Go Like Hell

By the early 1960s, Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Baby boomers were taking to the roads in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort, and Ford didn't offer what these young drivers wanted. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari lorded over the European racing scene, crafting beautiful, fast sports cars that epitomized style. Go Like Helltells the remarkable story of how Henry Ford II, with the help of a young visionary named Lee Iacocca and a former racing champion turned engineer named Carroll Shelby, concocted a scheme to reinvent the Ford company. They would enter the high-stakes world of European car racing, where an adventurous few threw safety and sanity to the wind. They would design, build, and race a car that could beat Ferrari at his own game, at the most prestigious and brutal race in the world, the 24 Hours of LeMans. Go Like Helltransports readers to a risk-filled, glorious time through this brilliant portrait of a rivalry between two industrialists, the cars they built, and the "pilots" who drove them to their victory, or doom.

A. J. Baime is an executive editor at Playboy, where he oversees the automotive and various feature sections. He has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Popular Science, Maxim, and the Village Voice. Visit www.golikeheHthebook.com.