Le Mans '66 has a trailer! (And a new title)

Le Mans ’66 – called, much more sensibly, Ford v Ferrari in the US – has its first trailer (no poster yet though there is one for the US title).

Here’s the synopsis:

The remarkable true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles, who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

A film about 1960s racing drivers battling demons and the laws of physics sounds right up my street (less bothered about corporate interference if I’m honest) though I suspect the reality will be a less literal interpretation than I’m hoping for.

I LOVE the trailer though, and there’s something entrancing to me about great drivers, probably because my main criteria for car buying is whether it’s battered enough that pranging it while trying to park at Waitrose won’t make any difference to its value.

Le Mans ’66 stars Christian Bale as Ken Miles, Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby, Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca and Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II.

Here’s the film’s director James Mangold:

“I love stories that take you to a time when we were a little less cautious: when we were first figuring out our relationship to technology, how we were going to make excellent tools and faster better contraptions based upon our instincts more than computer models. Now, we’ve become so corporate, liability-protected, computer simulated and risk averse it’s hard to imagine the same kind of discovery is even possible. The eccentric characters who pioneered racing, much like our astronauts and test pilots, put their lives on the line every day. The cars were prototypes, one of a kind, and sometimes death traps, dawning-age beasts so powerful they could tear themselves apart. The men behind the wheel and in the pits and garages came from all walks of life, speed junkies, technical engineers, entrepreneurs, military men, street racers, gamblers, designers, hot rodders, and car geeks, young and old. All working together at the very edge of technology without a map.”

Le Mans ’66 comes out in the UK on 8 November. Catriona Balfe plays Mollie Miles, and the film also stars JJ Feild and Noah Jupe.

Watch the Le Mans ’66 trailer now (and scroll down for more images):