Factual error: During Lee Iacocca's slide presentation to Henry Ford II in 1963, there are two slides that reference James Bond. One shows him standing next to the Aston Martin DB5, which made its debut in "Goldfinger" in 1964, and another shows a still image from "Thunderball", which was released in 1965.
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
Directed by: James Mangold
Starring: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe
Factual error: Christian Bale is eating a bag of potato chips. That bag is foil-lined or made of some type of polymer blend. Potato chips were packaged in a wax-paper/plastic bag in the mid-sixties. The inside of the bag would have been whitish, not silver.
Factual error: Throughout the movie, Ken wears a pair of Ray Ban Balorama (4089) sunglasses. His pair however, has the Ray Ban logo on the temples; in the 1960s, Ray Ban sunglasses didn't feature the logo on the temples or lenses.
Trivia: Matt Damon's primary reason for taking the part was because he was keen to work with Christian Bale.
Trivia: Christian Bale continued an impressive history of weight gain and loss for this part - he'd put on weight for his role in Vice, and had 7 months to drop it all to play Ken Miles. He's said he just didn't eat. He's previously lost weight for The Machinist, and then gained it all back in short order for Batman Begins.
More trivia for Ford v Ferrari
Carroll Shelby: There's a point, 7000 rpm, where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. Just disappears. And all that's left is a body, moving through space and time. 7000 rpm, that's where you meet it. Asks you a question. The only question that matters. Who are you?
Henry Ford II: This isn't the first time Ford Motors' gone to war. We know how to do more than push papers. Go ahead, Carroll. Go to war.
Carroll Shelby: Thank you, sir.
Lee Iacocca: Carroll Shelby.
Carroll Shelby: Maybe?
Lee Iacocca: Lee Iacocca, Ford Motors. Suppose Henry Ford II wanted to build the greatest race car the world's ever seen, to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What's it take?
Carroll Shelby: Well, it takes somethin' money can't buy.
Lee Iacocca: Well, it can buy speed.
Carroll Shelby: It isn't about speed.
Question: At various points in the film the car brakes are glowing red hot, would this happen in real life or is it for show?
Answer: I watched this movie with my father, who actually participated in Autocross races in the past. He says from first hand experience that this is indeed real. The breaks get so heated from use in the race during the rapid slowing and going that they glow hot. This is why there are racing grade breaks and it's unwise to try and race without them.
Agreed. My dad is a former race car mechanic and he said that this absolutely happens all the time.
Question: During La Mans, it shows Shelby taking a stopwatch from Ferrari's pit and dropping a nut on the floor. Is there any indication Shelby ever cheated during a race like this (whether at Le Mans or somewhere else)? Like, was he ever caught or accused of cheating? I get there's a lot of artistic licensing taking place in this film, so I understand if it was made up, just curious if it was based on anything from Shelby's life.
Answer: Technically, neither of these incidents would be considered cheating in the classic sense. Stealing the stopwatches would be just that, stealing. It's likely that some other members of a team like Ferrari had back up stopwatches. Dropping the lug nut in the Ferrari pit would just be a mind game to put doubt in the minds of the pit crew as to whether they got all the lug nuts on the wheels. Neither of these incidents would affect the performance of the race car. It was mischief, not cheating.
This doesn't answer the question at all (and seems like someone's trying to correct this thinking it's a mistake entry). I said "cheating like this" for the 2 examples I gave, because it's cheating (by definition) but not necessarily breaking La Mans rules. Plus I also asked about actual accusations of cheating.
It's called gamesmanship, how is dropping a lug nut to make the Italians think they had forgotten one cheating? Now if he had taken the lug nut so it delayed their pit stop or so it wasn't put on at all that's a different story. You seem like you never competed if you think those things are cheating.
And stealing a stopwatch is gamesmanship too? The question is was this based on anything. I've never competed in LeMans, but in a majority of sports there are rules against deceiving the other team (for example a balk). Seems like you've never played sports.
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Answer: Watch any NASCAR short track night race where heavy braking is required, the brake rotors glow at every turn.