'Ford v Ferrari': The inspiring, yet tragic life of the legendary Ken Miles
The trailer for 'Ford v Ferrari' was high-octane and equally gripping. When Matt Damon’s Carroll Shelby was tasked with creating a car that was fast enough to spray dirt on the Ferrari, he had an unlikely ally in the form of Ken Miles (Christian Bale) who pushed the car to its limits each time he was behind the wheel.
Let us admit it, Ferrari was a Goliath back in the day and for Ford, it was near damn mission impossible when it came to trumping the fastest car, especially in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. However, the real story of Ken Miles is inspiring and in many ways, tragic.
Miles was born in England and grew up with an avid interest in cars and automobile mechanics. He served the British Army during WWII and moved to California to pursue his passion for racing. Over the years, he established himself as a formidable race driver and garnered the attention of Carroll Shelby, the legendary auto designer. Best known for creating the Shelby Mustang, whose GT350 also had Miles contributing heavily.
The duo of Shelby and Miles came together after Ford’s GT40 was a damp squib at the ‘64 and ‘65 Le Mans. As reported by Motor Sport, the pair worked on the car and rang in changes to notch up its performance. The changes worked as the GT40 owned the track at the 1966 Le Mans as three of the Fords took the three places. Miles, who was zooming in one would have finished first had he not been ordered to slow down for his teammates to catch up.
While this may have meant bigger things in store for the racer, his life was tragically cut short just two months later. Miles was testing out the next version of the GT40 at the Riverside International Raceway in California and lost control. He was doing 200mph at the time as the car flipped and burned. He died instantly and was 47 at the time.
Miles was a legend and this wasn’t just an accolade from the racing fraternity. Such was his reputation behind the wheel and had he been alive, there would be more accomplishments coming his way. In many ways, it does feel like ‘Ford v Ferrari’ immortalized the driver by giving the world a glimpse of his genius.
‘Ford v Ferrari’ releases on November 15.