Willow Springs, California – 2025

Archival Pigment Print

“This 1952 Ferrari Inter Barchetta was loaned to my team by the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles and it has had some proper history; it was originally gifted to Henry Ford II by Enzo Ferrari. Ford only kept the car for a few years, apparently long enough for it to influence the styling of Ford Motor Company’s 1955 Thunderbird.

This corporate mischief was a prelude to a far greater drama 10 years later. Henry Ford II’s passion for car racing drove his ambition for Ford Motor Company to start competing in races and he also knew that Ford needed a marketing boost in the face of slipping sales and stiff competition from GM, especially when it came to attracting younger buyers. The only problem was, Ford didn’t have a sports racing car in its fleet.

So, in 1963, Henry Ford II (the grandson and namesake of the company’s founder) decided that the quickest way to get Ford on the racetrack would be to try to buy Ferrari. They offered $10m, but with such stifling conditions on racing budgets that Enzo Ferrari did not like, that he leveraged the Ford approach to do a deal with Fiat.

Shanina Shaik was not in Ford v Ferrari but perhaps she should have been. We wanted to style her with artistic license and to pay homage to the car and racetrack.

I want to thank Sam Bryne and his outstanding team at Cross Harbour Capital for making all this happen.”