Ford Announces Return to LeMans Top-level Category for 2027

The 2019 film Ford vs. Ferrari tells the story of Enzo Ferrari not only rejecting Henry Ford II’s offer to purchase the Italian sports car maker but also using that Ford offer to secure a deal with Fiat instead while verbally insulting Ford’s CEO and his products. Henry Ford II decides to beat Ferrari where they shine the most: at the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, enlisting former Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby to build a car capable of winning. The effort succeeded, taking the entire podium in 1966 and winning three consecutive years thereafter. 

It was a good story and a good movie, and now Ford wants a sequel. Dick Smith Ford is pleased to announce that Ford plans to return to Le Mans in its top class for 2027. This effort is not so much a vendetta against Ferrari but rather a pursuit of glory by winning at Le Mans and showcasing Ford’s performance capabilities. 

Ford hasn’t been entirely absent from the French circuit. The mid-engine Ford GT competed and won in 2016 in the GTLM class, which is most comparable to the models raced in the late 60s. More recently, it has raced with the Ford Mustang GTD in the GTD category. However, this will be the first time Ford competes in the top class since the late 60s, now referred to as the Hypercar class. 

“We are entering a new era for performance and racing at Ford. You can see it from what we’re doing on-road and off-road. When we race, we race to win. And no track or race means more to our history than Le Mans. It is where we took on Ferrari and won in the 1960s. It is where we returned 50 years later and shocked the world and beat Ferrari again. I am thrilled that we’re going back to Le Mans and competing at the highest level of endurance racing. We are ready to challenge the world once again, and ‘go like hell!’” – Bill Ford, Executive Chair of Ford Motor Company and nephew of Henry Ford II. 

At this point, Ford is revealing nothing about its LeMans hypercar or the program. Speculation points to German driver Dirk Müller as one of the drivers. He led the Ford GT to its class victory in 2016 and also achieved a sub-seven-minute lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the Mustang GTD. 

“It is wonderful news to welcome Ford back to the top level of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in almost 60 years. It is a brand that has always had a close affinity with this very special race, and history shows that Ford does not compete to finish second. The renewal of its famous rivalry with Ferrari is truly an exciting prospect.” – Pierre Fillon, Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) President. 

Dick Smith Ford looks forward to seeing Ford compete at the top level at Le Mans again and hopes that just as technology in the current hypercar vehicles has found its way into their brand’s consumer vehicles, perhaps the same will happen for Ford. 

While there may not be a Le Mans Hypercar-class racer in the Dick Smith Ford inventory, the brand offers a diverse selection of compelling vehicles for everyone in the real world, including trucks, SUVs, and, of course, both accessible and high-performance versions of the Mustang.