Column: Peter Brock on the Accuracy of Ford vs. Ferrari

As a deeply involved participant in the famed Ford versus Ferrari wars of the mid-’60s, I’ve been asked numerous times by editors, media pundits and younger motorsports enthusiasts, who weren’t around at the time, to comment on the recent film of the same name.

As much as I love the art of cinema, I feel it’s not my place to critique the creations of those who’ve spent much of their lives producing “successful” entertainment for the masses, just as I feel disrespected by those unqualified to comment on my hard-earned creative efforts. 

The only measure by which those in Hollywood determine success is box office return. In my world, creative success is measured by the stopwatch. Visual aesthetics can be important, too, but in the end there’s little to dispute the inarguable reality of numbers. I’m sure the moguls in Hollywood would concur, it’s just that we keep score on a different scale. 

Everyone, of course, is entitled to their own opinions regarding any creative work, whether it be on the wall, on screen or even on track, but those who voice them without the credentials to back their comments only publicize their own lack of taste, knowledge and experience. In the world of film, reality seldom has a chance to survive. The twisted complexity of motorsports means truth—as well as those involved in Henry Ford II’s and Carroll Shelby’s five-year siege against Enzo Ferrari and his impressive dominance of the sport prior to their epic confrontation—has little chance of remaining on screen amid the brutal demands of meeting Hollywood’s “entertainment” requirements. 

As such, a director’s decisions on how best to create a story that will appeal to the greatest number really has little to do with recreating truth on film.

History has proved that the most successful racing cars were created by small, closely allied teams, usually led by some visionary with a single goal. The same might be said for successful films. Anyone who has sat through the long list of credits at the end of any motion picture quickly realizes that compromise is inevitable. So much combined talent and ego is seldom compliant to a single creative vision, and in the end that dream is always controlled by the cost of production and the proven quality of those involved. 

In short, Hollywood is governed by risk. When vast sums are involved, only proven “names” can pass muster at the investment level, as proved by “Ford v Ferrari.” Granted, there have been some great motion pictures, but like great racing cars, the credit line to produce each was comparatively short. 

I’ve yet to see any great, accurate movie about racing. Some, like McQueen’s “Le Mans” or Ron Howard’s “Rush,” came close, but neither was “successful” by Hollywood standards. I enjoyed both immensely, but I don’t fit the demographic for major screen success. 

As a life participant in motorsports, I think I know what might make a great film, but I also know there’s no way it’s going to be crammed into a 2-hour popcorn killer. A great motor racing story may emerge sometime in our future, but its deeply controversial characters will demand at least a long series on television. 

In the last 15 years, I’ve seen at least three fine scripts on Carroll Shelby that never made it to the screen. The true character was so enthrallingly complex, there was no way to combine that reality with his historic, but in fact far less interesting, success in the automobile racing game that simply lists wins and losses.

For those looking for more reality on screen regarding the famed conflict between Shelby/Ford and Ferrari, I suggest two films by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams: “The 24 Hours War” and “Shelby American: The Carroll Shelby Story,” both available on Netflix or DVD/Blu-ray from Chassy Media. These two films will go a long way in restructuring the reality that was highly compromised in creating Hollywood’s “Ford v Ferrari.”

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