When Ford decided to challenge Ferrari in Le Mans, the American giant - attracted by the AC Cobra car's performances - quite naturally appealed to Carroll Shelby. And it was in the capacity of Sports Director that he garnered two additional victories at the 24 Hours in 1966 (with the Ford Mk II of Chris Amon-Bruce McLaren) and 1967 (with the Ford Mk IV of Dan Gurney-AJ Foyt), in the latter year achieving a distance record that for the first time exceeded 5,000 kilometers.

In 1968, Carroll Shelby also wrote a very unique page in the history of cinema: having become the specialized preparer for the Ford Mustang since its launch 50 years ago, he provided the Mustang Fastback and Dodge Charger driven respectively by Steve McQueen and stuntman Bill Hickman (driver and mechanic for James Dean at the time of his death in 1955) in the chase scene for the movie "Bullitt".

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO

LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY & SUNDAY JUNE 10-11 1967, RACE. The victory and the Ford Mk IV car's distance record by Dan Gurney-AJ Foyt marked the pinnacle of Carroll Shelby's career as team manager, eight years after his success as a driver at the wheel of the Aston Martin DBR 1 car.