One of the finest racing films of recent times was 2019’s Ford v Ferrari, in which director James Mangold retold the background and story of the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, when Ford’s GT40 Mk.II soundly beat Ferrari’s 330 P3. Based on the book Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans, Christian Bale utterly nails the grouchy-but-brilliant British driver Ken Miles, and Matt Damon also convinces as the larger-than-life Texan Carroll Shelby, who masterminds Ford’s show as a former winner of the event himself.
While Shelby’s 89 years on this earth (he passed in 2012) meant his legend was very well documented, Miles was only 47 when he passed in a testing crash in Ford’s J-Car at Riverside, California. Until the film’s release, only true aficionados knew his tale. His tragic demise occurred just two months after his controversial runner-up finish at Le Mans, which had followed on from his great successes in the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour Continental and 12 Hours of Sebring, sharing his GT40 with Lloyd Ruby, and beating Ferrari on both occasions.
“I didn’t know about the Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby relationship, with the 1966 races and whatnot,” says Bale, who took on the role because it was “one of the best scripts I’ve ever read.”
Bale added of his preparation for the role: “I spoke with Ken’s son Peter a lot, and he was very generous with his time, telling me stories about his dad, and while there’s a lot of footage of him driving, there’s not much footage of Ken speaking.”
Last month, the official IMSA YouTube channel published an amazing 23-minute film from the 1966 Daytona race, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first 24-hour race at Daytona International Speedway. This rare 16mm film footage features Miles speaking in his ‘plummy’ Midlands of England accent. What comes across is his economy of words – hardly ideal for a Hollywood subject! – and his absolute determination to win Le Mans next.
Reflecting the slower pace of the 1960s, compared to the flat-out ’24-hour sprint race’ of the current day, Miles is caught chatting to Ruby before the Texan’s final stint to the finish.
“Okay… Just be careful with it,” he advises after he alights from the cockpit and pats Ruby reassuringly on the shoulder. “Treat it lovingly and tenderly, just for two hours. Okay?”
After Ruby rejoins, legendary pit reporter Chris Economaki catches up with Miles.
“How’s the car?”
“Beautiful.”
“No trouble?”
“No trouble.”
“How about your speed, are you taking it quite easy?”
Miles shrugs: “Just loafing along.”
“It’s going to be number two for Miles and Ruby?” – they’d won together in ’65 too.
“Correct.”
After Economaki says “good luck” and pulls away, Miles interjects: “I hope so!”
After the race, Miles and Ruby are grilled again by Economaki and calmly relate their simple strategy over the 24 hours. At the end, Chris asks his “zinger” question: “Is this the kind of team that can win at Le Mans?”
Miles replies: “I think this is the team that’s going to win at Le Mans.”
And he was right. The problem was, Miles wasn’t in the winning car. Although there’s a strong argument that Ford’s management ‘fixed’ the finish as the film portrays – to ensure that Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon’s GT40 won, rather than that of the gruff and belligerent Miles (partnered by Denny Hulme as Ruby was absent injured following a plane crash) – perhaps it wasn’t as straightforward as Miles simply backing off to let the team cars catch up as the film portrays.
In a ‘lost’ interview from 1997, that was published just a couple of years ago, Shelby insists Miles was a victim of circumstance and French officialdom, rather than a corporate decision.
“We won the race, and there was the fiasco about the finish,” recalled Shelby. “They had to make a rule up. I talked to Leo Beebe [Ford’s executive at the race] and said let’s have three of our cars coming across [the finish line] at the same time. And then Ken Miles was then killed testing the J Car, so I’ve always had a guilty complex about instigating that.
“They all came across together, and then Le Mans decided to cook up a rule that said the car that had travelled the furtherest [sic] distance won. There was no rule like that, but they had to do something to save face, because they couldn’t have three winners, could they? We thought it would be fun to give them a decision, a hard decision.
“We got more publicity outta doing it that way, but Ken Miles won the race. He’d done everything he was supposed to do all the way, and I always feel very guilty about that, and I still feel guilty about it to this day.”
What isn’t discussed is the fact that Miles (in the hare-like GT40) had been multiple laps ahead of McLaren (who’d played more of a tortoise role) going into the closing hours, when he made his final pitstop for new brakes. Then, he pitted again on the very next lap, reporting a brake vibration. Why? Because, according to his car chief, the brakes that had been bedded-in for his car were taken and put on McLaren’s GT40 instead. Was this the real ‘sabotage’, as Miles lost his massive lead due to having them changed once more? There’s also the suggestion that Beebe deliberately held back Miles in a discussion during that pitstop because he’d been lapping quicker than the instructed pace, and he didn’t want to risk Ford’s “investment”.
Unlike the movie’s Hollywood ending, which portrays them all crossing the line three-wide on a sunny day, what happened in reality was that – in pouring rain – McLaren in the #1 car crossed the line some 45 feet ahead of Miles in the #2. And the regulation about starting positions being considered if cars cross the line on the same lap only extends that margin of victory, as the winning #2 entry started fourth, two spots behind the #1, so the margin extended to 65 feet.
There’s little doubt that Miles lost his Le Mans victory dream because of “the photograph” that Beebe demanded for Ford’s corporate preening, but how that truly transpired followed him to the grave. Did Miles really lift off at the finish in protest at being held back? Did McLaren actually speed up to ensure he crossed the line first? Perhaps Bruce’s post-race quote summed it up best: “I didn’t think 10 minutes of politics could win a 24-hour race – but there you are. Nice guys don’t win ball games, they say...”
