How Ken Miles Really Died (& Why Ford v Ferrari Changes It)

The Ken Miles death scene in Ford v Ferrari is a heartbreaking moment, but also changes several details of the true story. Directed by James Mangold, Ford v Ferrari shows Ford’s triumph over the Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race. It’s a tale of clashing egos and talented artists struggling to balance creative integrity with commercial viability, culminating in a race where one false step could mean a horrific — and fatal — crash. Christian Bale costars as Ken Miles, the highly talented but hot-tempered World War II vet-turned-professional driver whom Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) enlists to help him.

As the film sadly depicts, just a few months after Ford defeated Ferrari in the 1966 Le Mans, Ken Miles was killed while testing out a new Ford vehicle (the J-car) at California’s Riverside International Raceway. Miles’ Ford test car suddenly flipped, crashed, and caught fire. The exact cause of the fault has never been fully determined to this day, but it caused Miles to be ejected from the vehicle, killing him instantly. Ford v Ferrari handled its depiction of Ken Miles’ death well, though it did make some alterations to how the real Ken Miles died.

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Ford v Ferrari Changed The Cause Of Ken Miles’ Fatal Crash

The Specifics Of Ken Miles Death Were (Tastefully) Altered

The real Ken Miles was killed from the impact after being ejected from his test car, and the specific reasons for the failure of the Ford J-Car he was testing were never identified (although there’s been much speculation). James Mangold changed many of the specifics of the moment of Ken Miles’s death in Ford v Ferrari. However, these changes were incredibly well implemented and served to improve both the narrative of Ford v Ferrari and its core message of why the death of Ken Miles was such a tragedy.

In Ford v Ferrari, rather than ejecting Ken Miles after an unexplained fault, his Ford test car crashes after experiencing brake failure. He is killed in the ensuing fire, resulting in the Ken Miles death scene. Miles was the second test driver to be killed while testing a J-car in the span of five months, with the previous driver, Walt Hansgen, being killed before Miles. The J-car testing was halted before resuming with Miles at the wheel. Following Ken Miles’ death, the car was renamed Ford Mk IV and was heavily modified.

Ken Miles’ death in Ford v Ferrari was justifiably tweaked to deliver a narrative payoff. Despite the changes made, the movie has been lauded in the racing community for its realism. There isn’t a film out there based on a true story that doesn’t exaggerate or tweak the details of events to deliver an emotional payoff or make the theatrical narrative smoother, and the same was the case for Ford v Ferrari. While many sports biopics and movies have an uplifting finale, Ford v Ferrari subverts expectations and reminds viewers how dangerous motorsports really are.

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Ford v Ferrari’s Changes Showed The Weight Of Ken Miles’ Death On His Family And Carroll Shelby

James Mangold Didn’t Use The Death Of Ken Miles For Shock Value

Ford v Ferrari is more about Shelby and Miles’ tempestuous friendship than Ford’s racing program, so it makes sense that the movie alters a few real-life details in order to show how the Ken Miles death impacted Carroll Shelby and his loved ones. It also allows the previous sequence involving Christian Bale’s Ken Miles’ near-death to act as proper foreshadowing, and the changes allow Ford v Ferrari to show the high price that race car drivers can pay for putting their lives at risk, which spectators often don’t see.

There’s another moment in Ford v Ferrari in the buildup to the Ken Miles death scene that — while created with a heavy dose of creative license — underlines how complex Miles’s relationship with his loved ones was due to his work, and why his death was such a tragedy. The scene in question revolves around Miles, Shelby, and their team testing out the GT40 MkII, only for the vehicle’s brakes to fail and the car to catch fire, very nearly killing Miles in the process. Both Miles’ wife, Mollie (Caitriona Balfe), and his young son Pete (Noah Jupe) are present for the crash.

It’s a pivotal moment for Peter Miles, and though Ford v Ferrari changes a bit of the true story, his character comes to appreciate just how dangerous his dad’s line of work truly is. While it was a change that tragically came too late, the death of Ken Miles opened up many questions about safety for racing drivers, and Ford v Ferrari’s changes enabled this conversation to be condensed into a few key emotional scenes.

While Miles’ real-life death led to Ford installing a NASCAR-style rollover cage in their race cars and favoring the use of younger drivers moving forward, focusing on this wouldn’t have had the same effect in the film, as it was largely seen as a self-serving move for Ford at the time rather than a respectful or personal one for Miles.

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Ken Miles Son Collaborated With Christian Bale

The Son Of The Real Racer Ensured That Ken Miles’ Death Was Handled Properly

The Ken Miles death scene is important, only adding more weight to Christian Bale’s performance as the real-life figure. Reportedly, actor Christian Bale worked closely with Ken’s son, Peter Miles, to make sure that his characterization of the race car icon was as true to life as possible. Bale is no stranger to taking on roles that represent real people, such as that of Dick Cheney in Vice and John Rolfe in The New World, but Ken Miles was a special case.

Unlike other public figures from which there was a wealth of information to draw from, Ken Miles did not have a lot of video footage or interviews to his name. Therefore, Bale had to rely heavily on Peter’s recollection. In an interview (viaLeMans.org), Peter Miles had this to say of his own contributions:

I gave Christian Bale info about my dad from press clippings and magazine articles, and I showed him personal photos and shared audio recordings with him. Bale was looking to remain as faithful as possible to my father. I also met Caitriona Balfe and gave her snapshots of my mother and described her as best as I could.

In addition to this, both Christian Bale and Matt Damon went to great lengths to ensure they portrayed Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby correctly, even after Ford v Ferrari had finished filming. As reported by ESPN, both actors spent an extensive amount of time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to ensure Ford v Ferrari was as authentic a movie as possible. The pair’s commitment to capturing the true emotions present in the high-risk world of NASCAR is apparent throughout the movie, both in terms of critical reception and how highly regarded it is by racing professionals and fans.

One thing that was especially important to both Christian Bale and Matt Damon, in addition to respectfully showing the moment Ken Miles died, was that their characterizations were received well by those who knew the real-life Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby. The pair reportedly would ask anyone and everyone they could find who’d work with or knew the real Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby, determined to make sure that their portrayals were accurate down to the smallest detail. Christian Bale’s explanation for the lengths he took to capture the real Ken Miles was particularly insightful:

“As mythological as some people are, especially people like Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby, who risked their lives every minute of just doing their jobs, they were still real people. The only way to honor who they were and what they accomplished is to take the time to get the little things right. We owe them that attention to detail, don’t we? You miss with that, the people will let you know that you missed it. Not because they are harsh people, but because they have a real passion for motor racing and the people in it. They care that much about it.”

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The Real-Life Racing Movies In Pole Position

Ford v Ferrari Isn’t The Only Racecar Movie Based On A True Story

There are plenty of other racing movies based on true stories just like Ford v Ferrari. One such film is 2013’s Rush. Overseen by legendary movie director Ron Howard, actors Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl star in the film depiction of Formula One racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The British and Austrian racers had a famous rivalry in the 1970s, and the film chronicles the story well, which has been reflected over the years in its mostly positive critical response.

Another racing movie that more than holds its own is Days Of Thunder, which stars notably young Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, and Robert Duvall while telling the story of a young American racer named Cole Trickle. The three aforementioned actors all give memorable performances, especially Duvall’s gruff yet wise character of Harry Hogge — who famously informs Cole that “there’s nothing stock about a stock car.”

An older entry among the great racing movies like Ford v Ferrari is 1971’s Le Mans. Featuring iconic movie star Steve McQueen, this aptly-named racing flick stars — among other important characters — McQueen as Porsche team racer Michael Delaney and Ferrari driver Erich Stahler (Siegfried Rauch). Like Ford v Ferrari, Le Mans deals with the weighty, ever-present risks affixed to life as a professional racecar driver.

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Ken Miles’ Legacy Continues After His Death

While Ken Miles Died, He Is Still Incredibly Influential In The World Of Motorsports

Ken Miles’ death was a tragic loss for the racing community. However, Miles’ legacy in the sport has continued to grow since his death. Ken Miles has received several posthumous awards and recognitions from the racing world in the 21st century, showing how the impact he had on the sports and his achievements are still celebrated decades after he was killed. In 2001, Miles was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, which was followed by his induction into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2020.

Ford v Ferrari depicts Miles as a driver who didn’t get the appreciation he deserved as a racer in his lifetime. Whether that is accurate to the reality of Miles’ career or if it was an exaggeration by the movie, there is a touching aspect to seeing him recognized by so many after his passing. The success of Ford v Ferrari and the acclaim of Christian Bale’s performance have helped to add to that legacy, as more people who may not be familiar with the world of racing now know the name Ken Miles and his incredible story.

Ford v Ferrari

Directed by James Mangold, Ford v Ferrari is a sports drama that tells the true story of car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale), who team up to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and challenge Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.

Release Date

August 30, 2019

Studio(s)

TSG Entertainment , Turnpike Films , Chernin Entertainment

Writers

Jez Butterworth , John-Henry Butterworth , Jason Keller

Runtime

152minutes