Ford vs Ferrari

WILLOW SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA - 2025

LARGE - Edition of 12
Unframed - 56" x 93" | Framed 71" x 108"

STANDARD - Edition of 12
Unframed - 37" x 61" | Framed 52" x 76"

This 1952 Ferrari Inter Barchetta was loaned to my team by the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles and it has had some proper history; it was originally gifted to Henry Ford II by Enzo Ferrari. Ford only kept the car for a few years, apparently long enough for it to influence the styling of Ford Motor Company's 1955 Thunderbird.

This corporate mischief was a prelude to a far greater drama 10 years later. Henry Ford II's passion for car racing drove his ambition for Ford Motor Company to start competing in races and he also knew that Ford needed a marketing boost in the face of slipping sales and stiff competition from GM, especially when it came to attracting younger buyers. The only problem was, Ford didn’t have a sports racing car in its fleet.

So, in 1963, Henry Ford II (the grandson and namesake of the company's founder) decided that the quickest way to get Ford on the racetrack would be to try to buy Ferrari. They offered $10m, but with such stifling conditions on racing budgets that Enzo Ferrari did not like, that he leveraged the Ford approach to do a deal with Fiat.

This drama was expertly chronicled in the 2019 biographical sports drama Ford v Ferrari starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale. The director, James Mangold, filmed some sequences at the Willow Springs race circuit outside LA which retains an authentic 1950s vibe, so we decided to do the very same.

Shanina Shaik was not in Ford v Ferrari but perhaps she should have been. We wanted to style her with artistic license and to pay homage to the car and racetrack.

I want to thank Sam Bryne and his outstanding team at Cross Harbour Capital for making all this happen.

~ David Yarrow