1964 LE MANS

The 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans marked the ambitious but disappointing debut of Ford Motor Company's GT40 program, while delivering a strong showing from Carroll Shelby's parallel Cobra effort, highlighting the early challenges and glimmers of promise in the American assault on Ferrari's endurance racing supremacy. The brand-new GT40 prototypes, powered by 4.2- and 4.7-liter V8s and managed by John Wyer's team, demonstrated raw speed—Richie Ginther/Masten Gregory led early laps and Phil Hill set the fastest race lap—but fragile Colotti gearboxes, fires, and other mechanical failures retired all three entries well before the finish. Ferrari dominated the podium with its 275 P (Jean Guichet/Nino Vaccarella winning overall) and 330 P models. In contrast, Shelby's aerodynamic Daytona Cobra Coupes made a striking impact in the GT class: the #5 car driven by Dan Gurney/Bob Bondurant won the GT category and finished a remarkable 4th overall, while the #6 entry (Allen Grant/Jerry Grant) placed 7th overall, outpacing many prototypes and signaling Shelby's expertise in high-speed reliability. For Ford, the GT40's humiliating failure exposed critical reliability gaps but spurred a major overhaul, leading to the program's transfer to Shelby's team later that year; for Shelby, the Daytona Coupes' success built crucial momentum and championship points, foreshadowing the GT40's eventual dominance starting in 1966.