1966 Ford GT40 MKII F85, Silver 1:18 Diecast Model Car by Acme

Back in 1962, Henry Ford II was frustrated that The Ford Motor Company's reputation for high performance engineering was suffering. To win at Le Mans Ford needed a mid-engine, 200-plus-mph race car that could average more than 120 mph over a 24-hour period. In '63, Ford had nothing even in the design stage with that sort of performance potential. Henry II really wanted to win Le Mans and best Ferrari in the process, so he developed a hand-picked team of international automotive engineers and race car drivers to form a new Ford subsidiary in Slough, England, named Ford Advanced Vehicles Ltd.

John Wyer, ex-Aston Martin team manager, directed the team, which included Broadley, Ford engineer Roy Lunn, New Zealand drivers Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, as well as American racer Ken Miles. An unsuccessful Le Mans campaign in 1964 (mainly due to failures with the Colotti transaxle) saw Ford HQ in the USA hand the project over to Carroll Shelby, although FAV still played an important role. The improved GT40 MkII appeared to have the right combination of power and reliability, as proven by wins in the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring in 1966. That gave Ford great confidence of finally being able to break Ferrari's winning streak at Le Mans, which stood at six coming into the 1966 event.