Ford Forever
‘Ford Forever’ was the theme and prime focus of the Golden age of racing in the 1960s… Ford gave us the engines and the cars that produced the greats of motor sport in the age when the war babies grew up and a generation of participants and liberationists were on the world stage.
We will be celebrating 65 years of Ford in action at Zwartkops in January 2026 as we embrace the action that captured the imagination of yesterday, and today which has laid the foundation for what is to come.
It all started in 1960 when Ford introduced the Anglia a small family motor car with a robust engine which was versatile that became the Cortina powerhouse from which the infamous Lotus Cortina family saloon that conquered the giants of the age. In the USA, the might of the Ford V8 seven litres ‘four on the floor’ production car became the inspiration of NASCAR, INDY CAR, and about every other aspect of competitive motoring… With these engines Ford gave us the Mustang, Galaxie, Fairlane, Capris and in Europe the racing Cortinas, Escorts and Falcons. These all paved the way of the Ford GT40 which won world championships and epic Le Mans duals against Ferrari and Porsche. Ford GT won Le Mans four times.
The ultimate Ford achievement came in 1967 with the iconic, affordable, and effective Cosworth Ford F1 engine which changed the face of Formula One forever. Real power. The Cosworth Ford V8 ruled F1 for more than a decade. Then to cap it all it was the Ford Cortina engine that gave the world Formula Ford, once again an affordable and practical powerhouse that laid the foundation for a generation of F1 drivers.
Ford is our heritage… Ford Forever.
Passion for Speed 2026 – Ford Forever
When Ford and Ferrari collided and Ford won Le Mans and an icon of world motoring was born. Ford vs Ferrari. The greatest motoring story ever told of two great companies on the battlefield of competitive motoring. This is a story that lives in infamy. It is the great battle 60 years ago of Ford vs Ferrari.
The real story of Ford vs Ferrari was the battlefield that was fought not on a showroom floor, but on the racetracks of the world. With the Le Mans 24-hour being the Mount Everest of ascent. It all started when Ferrari was in a financial corner and Ford came along and bought Ferrari. They signed an agreement, however there was an escape clause and Enzo Ferrari reneged on the deal.
Henry Ford II was incensed and vowed to beat Ferrari at their own game. With Carroll Shelby (of Cobra Mustang fame) and his chief engineer, Ken Miles, they developed the iconic Ford GT40, which after initial teething problems, beat Ferrari, and Porsche at Le Mans four times.
They were beaten at their own game. They were epic battles, the best sports and GT cars in the world in combat. Ford vs Ferrari in the late 1960s, between 1965 and 1969. Incredible cars, incredible drivers, engineers, which all captured the imagination of the world of motoring some 60 years ago. This still lives on in the minds today in the world of motoring, never to be forgotten.
At Zwartkops on the 30th, and 31st January 2026, the Passion for Speed, which is Zwartkops’ 25th anniversary of this event, we will have a special demonstration of Ford vs Ferrari. These iconic cars, then and now will be on track. Immortal cars and we will see them in a demonstration event which will bring inspiration to young and old.
Ford Forever, the great theme that we followed what was said and was embraced in the 1960s, worldwide and in South Africa if you did not have a Ford, you did not bother to go motor racing. It all started first with affordable incredible Ford Anglia then the Cortina followed by the Lotus Cortina. People like Jim Clark and world champion Graham Hill, Jack Brab ham, all racing these cars, an absolute spectacle of world champions.
Then came the Mustangs, the Fairlanes, and the Ford Thunderbolts. It also was a time in which Ford’s big Galaxies started dominating, NASCAR with their seven litre motors, 500 horsepower engines, these big monstrous cars racing NASCAR championships with people like Parnelli Jones, and the big names of American motor racing.
Then it was Ford that commissioned the V8 Cosworth engine that propelled the Formula One cars of the day. These engines saved Formula One. It gave Formula One a power unit that they could use. It was flexible and adaptable.
When Formula One moved away from the one-and-a-half litre “The Return to Power!” Formula One series to a three-litre engine. Formula One came into its own, and Ford Forever! They were with us racing for almost 20 years. Such was the engineering feat of what Ford created with Cosworth Engineering. Then to crown it all, Ford was the inspiration for Formula Ford. These great Mustangs, Fords, Lotus Cortina, the Comets in rallying Formula Fords and Formula One cars. It is a heritage from the 60s from Ford which gave the very foundation on which our motor racing stands today. These cars will all be seen at Zwartkops at the end of January, and they will be raced and demonstrated in special events.
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