As Le Mans approached, Ferrari remained the clear favourite. Ford however, was determined to make an impression, entering eight of the 7-litre (427ci) GT40 Mark IIs into the race.  

Remarkably, despite Shelby’s relationship with Goodyear, Wingfoot tyres were not fitted to every car. At the time, tyre contracts were often agreed with individual drivers rather than entire teams. And the drivers of the black #2 car, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, were both contracted to Firestone.  

At 4pm, the race began in damp conditions and it quickly became apparent that the Goodyears were better suited to the wet than the Firestones. While two of the Shelby cars – the #1 of Ken Miles/Denny Hulme and the #3 of Dan Gurney/Jerry Grant – were happy with their tyres, Mclaren discovered he was losing chunks of tread on the Mulsanne at more than 210mph. 

When Mclaren pitted to hand over to Amon at 5.33pm, he immediately sought out the Firestone representative and negotiated a switch to Goodyears. 

This calculated move, contributed to a deficit that would only be wiped out when Miles in the #1 slowed to allow McLaren to catch up for the controversial finish. 

The delay also lead to McLaren’s famous war-cry, “Go like hell!”, as Amon prepared to depart the pits. With Ford and Ferrari neck and neck, the race narrowed to a duel between Miles’ GT40 and the Ferrari 330P3 on the Mulsanne.

As the Ferrari struggled to compete with the straight-line speed of the GT40, Bandini’s engine exploded. And the rest was automotive history. 

As 4pm rolled around the following day, the surviving #2, #1 and #5 Fords lined up for a staged finish. 

Interestingly, while the controversial “dead-heat” between the two Shelby machines continues to be debated to this day, history records that McLaren and Amon were given the win based on starting further back and therefore having travelled a greater distance in the same time.  

Without the early switch to Goodyears, many believe they would not have been in contention.