Heel Tread
Le Mans 66 Pack Socks
Le Mans 66 Pack Socks
Couldn't load pickup availability
In the 1960s, a dispute between two titans of the automotive industry, Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari, became one of the great stories of racing legend. Hollywood has now immortalized it on the big screen. Heel Tread celebrates it with a limited edition 4-pack inspired by the GT40 liveries that changed racing forever.
During the first half of the 1960s, Scuderia Ferrari dominated Le Mans, the crown jewel of sports car endurance racing, an event that gave its winners an indelible patina of excellence and toughness in the eyes of the world. Regardless of its motorsport successes, Ferrari was struggling financially and in 1963 Henry Ford II approached Enzo about taking over the Italian marque. Talks ended abruptly when the Commendatore realized that his successful Scuderia was an essential part of the business.
An angry Ford instructed his racing department to develop a machine that could beat Ferrari - "OK, then I'll kick his ass," he is reported to have said - and thus began one of the greatest feuds in racing history. The first GT40 prototypes hit the track in 1964 - with limited success and no chance of beating the Ferraris. The Americans were at a crossroads: either focus on lucrative projects or bleed their money on a seemingly doomed venture. Fortunately for all car fans, Ford's obsession with beating Enzo made him double down on the GT40, and Carrol Shelby and Ken Miles were hired as key people to develop the GT40. Although the collaboration was anything but harmonious, Shelby's experience in building race cars and team management, as well as the skills of the maverick English racer, quickly led to impressive performance gains, but the real prize still eluded the blue oval. The 55-car grid for '66 Le Mans featured an armada of no less than 13 GT40s. The race and the aftermath had enough drama for a film of their own, but in the end it was a 1-3 victory for Ford - the No. 2, No. 1 and No. 5 cars finished on the podium, while the Shelby team's other GT40, No. 3, retired after 18 hours. It was the first-ever Le Mans triumph for Ford - or for any non-European manufacturer - and was followed by four consecutive victories that not only ended Ferrari's Le Mans dominance, but was arguably Ford's greatest achievement, the result of years of struggle and failure in a golden decade for both motorsport and car culture around the world.
Includes high-quality gift box.
Delivery time 3-5 working days
80% pure cotton, 17% polyamide, 3% elastane.
Seamlessly knotted, a sock that doesn't pinch anywhere.
Wash inside out (40°C/100°F max.). Do not tumble dry, iron, bleach or dry clean.
Share





