. Then he learns that Ferrari called him a second-rate knockoff of his grandfather, the smile slides off his face, and he decides that ThisMeansWar
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Ken is the clear leader in Le Mans, but comes second due to Ford's ExecutiveMeddling and LoopholeAbuse. Even worse, he dies in a crash not long after. However, he had cemented himself as a racing legend in Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001, and died doing what he loved.]]
* {{Bloodsport}}: See also NoOSHACompliance. The safety standards of car races at the time were not exactly thorough, and the very real dangers of driving such high performance vehicles on poorly designed race tracks is highlighted throughout. The start of Le Mans involves the drivers having to rush to their cars on foot, and everyone whipping out of their stalls at the same time resulted in more than a few crashes right from the start.
* BookEnds: The movie opens with Shelby visiting the doctor about his heart condition, with him taking his medication while [[DrivesLikeCrazy speeding off in his hot rod dodging traffic]]. The end of the movie is functionally the same, as he takes his medication after visiting the Miles home and drives off.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Ken is very temperamental, practicing BrutalHonesty and hates corporate oversight. At the unveiling of the Mustang he criticizes everything about it, saying he prefers a Chevy Chevelle. Shelby brings him in to develop the [=GT40=] because they were friends and he was simply the best driver of his time, but Ford marketing did not like him and kept him from the early races because they didn't trust his ability to promote the company.
* CasualDangerDialogue: Even while going over 200mph on some of the most difficult tracks in racing history, Ken has no problem finding time to snark at other drivers' errors.
* ChromosomeCasting: Miles' wife is the only notable female character in the movie, which otherwise centers on a large group of male racers and car designers.
* CompositeCharacter: The Ford [=GT40=] was designed by dozens of engineers and dozens of Ford executives, the movie had been in production for a long time because they couldn't quite figure out how to condense it to a handful of characters. The movie does imply a number of others involved, including two other Ford teams at Le Mans and mentions of a design team in Britain, but the bulk of the story surrounds specifically Shelby and his crew along with Miles.
* CoolCar: Plenty to go around, considering the subject matter, but front and center is the Ford [=GT40=]. In the film the Ford crew acknowledge that they "just lost the beauty contest" as the Ferrari P3/4 is wheeled past before the race.
* DareToBeBadass: Shelby throws down a couple of times, telling Ford to put his money where his mouth is if he wants to win Le Mans. Zig-zagged in that Ford takes the bait (even telling Shelby to go to war) but then gets influenced by Beebe to weasel the deal with Shelby.
* DeadHatShot: There's one seen after [[spoiler:Miles is killed in an accident many weeks after the Le Mans victory.]]
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Henry Ford II calls Enzo Ferrari a “Wop”. In Ford's defense (aside from the time he lives in), he has just been ''deeply'' insulted by Ferrari, both personally and professionally, in a way that was clearly meant to be just as insulting as the slur Ford uses.
* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler:Despite having a clear lead, Miles decides to be a team player once he had gotten his record setting lap and slowed down to allow the other two cars to finish right behind him for Beebe's publicity stunt, showing he can be a team player when needed. This unfortunately leads to him losing the race on a technicality (due to the fact that Miles started the race at a position ahead of Bruce [=McLaren=], another Ford racer, Bruce ''technically'' traveled more distance by the time he crossed the finish line despite crossing it after Miles did, leading Miles to end up in second place.]] As Shelby states, Miles got screwed.
* DotingParent: Miles to Peter. Due to his temper and obsession with racing, it would be easy to expect him to either be a DisappearedDad or WellDoneSonGuy. Instead, he's unfailingly supportive with his son, making an effort to include him in with the rest of the team.
* DrivesLikeCrazy:
** Shelby has a tendency to drive like a maniac when he's upset.
** Funnily enough, Mollie, Ken's wife, drives in this way as well when she's upset when Ken doesn't tell her about his business with Shelby after his shop got closed, much to Ken's obvious terror.
** Subverted by Ken. He's aggressive and pushes the limits when he's racing but he is analytical in his decision-making and puts great emphasis on staying in control.
* EndOfAnAge:
** [[spoiler:Ken's death]] signals the end of something truly wonderful on the Shelby team, as newer drivers lack the insight and passion he had for engineering and understanding his cars.
** In a historical sense, Ferrari's loss at Le Mans is the end of their dominance in endurance motorsport. While they've had continued success in Formula 1, a Ferrari has never won Le Mans again following their loss in '66.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In the first scene Miles and Shelby have together, Miles yells at a race official trying to disqualify his car over a tiny bit of trunk capacity. Shelby intercedes, and while he's trying to calm the situation and negotiate a solution, Miles grabs a hammer, crudely pounds out the trunk to meet the rules, accidentally smashes the windshield while angrily throwing tools, then proceeds to win the race in a damaged vehicle.
* EveryCarIsAPinto: Given the high-octane fuel, constantly dealing with overheating components and lax safety standards, this was a common occurrence for the time period. It's not literally every car crash, but it does happen several times.
* EvilIsPetty: Leo Beebe has a personal grudge against Ken Miles, starting from their first meeting when Miles harshly criticized Beebe's pet project, the Ford Mustang. After this point Beebe repeatedly pushed to keep Miles from racing for Ford and his failure at doing so just made him push harder.
* [[invoked]] ExecutiveMeddling: The Ford execs continually meddle in the affairs of Shelby's team, normally in regards to Miles, since the execs think that Miles would only provide the Ford Motor Company a bad image for having a "beatnik" in their racing team.
* ExplosiveOverclocking: Cars simply can't be fast; their engines also need to be able to handle the stress. Pushing an engine too hard (over 7000 rpm in the [=GT40's=] case) can cause it to give out. Part of the reason Shelby wants Miles as a driver is because he knows the car inside and out, including where the engine's limit is.
** During Le Mans, [[spoiler:Miles and Bandini race neck-and-neck down the Mulsanne Straight, both pushing their cars to the limit, before Bandini's engine blows out from the high revs and gives Miles a clear lead]].
** The 1966 24 Hours of Daytona also shows multiple cars blowing out their engines, demonstrating that it's proper handling and management, rather than power that wins endurance races. The race also clearly shows what makes Ken a good driver is his ability to know exactly what the maximum stress that he can put on the car so he can wring out the best performance without blowing anything out.
* {{Foil}}: Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari are both leaders of their respective companies but aside from their mutual dislike of each other, they have almost nothing in common. Enzo founded his own company, and he looks down on Ford as an InadequateInheritor of his grandfather's company. Ford's EstablishingCharacterMoment have him chastising the entire workforce of his company for the decreasing sales and [[BadBoss threatened to fire them all unless they come up with a good idea that could save the company]], while Enzo is first seen [[BenevolentBoss calmly observing his mechanics work on his cars to ensure that they're motivated and satisfied working under him]]. [[spoiler: At Le Mans, Enzo stays with his pit crew through the entire length of the race [[note]] This is ArtisticLicenseHistory, though. In real life, Enzo Ferrari was never there at the race. [[/note]] and tips his hat for Ken Miles for being a WorthyOpponent. On the other hand, Ford left the racetrack just a few hours into the race in a helicopter to retire to somewhere else before coming back near the end, and doesn't seem to care that his desire for a historic photo finish cost Miles his victory.]]
* FelonyMisdemeanor: Henry Ford II leaves the final race for a nice dinner and a good night's sleep, while his team continues to race throughout the night. Enzo Ferrari snidely comments on this, but seems most appalled that the owner of a car company left in a ''helicopter''.
* ForegoneConclusion: Anyone who's familiar with the racing industry will already know that [[spoiler:Bruce [=McLaren=] will win the 1966 Le Mans, Ken Miles will be killed while he's testing the J-car at Riverside International Raceway and Ford will continue their winning streak at Le Mans for the next three years]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** After Ford's first attempt at Le Mans ends in failure, due to ExecutiveMeddling, Henry Ford II promises Shelby carte blanche in planning the second attempt. Shelby tells Miles that term is "French for bullshit". Sure enough, Ford quickly falls back into overruling Shelby's decisions and retaking the authority they'd promised him.
** At one point during testing, the brakes on the car Miles is testing fail and he crashes, with the car exploding. He doesn't die because he is wearing protective gear and is able to get out. [[spoiler:Played with in that during the race at Le Mans, at one point the wheels on his car start glowing red just like they did before the brakes went out earlier in the movie. However, [[RedHerring they last just long enough for him to reach the pit crew to replace them]]. The real part where the foreshadowing "pays off" is after the race when Miles is testing a new model of the car. The brakes give out again and the car crashes and explodes again. This time Miles does not survive.]]
** When Miles is describing the Circuit de la Sarthe to his son Peter, he initially points at the starting line as the place where the race begins, only for Peter to correct him that technically the race starts when the drivers scramble to get into their cars at their starting positions. [[spoiler:When the race ends, Miles was denied the first place after finishing the race because Bruce [=McLaren=], another Ford driver, started the race from the position behind him so he ''technically'' ran a little bit further than Miles when they crossed the finish line together]]
* FriendshipMoment:
** Miles and Shelby's brawl after Ford loses the '65 race is clearly two good friends blowing off steam rather than any kind of serious fight. From Shelby discarding a can, which could've seriously injured Miles, in favor of slapping at him with a loaf of bread, to Miles spending the whole fight trying to wrestle Shelby to the ground rather than actually hitting him, it's uniquely masculine but undeniably an expression of their friendship.
** [[spoiler:Even though it wasn't his idea, Shelby takes it upon himself to apologize for suggesting that Miles drive in a line with the other [=GT40s=] for a photo op, an act that cost Miles a win. But Miles just says, "You promised a race, not a win." and begins talking about ways to further improve the car.]]
* GlassCannon: After a disastrous first race where the gearbox burns out, Shelby convinces Henry Ford II that it was actually a win because everyone, including Ferrari, saw the car reach a record [[FragileSpeedster 214 MPH before the collapse]]. That meant they had developed something special, and just needed more time to work out the issues.
* GracefulLoser:
** [[spoiler:Ken Miles. While he gets screwed out of first place in the Le Mans race on a technicality, he takes it reasonably well, and thanks Carroll Shelby for the opportunity.]]
** Despite losing the Le Mans race to Ford, [[spoiler: Enzo Ferrari raises his hat, but only to Ken Miles.]] Earlier, he gives an approving "Bellissimo" as Ford's team gains a massive lead and solidifies their win.
* HappilyMarried: Ken and Mollie are very happy together and she is fully supportive of his passions and idiosyncracies. The one time she's seen getting upset is when he tried to hide Carroll Shelby's offer to join his racing team.
* HateSink: Leo Beebe is an ObstructiveBureaucrat who personifies the [[VastBureaucracy bloated upper management of the Ford Motor Company]] that plagues Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles' efforts to build a world-class race car and beat Ferrari. A smug ControlFreak with [[EvilIsPetty a personal grudge against Miles]], Beebe does everything in his power to deny Miles to chance to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans and later sabotage the team for resisting his authority, even if it means that Ford loses to Ferrari once again.
* TheHeavy: Enzo Ferrari triggers the plot and the main goal is to beat him at Le Mans, but he simply isn't present for most of the film since it focuses on the development of the [=GT40=]. Therefore, SmugSnake ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe is the one who directly antagonizes Shelby and Miles for most of the film.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Close associates of Leo Beebe have protested his negative portrayal in the film, feeling that he deserves better than to be reduced to an obstructive stooge in a suit.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Beebe. He often tells the Shelby team to be "team players" in order to force them to do what he wants, but he regularly sabotages the team in order to make sure he gets a lion's share of the credit.
* ItsPersonal: Henry Ford II has no real feelings about Ferrari at first, seeing them as too small to consider a rival. This changes when Enzo plays Ford to get a better deal from Fiat and then proceeds to insult both the Ford company and Henry himself. Ford takes particular offense to the implication that he is inferior to his grandfather and starts the [=GT40=] program specifically to beat Enzo at his own game.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ken Miles. He's abrasive and temperamental, but also a devoted family man who absolutely adores his son.
* KarmaHoudini: Despite being an ObstructiveBureaucrat the entire movie, causing [[spoiler:Miles to lose Le Mans by a technicality for the sake of a publicity stunt]], and just generally being a smarmy douchebag overall, nothing bad happens to Leo Beebe.
* ManOnFire: A recurring theme is the danger fire poses on race drivers. Shelby is introduced catching on fire during a pit stop at Le Mans but he brushes it off. Later, he, Miles, and the crew must confront the fact that they won't be always able to walk away from such serious incidents.
* MarketBasedTitle: In the UK and other markets (including France unsurprisingly), the film is titled ''Le Mans '66''.
* MundaneSolution:
** Shelby and Miles are both fans of this. When facing disqualification due to a piece of luggage not fitting in the trunk of their car, Miles grabs a hammer and beats the trunk until the luggage will fit.
** Also seen during aerodynamics testing, where Shelby and co. use a roll of scotch tape and some yarn to find issues that the Ford computer could not.
* MythologyGag: Shelby holds up a placard saying "7000+ GO LIKE HELL" at Daytona to let Miles know he can push the car past 7000 rpm. ''Go Like Hell'' was the working title for the movie, taken from the title of a book about the event by A. J. Baime.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The page quote at the bottom from one of the trailers is from two different scenes in two completely different parts of the film. Ford’s quote is from about halfway into the movie, while Shelby's response is from near the beginning.
* NiceHat: Being a Texan, Shelby often wears a cowboy hat. Miles also has a straw hat that he's quite fond of, [[spoiler:which the [[DeadHatShot camera lingers]] on following his fatal crash]].
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The one time that Miles chooses to be a team player for the sake of the Ford Company by [[spoiler:slowing down and losing his considerable lead at Le Mans in order to have all 3 Ford cars cross the finish line together for publicity, it costs him his win due to a technicality (the Ford driver who won technically crossed the finish line faster than Miles did due to his starting position compared to Miles).]]
* NoOSHACompliance: TruthInTelevision, whereas modern race cars are so well designed that truly graphic crashes are still survivable (via complex harnesses, roll bars and bladder fuel tanks that don't catch fire easily), the time period shows truly dangerous races being done in open air hot rods.[[note]]Many of the other drivers seen or mentioned in the film died in racing accidents after the events depicted.[[/note]]
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Ford executive Leo Beebe is this, constantly undermining Shelby and Miles' efforts.
* OnlySaneMan: Phil, a member of Shelby's crew, frequently takes this role, managing the business side of the company and putting up with Ken's antics.
* PapaWolf: While attending the Mustang unveiling, Ken is holding his tongue. But when Leo Beebe tells off Peter for trying to get a close look at the car, Ken immediately steps in and lets Beebe have it with both barrels.
* PassThePopcorn: Mollie simply pulls up a beach chair while Shelby and Miles tear each other apart.
* PercussiveMaintenance: The door to Ken's GT won't shut at Le Mans. While the crew tries to see if there's something wrong with the mechanism, Pops just grabs a mallet and bashes it into place.
* PigInAPoke: Miles uses this trope by name when referring to the Ford Mustang, feeling that the entire thing should be redesigned if Ford wants performance to match appearance.
* ThePreciousPreciousCar: Ken deals with an angry customer complaining about his MG's performance. Ken condescendingly explains that the customer has no idea how to handle the car's capabilities and gives some practical advice, only to be promptly ignored and for the customer to drive away with the car's engine protesting at the poor handling.
* PretenderDiss: Enzo Ferrari rebuffs Ford's offer of a buyout with several insults, ending by saying ([[GratuitousEnglish in his only English line in the film]]) that their boss isn't Henry Ford, he's Henry Ford II. It's strongly implied that [[ItsPersonal this insult, more than the others, is what makes Ford so determined to beat Ferrari]].
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lee Iacocca tries to be this, allowing Carroll and his crew to do what they need to in order to win. Zig-zagged with Henry Ford II, who generally gives Carroll considerable leeway, yet seems easily swayed by Beebe who is frequently able to convince Ford to go back on things he promised to to Shelby.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Ken's second fiery crash is heavily foreshadowed about a third of the way through the movie. His subsequent races contain several shots and scenes that imply that it's going to happen at any moment (glowing brakes, having to have his door smashed in to keep it closed, etc.), but it happens after Le Mans.]]
* RetiredBadass: Carroll was one of the world's top racers before a heart condition forced him to retire and move to design his own cars. He's still a good enough driver to make Henry Ford II openly weep in fear.
* TheRival: For Ken Miles during the races, there are two: Walt Hansgen during the 24 Hours of Daytona (a driver from the Ford team Leo Beebe deployed specifically to prevent Ken Miles from winning the race, complete with top class NASCAR pit crew that allowed for quicker pit stops) and Lorenzo Bandini from the Ferrari team during the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
* RuleOfThree: [[spoiler:How the '66 Le Mans race ends; all three Ford [=GT40s=] cross the finish line.]]
* RulesLawyer: Happens multiple times, the characters had to be very precise in what they do in order to not be disqualified on a technicality.
** Ken's first race in the movie almost has him being rejected because the trunk of the car was not deep enough by a matter of centimeters. His response was to take a hammer and pound out the trunk cover until it fit the specifications.
** The Shelby team reason out a brand new system of replacing brake pads, figuring it would be more efficient to swap out the entire brake assembly while switching tires rather than just the pads. The Ferrari team notices this and starts up a fuss, while Shelby makes it clear there AintNoRule against it and the rules clearly say you can replace any part during the race.
** [[spoiler:The Ford marketing team suggests a photo finish of the race with three Ford cars side-by-side. Shelby hates telling Ken about it, but leaves the decision in his hands while he is in the car, arguing that tying for first is still an accomplishment. Ken reluctantly agrees after proving everything he needed to, but the official first place was given to a different Ford driver (Bruce [=McLaren=]), as he started the race further back and thus had to drive a slightly longer distance to complete the race. By all means Ken was the best driver of the race and was screwed out of that victory]].
* RunningGag: Several times, Miles and Shelby deal with smug customers who quickly reveal that they know ''nothing'' about cars.
* SecondPlaceIsForWinners: [[spoiler:In the end, Miles is cheated out of the first place of ''66 Le Mans due to a technicality (see RulesLawyer above) but he earned the respect of Enzo Ferrari himself (who tips his hat for him) and he has no hard feelings toward Shelby who suggested him the photo finish idea that cost him his victory, saying that Shelby "promised a race, not a win", and he's satisfied enough to had a chance to compete in the event.]]
* SlaveToPR: Ford Motor Company's FatalFlaw is that their entire operating procedure is a victim of this and it drives the main conflict of the film in addition to their rivalry with Ferrari. Having suffered from decreasing sales to the point that the company is threatened to go out of business, they decide to battle Ferrari at 24 Hours of Le Mans and win in order to better their brand image and thus more sales. Unfortunately, this results in their marketing department getting too much say in everything, including [[ExecutiveMeddling forcibly controlling their racing divisions to obey to their will even at the cost of quality]]. This puts Shelby and Miles, who prefer to play by their own rules, into conflict with the higher ups numerous times throughout the movie. [[spoiler:Miles himself suffered the most from this at the conclusion of the final race, as Henry Ford II wants all three [=GT40s=] to have a photo finish together to create a historic moment, which costs Miles his win due to a technicality just because the higher ups in Ford want to solidify their reputation to boost their sales.]]
* SlobsVsSnobs:
** The film sees Ford (slobs), a company that churns out mass-produced consumer cars, go up against Ferrari (snobs), a company that painstakingly makes luxury sports cars for individual customers, at Le Mans, a race that was dominated by Ferrari from 1960 to 1965.
** The relationship between Ford (snobs) and Shelby (slobs) also has echoes of this on the cultural side. Ford is very conservative and bureaucratic, which makes them disdain the more free-wheeling, hands-on Shelby.
* SouthernFriedGenius: Carroll hails from Texas and has a pronounced Southern accent, and is one of the greatest automotive designers in the world.
* SuddenDownerEnding: [[spoiler:A few weeks after the '66 Le Mans race, Ken dies in a car crash. Although, as mentioned above, this is presented in a bittersweet light.]]
* ThisMeansWar: When Ferrari calls Ford a pathetic knock-off of his grandfather, Ford declares in no uncertain terms that he is going to demolish him at Le Mans. He outright tells Shelby to "go to war" later in the film.
-->'''Ford:''' I want the best engineers... the best drivers. I don't care what it costs. We're gonna build a race car...and we're gonna ''bury'' that goddamn greasy wop 100 feet deep under the finish line at Le Mans...and I will be there to watch it.
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Ken outlines this early in the story to Shelby after the initial proposal. Experts like Ken and Shelby know exactly what is needed to make a world-class race car and win races, but layers upon layers of executives will demand every small change trying to earn some level of credit for victory. This is largely represented by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe]] who tries [[ExecutiveMeddling to control the race with phone calls from the executive booth]] and always thinking of the marketing potential, which [[spoiler:results in Ken slowing down to let the other Ford cars meet him at the finish line, which in turn robs him of his rightful victory due to {{Rules Lawyer}}ing]].
* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans.
* {{Troll}}: During Le Mans, Shelby steals Ferrari's stopwatches, then nonchalantly drops a lug-nut near their pit stop, causing the crew to assume they didn't reattach the wheels properly and panic.
* VersusTitle: Two of the most famous car companies in the world facing off against each other in a race.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Carroll and Ken seem to have this relationship.
* WorthyOpponent:
** Despite being condescending towards the racers from Ford's team in Le Mans earlier, [[spoiler:Enzo openly expresses his utmost respect for Ken due to his unmatched performance in the competition. He doesn't show this sentiment to other Ford's racers, however, mainly since it is Ken who clearly wins the competition and the other racers are wrongfully having the glory for themselves.]]
** Earlier, when Ferrari's [[spoiler:lead driver suffers a serious car malfunction and it's clear Ford's team will win,]] Ferrari only murmurs an approving "Bellissimo".
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->'''Ford II:''' Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone, starting with you?\\
'''Carroll:''' Well, sir, we're lighter, we're faster. And if that doesn't work, we're nastier.
----
[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Tagline}} "They took the American dream for a ride."]]'']]
->'''Ken:''' So the great Carroll Shelby is going to build a car to beat Ferrari, with Ford.\\
'''Carroll:''' Correct.\\
'''Ken:''' And how long did you tell them that you needed? Two, three hundred years?\\
'''Carroll:''' Ninety days.
''Ford v Ferrari'' is a 2019 film directed by Creator/JamesMangold starring Creator/MattDamon as Carroll Shelby and Creator/ChristianBale as Ken Miles, and distributed by Creator/{{Disney}} as Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, centered on the 1966 UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans.
Sales are slumping for the Ford Motor Company. The first baby boomers are growing up and they don't want Ford's 50s-style cars. They want something cool and sleek, like a race car. Vice President Lee Iacocca proposes Ford go into racing, specifically the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, to boost their credibility and public image. Ferrari has won all of the last five Le Mans races and Enzo Ferrari is nearly broke; why not buy him out? But Ferrari turns down their offer with a tirade of pointed insults. Furious, Henry Ford II wants to strike back. He doesn't want to just beat Ferrari at Le Mans; he wants to ''bury'' them. And for that, he needs a car.
Enter Carroll Shelby. Shelby won Le Mans several years ago before a heart condition forced him to stop racing, and now he builds high-end sports cars. Ford approaches him to with a blank check to build a car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby knows just the man to drive it: Ken Miles, an expert driver and close friend whose temper puts him at odds with Ford's higher-ups. As the car takes shape, Shelby's and Miles' scuffles with Ford's management may prove just as tough a battle as Le Mans itself.
It premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was released into theaters on November 15, 2019.
'''Previews:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyYgDtY2AMY Trailer 1]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h9Z89U9ZA Trailer 2]].
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!!''Ford v Ferrari'' contains examples of:
* AntiClimax: Of a sort. Being BasedOnATrueStory, [[spoiler: the goal to beat Ferrari happens a little past the mid-point of the final race, where Ken and Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini push their vehicles to their limits and Bandini's engine blows out. This gives Ken the absolute lead in the race and the last 15 minutes is more about how Ford is looking to market the upcoming victory]].
* AntiVillain: Enzo Ferrari is arguably no less sympathetic than the hypocritical Henry Ford II and his team of sycophantic, scheming executives. Despite the film's title, the Ford/Ferrari conflict is more of a backdrop to the the central conflict of Shelby and Miles versus the constant undermining efforts of the men who hired them. In the end, Ferrari himself [[spoiler: is one of the only people to show Ken Miles his due respect for functionally winning at Le Mans, while the Ford team push him aside and grant the win to another one of their drivers on a technicality.]]
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Part of what makes Ken and Carroll such a formidable duo. As they are both world-class drivers and expert mechanics, they can tell at a glance how certain racing elements will affect their cars.
* BadassDriver: Ken Miles is one of these. Carroll is too since he was a participant of Le Mans 1959 and the winner of that year's competition before his retirement.
* BadBoss: Henry Ford II's Vice CEO is a negative nancy who [[EvilIsPetty continually tries to get Ken kicked off the team for criticizing his pet project]], is a stubborn asshat who nearly sabotages Henry Ford II's dream project ''thrice over'', and is directly responsible for [[spoiler:causing Ken Miles' loss at Le Mans.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Leo Beebe gets his way when Miles agrees to slow down for a tie with the other Ford racers. Not only this, Beebe uses a technicality to grant one of those other drivers the win, spitefully stabbing Miles in the back after Miles had willingly cooperated with Beebe's plan.]]
* BerserkButton: When Iacocca relates Ferrari's insults to Ford, he's faintly amused at first. Then he learns that Ferrari called him a second-rate knockoff of his grandfather, the smile slides off his face, and he decides that ThisMeansWar
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Ken is the clear leader in Le Mans, but comes second due to Ford's ExecutiveMeddling and LoopholeAbuse. Even worse, he dies in a crash not long after. However, he had cemented himself as a racing legend in Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001, and died doing what he loved.]]
* {{Bloodsport}}: See also NoOSHACompliance. The safety standards of car races at the time were not exactly thorough, and the very real dangers of driving such high performance vehicles on poorly designed race tracks is highlighted throughout. The start of Le Mans involves the drivers having to rush to their cars on foot, and everyone whipping out of their stalls at the same time resulted in more than a few crashes right from the start.
* BookEnds: The movie opens with Shelby visiting the doctor about his heart condition, with him taking his medication while [[DrivesLikeCrazy speeding off in his hot rod dodging traffic]]. The end of the movie is functionally the same, as he takes his medication after visiting the Miles home and drives off.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Ken is very temperamental, practicing BrutalHonesty and hates corporate oversight. At the unveiling of the Mustang he criticizes everything about it, saying he prefers a Chevy Chevelle. Shelby brings him in to develop the [=GT40=] because they were friends and he was simply the best driver of his time, but Ford marketing did not like him and kept him from the early races because they didn't trust his ability to promote the company.
* CasualDangerDialogue: Even while going over 200mph on some of the most difficult tracks in racing history, Ken has no problem finding time to snark at other drivers' errors.
* ChromosomeCasting: Miles' wife is the only notable female character in the movie, which otherwise centers on a large group of male racers and car designers.
* CompositeCharacter: The Ford [=GT40=] was designed by dozens of engineers and dozens of Ford executives, the movie had been in production for a long time because they couldn't quite figure out how to condense it to a handful of characters. The movie does imply a number of others involved, including two other Ford teams at Le Mans and mentions of a design team in Britain, but the bulk of the story surrounds specifically Shelby and his crew along with Miles.
* CoolCar: Plenty to go around, considering the subject matter, but front and center is the Ford [=GT40=]. In the film the Ford crew acknowledge that they "just lost the beauty contest" as the Ferrari P3/4 is wheeled past before the race.
* DareToBeBadass: Shelby throws down a couple of times, telling Ford to put his money where his mouth is if he wants to win Le Mans. Zig-zagged in that Ford takes the bait (even telling Shelby to go to war) but then gets influenced by Beebe to weasel the deal with Shelby.
* DeadHatShot: There's one seen after [[spoiler:Miles is killed in an accident many weeks after the Le Mans victory.]]
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Henry Ford II calls Enzo Ferrari a “Wop”. In Ford's defense (aside from the time he lives in), he has just been ''deeply'' insulted by Ferrari, both personally and professionally, in a way that was clearly meant to be just as insulting as the slur Ford uses.
* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler:Despite having a clear lead, Miles decides to be a team player once he had gotten his record setting lap and slowed down to allow the other two cars to finish right behind him for Beebe's publicity stunt, showing he can be a team player when needed. This unfortunately leads to him losing the race on a technicality (due to the fact that Miles started the race at a position ahead of Bruce [=McLaren=], another Ford racer, Bruce ''technically'' traveled more distance by the time he crossed the finish line despite crossing it after Miles did, leading Miles to end up in second place.]] As Shelby states, Miles got screwed.
* DotingParent: Miles to Peter. Due to his temper and obsession with racing, it would be easy to expect him to either be a DisappearedDad or WellDoneSonGuy. Instead, he's unfailingly supportive with his son, making an effort to include him in with the rest of the team.
* DrivesLikeCrazy:
** Shelby has a tendency to drive like a maniac when he's upset.
** Funnily enough, Mollie, Ken's wife, drives in this way as well when she's upset when Ken doesn't tell her about his business with Shelby after his shop got closed, much to Ken's obvious terror.
** Subverted by Ken. He's aggressive and pushes the limits when he's racing but he is analytical in his decision-making and puts great emphasis on staying in control.
* EndOfAnAge:
** [[spoiler:Ken's death]] signals the end of something truly wonderful on the Shelby team, as newer drivers lack the insight and passion he had for engineering and understanding his cars.
** In a historical sense, Ferrari's loss at Le Mans is the end of their dominance in endurance motorsport. While they've had continued success in Formula 1, a Ferrari has never won Le Mans again following their loss in '66.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In the first scene Miles and Shelby have together, Miles yells at a race official trying to disqualify his car over a tiny bit of trunk capacity. Shelby intercedes, and while he's trying to calm the situation and negotiate a solution, Miles grabs a hammer, crudely pounds out the trunk to meet the rules, accidentally smashes the windshield while angrily throwing tools, then proceeds to win the race in a damaged vehicle.
* EveryCarIsAPinto: Given the high-octane fuel, constantly dealing with overheating components and lax safety standards, this was a common occurrence for the time period. It's not literally every car crash, but it does happen several times.
* EvilIsPetty: Leo Beebe has a personal grudge against Ken Miles, starting from their first meeting when Miles harshly criticized Beebe's pet project, the Ford Mustang. After this point Beebe repeatedly pushed to keep Miles from racing for Ford and his failure at doing so just made him push harder.
* [[invoked]] ExecutiveMeddling: The Ford execs continually meddle in the affairs of Shelby's team, normally in regards to Miles, since the execs think that Miles would only provide the Ford Motor Company a bad image for having a "beatnik" in their racing team.
* ExplosiveOverclocking: Cars simply can't be fast; their engines also need to be able to handle the stress. Pushing an engine too hard (over 7000 rpm in the [=GT40's=] case) can cause it to give out. Part of the reason Shelby wants Miles as a driver is because he knows the car inside and out, including where the engine's limit is.
** During Le Mans, [[spoiler:Miles and Bandini race neck-and-neck down the Mulsanne Straight, both pushing their cars to the limit, before Bandini's engine blows out from the high revs and gives Miles a clear lead]].
** The 1966 24 Hours of Daytona also shows multiple cars blowing out their engines, demonstrating that it's proper handling and management, rather than power that wins endurance races. The race also clearly shows what makes Ken a good driver is his ability to know exactly what the maximum stress that he can put on the car so he can wring out the best performance without blowing anything out.
* {{Foil}}: Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari are both leaders of their respective companies but aside from their mutual dislike of each other, they have almost nothing in common. Enzo founded his own company, and he looks down on Ford as an InadequateInheritor of his grandfather's company. Ford's EstablishingCharacterMoment have him chastising the entire workforce of his company for the decreasing sales and [[BadBoss threatened to fire them all unless they come up with a good idea that could save the company]], while Enzo is first seen [[BenevolentBoss calmly observing his mechanics work on his cars to ensure that they're motivated and satisfied working under him]]. [[spoiler: At Le Mans, Enzo stays with his pit crew through the entire length of the race [[note]] This is ArtisticLicenseHistory, though. In real life, Enzo Ferrari was never there at the race. [[/note]] and tips his hat for Ken Miles for being a WorthyOpponent. On the other hand, Ford left the racetrack just a few hours into the race in a helicopter to retire to somewhere else before coming back near the end, and doesn't seem to care that his desire for a historic photo finish cost Miles his victory.]]
* FelonyMisdemeanor: Henry Ford II leaves the final race for a nice dinner and a good night's sleep, while his team continues to race throughout the night. Enzo Ferrari snidely comments on this, but seems most appalled that the owner of a car company left in a ''helicopter''.
* ForegoneConclusion: Anyone who's familiar with the racing industry will already know that [[spoiler:Bruce [=McLaren=] will win the 1966 Le Mans, Ken Miles will be killed while he's testing the J-car at Riverside International Raceway and Ford will continue their winning streak at Le Mans for the next three years]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** After Ford's first attempt at Le Mans ends in failure, due to ExecutiveMeddling, Henry Ford II promises Shelby carte blanche in planning the second attempt. Shelby tells Miles that term is "French for bullshit". Sure enough, Ford quickly falls back into overruling Shelby's decisions and retaking the authority they'd promised him.
** At one point during testing, the brakes on the car Miles is testing fail and he crashes, with the car exploding. He doesn't die because he is wearing protective gear and is able to get out. [[spoiler:Played with in that during the race at Le Mans, at one point the wheels on his car start glowing red just like they did before the brakes went out earlier in the movie. However, [[RedHerring they last just long enough for him to reach the pit crew to replace them]]. The real part where the foreshadowing "pays off" is after the race when Miles is testing a new model of the car. The brakes give out again and the car crashes and explodes again. This time Miles does not survive.]]
** When Miles is describing the Circuit de la Sarthe to his son Peter, he initially points at the starting line as the place where the race begins, only for Peter to correct him that technically the race starts when the drivers scramble to get into their cars at their starting positions. [[spoiler:When the race ends, Miles was denied the first place after finishing the race because Bruce [=McLaren=], another Ford driver, started the race from the position behind him so he ''technically'' ran a little bit further than Miles when they crossed the finish line together]]
* FriendshipMoment:
** Miles and Shelby's brawl after Ford loses the '65 race is clearly two good friends blowing off steam rather than any kind of serious fight. From Shelby discarding a can, which could've seriously injured Miles, in favor of slapping at him with a loaf of bread, to Miles spending the whole fight trying to wrestle Shelby to the ground rather than actually hitting him, it's uniquely masculine but undeniably an expression of their friendship.
** [[spoiler:Even though it wasn't his idea, Shelby takes it upon himself to apologize for suggesting that Miles drive in a line with the other [=GT40s=] for a photo op, an act that cost Miles a win. But Miles just says, "You promised a race, not a win." and begins talking about ways to further improve the car.]]
* GlassCannon: After a disastrous first race where the gearbox burns out, Shelby convinces Henry Ford II that it was actually a win because everyone, including Ferrari, saw the car reach a record [[FragileSpeedster 214 MPH before the collapse]]. That meant they had developed something special, and just needed more time to work out the issues.
* GracefulLoser:
** [[spoiler:Ken Miles. While he gets screwed out of first place in the Le Mans race on a technicality, he takes it reasonably well, and thanks Carroll Shelby for the opportunity.]]
** Despite losing the Le Mans race to Ford, [[spoiler: Enzo Ferrari raises his hat, but only to Ken Miles.]] Earlier, he gives an approving "Bellissimo" as Ford's team gains a massive lead and solidifies their win.
* HappilyMarried: Ken and Mollie are very happy together and she is fully supportive of his passions and idiosyncracies. The one time she's seen getting upset is when he tried to hide Carroll Shelby's offer to join his racing team.
* HateSink: Leo Beebe is an ObstructiveBureaucrat who personifies the [[VastBureaucracy bloated upper management of the Ford Motor Company]] that plagues Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles' efforts to build a world-class race car and beat Ferrari. A smug ControlFreak with [[EvilIsPetty a personal grudge against Miles]], Beebe does everything in his power to deny Miles to chance to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans and later sabotage the team for resisting his authority, even if it means that Ford loses to Ferrari once again.
* TheHeavy: Enzo Ferrari triggers the plot and the main goal is to beat him at Le Mans, but he simply isn't present for most of the film since it focuses on the development of the [=GT40=]. Therefore, SmugSnake ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe is the one who directly antagonizes Shelby and Miles for most of the film.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Close associates of Leo Beebe have protested his negative portrayal in the film, feeling that he deserves better than to be reduced to an obstructive stooge in a suit.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Beebe. He often tells the Shelby team to be "team players" in order to force them to do what he wants, but he regularly sabotages the team in order to make sure he gets a lion's share of the credit.
* ItsPersonal: Henry Ford II has no real feelings about Ferrari at first, seeing them as too small to consider a rival. This changes when Enzo plays Ford to get a better deal from Fiat and then proceeds to insult both the Ford company and Henry himself. Ford takes particular offense to the implication that he is inferior to his grandfather and starts the [=GT40=] program specifically to beat Enzo at his own game.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ken Miles. He's abrasive and temperamental, but also a devoted family man who absolutely adores his son.
* KarmaHoudini: Despite being an ObstructiveBureaucrat the entire movie, causing [[spoiler:Miles to lose Le Mans by a technicality for the sake of a publicity stunt]], and just generally being a smarmy douchebag overall, nothing bad happens to Leo Beebe.
* ManOnFire: A recurring theme is the danger fire poses on race drivers. Shelby is introduced catching on fire during a pit stop at Le Mans but he brushes it off. Later, he, Miles, and the crew must confront the fact that they won't be always able to walk away from such serious incidents.
* MarketBasedTitle: In the UK and other markets (including France unsurprisingly), the film is titled ''Le Mans '66''.
* MundaneSolution:
** Shelby and Miles are both fans of this. When facing disqualification due to a piece of luggage not fitting in the trunk of their car, Miles grabs a hammer and beats the trunk until the luggage will fit.
** Also seen during aerodynamics testing, where Shelby and co. use a roll of scotch tape and some yarn to find issues that the Ford computer could not.
* MythologyGag: Shelby holds up a placard saying "7000+ GO LIKE HELL" at Daytona to let Miles know he can push the car past 7000 rpm. ''Go Like Hell'' was the working title for the movie, taken from the title of a book about the event by A. J. Baime.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The page quote at the bottom from one of the trailers is from two different scenes in two completely different parts of the film. Ford’s quote is from about halfway into the movie, while Shelby's response is from near the beginning.
* NiceHat: Being a Texan, Shelby often wears a cowboy hat. Miles also has a straw hat that he's quite fond of, [[spoiler:which the [[DeadHatShot camera lingers]] on following his fatal crash]].
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The one time that Miles chooses to be a team player for the sake of the Ford Company by [[spoiler:slowing down and losing his considerable lead at Le Mans in order to have all 3 Ford cars cross the finish line together for publicity, it costs him his win due to a technicality (the Ford driver who won technically crossed the finish line faster than Miles did due to his starting position compared to Miles).]]
* NoOSHACompliance: TruthInTelevision, whereas modern race cars are so well designed that truly graphic crashes are still survivable (via complex harnesses, roll bars and bladder fuel tanks that don't catch fire easily), the time period shows truly dangerous races being done in open air hot rods.[[note]]Many of the other drivers seen or mentioned in the film died in racing accidents after the events depicted.[[/note]]
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Ford executive Leo Beebe is this, constantly undermining Shelby and Miles' efforts.
* OnlySaneMan: Phil, a member of Shelby's crew, frequently takes this role, managing the business side of the company and putting up with Ken's antics.
* PapaWolf: While attending the Mustang unveiling, Ken is holding his tongue. But when Leo Beebe tells off Peter for trying to get a close look at the car, Ken immediately steps in and lets Beebe have it with both barrels.
* PassThePopcorn: Mollie simply pulls up a beach chair while Shelby and Miles tear each other apart.
* PercussiveMaintenance: The door to Ken's GT won't shut at Le Mans. While the crew tries to see if there's something wrong with the mechanism, Pops just grabs a mallet and bashes it into place.
* PigInAPoke: Miles uses this trope by name when referring to the Ford Mustang, feeling that the entire thing should be redesigned if Ford wants performance to match appearance.
* ThePreciousPreciousCar: Ken deals with an angry customer complaining about his MG's performance. Ken condescendingly explains that the customer has no idea how to handle the car's capabilities and gives some practical advice, only to be promptly ignored and for the customer to drive away with the car's engine protesting at the poor handling.
* PretenderDiss: Enzo Ferrari rebuffs Ford's offer of a buyout with several insults, ending by saying ([[GratuitousEnglish in his only English line in the film]]) that their boss isn't Henry Ford, he's Henry Ford II. It's strongly implied that [[ItsPersonal this insult, more than the others, is what makes Ford so determined to beat Ferrari]].
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lee Iacocca tries to be this, allowing Carroll and his crew to do what they need to in order to win. Zig-zagged with Henry Ford II, who generally gives Carroll considerable leeway, yet seems easily swayed by Beebe who is frequently able to convince Ford to go back on things he promised to to Shelby.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Ken's second fiery crash is heavily foreshadowed about a third of the way through the movie. His subsequent races contain several shots and scenes that imply that it's going to happen at any moment (glowing brakes, having to have his door smashed in to keep it closed, etc.), but it happens after Le Mans.]]
* RetiredBadass: Carroll was one of the world's top racers before a heart condition forced him to retire and move to design his own cars. He's still a good enough driver to make Henry Ford II openly weep in fear.
* TheRival: For Ken Miles during the races, there are two: Walt Hansgen during the 24 Hours of Daytona (a driver from the Ford team Leo Beebe deployed specifically to prevent Ken Miles from winning the race, complete with top class NASCAR pit crew that allowed for quicker pit stops) and Lorenzo Bandini from the Ferrari team during the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
* RuleOfThree: [[spoiler:How the '66 Le Mans race ends; all three Ford [=GT40s=] cross the finish line.]]
* RulesLawyer: Happens multiple times, the characters had to be very precise in what they do in order to not be disqualified on a technicality.
** Ken's first race in the movie almost has him being rejected because the trunk of the car was not deep enough by a matter of centimeters. His response was to take a hammer and pound out the trunk cover until it fit the specifications.
** The Shelby team reason out a brand new system of replacing brake pads, figuring it would be more efficient to swap out the entire brake assembly while switching tires rather than just the pads. The Ferrari team notices this and starts up a fuss, while Shelby makes it clear there AintNoRule against it and the rules clearly say you can replace any part during the race.
** [[spoiler:The Ford marketing team suggests a photo finish of the race with three Ford cars side-by-side. Shelby hates telling Ken about it, but leaves the decision in his hands while he is in the car, arguing that tying for first is still an accomplishment. Ken reluctantly agrees after proving everything he needed to, but the official first place was given to a different Ford driver (Bruce [=McLaren=]), as he started the race further back and thus had to drive a slightly longer distance to complete the race. By all means Ken was the best driver of the race and was screwed out of that victory]].
* RunningGag: Several times, Miles and Shelby deal with smug customers who quickly reveal that they know ''nothing'' about cars.
* SecondPlaceIsForWinners: [[spoiler:In the end, Miles is cheated out of the first place of ''66 Le Mans due to a technicality (see RulesLawyer above) but he earned the respect of Enzo Ferrari himself (who tips his hat for him) and he has no hard feelings toward Shelby who suggested him the photo finish idea that cost him his victory, saying that Shelby "promised a race, not a win", and he's satisfied enough to had a chance to compete in the event.]]
* SlaveToPR: Ford Motor Company's FatalFlaw is that their entire operating procedure is a victim of this and it drives the main conflict of the film in addition to their rivalry with Ferrari. Having suffered from decreasing sales to the point that the company is threatened to go out of business, they decide to battle Ferrari at 24 Hours of Le Mans and win in order to better their brand image and thus more sales. Unfortunately, this results in their marketing department getting too much say in everything, including [[ExecutiveMeddling forcibly controlling their racing divisions to obey to their will even at the cost of quality]]. This puts Shelby and Miles, who prefer to play by their own rules, into conflict with the higher ups numerous times throughout the movie. [[spoiler:Miles himself suffered the most from this at the conclusion of the final race, as Henry Ford II wants all three [=GT40s=] to have a photo finish together to create a historic moment, which costs Miles his win due to a technicality just because the higher ups in Ford want to solidify their reputation to boost their sales.]]
* SlobsVsSnobs:
** The film sees Ford (slobs), a company that churns out mass-produced consumer cars, go up against Ferrari (snobs), a company that painstakingly makes luxury sports cars for individual customers, at Le Mans, a race that was dominated by Ferrari from 1960 to 1965.
** The relationship between Ford (snobs) and Shelby (slobs) also has echoes of this on the cultural side. Ford is very conservative and bureaucratic, which makes them disdain the more free-wheeling, hands-on Shelby.
* SouthernFriedGenius: Carroll hails from Texas and has a pronounced Southern accent, and is one of the greatest automotive designers in the world.
* SuddenDownerEnding: [[spoiler:A few weeks after the '66 Le Mans race, Ken dies in a car crash. Although, as mentioned above, this is presented in a bittersweet light.]]
* ThisMeansWar: When Ferrari calls Ford a pathetic knock-off of his grandfather, Ford declares in no uncertain terms that he is going to demolish him at Le Mans. He outright tells Shelby to "go to war" later in the film.
-->'''Ford:''' I want the best engineers... the best drivers. I don't care what it costs. We're gonna build a race car...and we're gonna ''bury'' that goddamn greasy wop 100 feet deep under the finish line at Le Mans...and I will be there to watch it.
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Ken outlines this early in the story to Shelby after the initial proposal. Experts like Ken and Shelby know exactly what is needed to make a world-class race car and win races, but layers upon layers of executives will demand every small change trying to earn some level of credit for victory. This is largely represented by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Leo Beebe]] who tries [[ExecutiveMeddling to control the race with phone calls from the executive booth]] and always thinking of the marketing potential, which [[spoiler:results in Ken slowing down to let the other Ford cars meet him at the finish line, which in turn robs him of his rightful victory due to {{Rules Lawyer}}ing]].
* TranquilFury: Ford doesn't raise his voice a single octave as he declares his intention to utterly crush Ferrari at Le Mans.
* {{Troll}}: During Le Mans, Shelby steals Ferrari's stopwatches, then nonchalantly drops a lug-nut near their pit stop, causing the crew to assume they didn't reattach the wheels properly and panic.
* VersusTitle: Two of the most famous car companies in the world facing off against each other in a race.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Carroll and Ken seem to have this relationship.
* WorthyOpponent:
** Despite being condescending towards the racers from Ford's team in Le Mans earlier, [[spoiler:Enzo openly expresses his utmost respect for Ken due to his unmatched performance in the competition. He doesn't show this sentiment to other Ford's racers, however, mainly since it is Ken who clearly wins the competition and the other racers are wrongfully having the glory for themselves.]]
** Earlier, when Ferrari's [[spoiler:lead driver suffers a serious car malfunction and it's clear Ford's team will win,]] Ferrari only murmurs an approving "Bellissimo".
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->'''Ford II:''' Give me one reason why I don't fire everyone, starting with you?\\
'''Carroll:''' Well, sir, we're lighter, we're faster. And if that doesn't work, we're nastier.
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