Ford’s bringing four fab retro liveries to Le Mans

By Lizzie Pope

| 29 May 2019

Classic & Sports Car – Ford's bringing four fab retro liveries to Le Mans

Love a retro livery? Us, too! Which is why we’re excited to see the four Ford has unveiled ahead of this year’s Le Mans 24 Hour race on 15-16 June.

The endurance race’s 2019 running will be the marque’s final factory-backed trip to Le Sarthe – for now, at least – since its 2016 return to celebrate 50 years since that famous GT40 1-2-3, headed by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon (above).

And that victory is one which will be remembered next month, as the number 66 Ford GT’s livery will echo that of the 1966 winner.

Clockwise from top left: recalling McLaren/Amon's ’66 win; marking Gurney/Foyt’s success in 1967; number 69 honours 1966’s second-placed car; car 68 celebrates Ford’s most recent Le Mans success

Piloting number 66 will be German driver Stefan Mücke, American Billy Johnson and Olivier Pla from France.

And representing Ken Miles/Denny Hulme’s second-place finish in ’66 will be the livery worn by car 69, to be driven by New Zealand’s Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe from Australia and Brit Richard Westbrook.

Ford’s victory the following year – 1967 – with a GT40 driven by Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt will be honoured by the design of 2019’s number 67 Ford GT, to be raced by Brits Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell, as well as Jonathan Bomarito from the US.

Finally, Ford’s Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE) Pro class win of 2016 will be recalled in the design of car 68, which will be driven by the same trio as three years ago: Dirk Müller (Germany), Joey Hand (USA) and Sébastien Bourdais (France).

These four works entrants will be joined by the Keating Motorsports team in the GTE Am class, the Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Fraga-driven Ford GT using a similar livery design, but in its title sponsor’s colours.

Clockwise from top left: the Ford GT40 of Miles/Hulme took second in ’66; Gurney/Foyt were the race’s 1967 victors; the four 2019 factory cars

“In 2016, Ford returned to Le Mans to mark the 50th anniversary of our incredible 1966 win and we celebrated in the best way possible by winning the race,” said Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford Motor Company.

“To stand on that podium on behalf of the employees was a proud moment for me and I look forward returning to Le Mans this year to support the team as we approach our final race in this chapter.”

“The Ford GT was created to take Ford back to the world of GT endurance racing,” added Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports.

“This factory Ford GT programme has been a great success for our brand and we have enjoyed the many challenges that have come our way during this four-year programme. Le Mans is not quite the end of the factory programme as we still have many more IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races to go in 2019.”

Images: Motorsport Images/Ford

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