'A Big Ask' chronicles Ford's return to Le Mans

Fifty years after Henry Ford II opened the Ford Motor Company's checkbook to defeat bitter rival Ferrari at Le Mans, Ford returned to the iconic event with a new Ford GT race car that at once stood on the cutting edge of 21st century technology and paid homage to the victorious Ford GT40s of the 1960s.

They partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing, six-time winners of the 24 Hours of Daytona and America's most successful racing team, Multimatic Engineering, among the world's leading automotive engineering and manufacturing firms, and a host of world-class suppliers in an effort to win the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Author David Phillips chronicles this journey in "A Big Ask: The Story of Ford's Triumphant Return to Le Mans." In the words of Raj Nair, Ford's Executive Vice President, Product Development and Chief Technical Officer, the idea of Ford facing the combined might of Aston Martin, Chevrolet, Ferrari and Porsche was "a big ask." Here's a sneak peak.

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By the time (Chip) Ganassi and (Mike) Hull finally paid a visit to Dearborn, enough of the Ford GT had been finalized to get their attention in a big way.

"When you first saw the car it took your breath away," says Ganassi. "It was obviously the grandson of the original Ford GT40 that had the hover board and the virtual reality headset on ... but it still had the unmistakable family resemblance to the grandfather."

When the 2015 Ford GT "concept car" was unveiled at the 2015 North American Automobile Show in Detroit, the reaction was equally rapturous.

"It's an unmistakable shot across the bows of the world's preeminent supercar makers," said Car and Driver's Alexander Stoklosa.

"The Ford GT was the most exciting, most innovative and most surprising meant-for-production car to make an appearance in 2015, period," wrote Robert Cumberford in naming the car Automobile magazine's Design of the Year in an article entitled Ford GT: Monument to Style, Inside and Out.

Calling the Ford GT "a perfect example of function complimenting design," Top Gear's Jack Rix said, "assuming the GT performs like Ford claims, engineering perfection has never looked so good."

The Ford GT even became the first automobile to win a Gold Clio in the prestigious international Clio Awards competition.

When, after several months or speculation following the North American Auto Show, Ford confirmed plans to race the new Ford GT, the reception was even more enthusiastic in the motorsports community – particularly from some of those who would be competing against the Ford GT from Daytona to Le Mans.

"We heard from Porsche and Chevy that they were really glad Ford is back in the game," said (Dave) Pericak (Director, Ford Performance). "Then in the next breath they said: 'But did you have to bring a gun to a knife fight?'"

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