Ford still has the receipt for its 1966 Le Mans victory party after its historic win and it shows how much times have changed

The epic 1966 Le Mans victory immortalized in the Ford v Ferrari movie was a defining moment for the brand.

It was a huge win, in so many different ways and for so many different reasons.

That’s why we aren’t surprised that the race-winning car, the Ford GT40, is still relevant and coveted today.

However, we are a bit surprised to learn that Ford actually kept the dinner receipt after winning the race.

This is a well-known story, but it wasn’t always the case

Everybody knows about the famous Ford versus Ferrari clash at Le Mans, but that’s mostly down to the Ford v Ferrari movie from a few years ago.

Before the movie came out, the Ford vs. Ferrari clash was mostly something car nerds knew about and talked about.

But the general public was largely unaware.

In a way, the 2013 movie Rush opened the floodgates because it made Hollywood realize that automotive-themed movies could work.

A long list of other similar movies followed, including biopics about both Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini.

This was actually a one-off for Ford

Ford essentially wanted to prove a point, which explains why they sort of disappeared from Le Mans after.

After winning four times in a row between 1966 and 1969, the automaker effectively withdrew from the competition.

The company never won the overall race again, rarely participating outside of occasional stints as a powertrain supplier.

The irony is that other brands stepped in and ‘finished the job’.

Even with American manufacturer out of the picture, Ferrari’s drought lasted a few more decades because Porsche was absolutely dominant in the 1980s and 1990s, and then Audi was unbeatable in the 2000s.

The 2010s were characterized by a neck-and-neck rivalry between Porsche and Audi, and Ferrari only managed to get back to winning ways in 2023, nearly 60 years later.

Ford partied hard after winning, and they kept the receipt

Amazingly, Ford actually kept the dinner receipt from the victory party.

Around 200 people gathered at Le Chanteclair in New York on June 21, 1966 to celebrate Ford’s Le Mans win, and the surviving bill shows 453 individual drinks and 68 bottles.

Interestingly, the receipt also included a cake, which either means that only one person out of around 200 was having a cheat day, or that the cake must’ve been massive.

The company’s official archive story says the party paperwork included the invitation, bar tab, wine, champagne, cocktails, and even a cigar bill.

The total bill came to $2,800.03 after tax and gratuity, which is around $29,000 in today’s money.

That’s not even that much, when you think about it.

We’re talking about a win that represented at least four things: a significant milestone for the brand, a huge victory over a direct rival, a priceless PR stunt, and the reward for years of hard work.

So spending $29,000 to celebrate all of that sounds like a bargain.

We bet some high-ranking executives in the car world spend that kind of cash every other day on expensed dinners.