Go Like Hell-4 stars (POLLS)

[Joanne]

Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans -4 Stars


This is the Story of Henry Ford II and his obsession with having an American made car, of course a Ford product, win The 24 Hour Le Mans. He spent millions of dollars trying to unseat Ferrari, a French made auto.

Detroit's Big Three (as the auto industry is/was known) had signed a pact "Detroit's Safety Resolution". In 1963 Henry Ford II withdrew his company from the pact. Ford believed that domestic auto sales were intricately tied to the racing cars, and he was determined to cash in on this theory. At the Daytona 500 that year Ford introduced a V8 engine that was the largest, most powerful Ford engine ever produced.

Enzo Ferrari was just as determined to stop Ford. His cars got faster, sleeker. However, the loss of life due to accidents on the track was in the double digits. These vehicles required almost super-human quality from the race car pilots

In 1965, furious he still had not won the Le Mans, Ford sent a card to all of his top Executives. The card had the Le Mans logo on it and read You Better Win. In other words, your job is on the line. Being Detroit born and bred, I remember that Henry II was always in the newspapers here. He had a fire cracker temper and was not known as a nice man. It was interesting for me to read more about him and how he ran his company.

If not for the Polls challenge I would have never given this book a second look. I am surprised as anyone how much I enjoyed it. A.J. Baime tells the story in plain language and he kept my interest through-out.