If your extended quarantine has got you feeling a little stir-crazy, then we’ve got just the solution. A newly released YouTube video from the folks at Goodwood Road & Racing puts you in the driver’s seat of one of the most legendary race cars in history — and it’s even more thrilling than you’d expect.
The video, aptly dubbed “Six Minutes in Heaven,” gives you dashcam and driver’s view footage of racecar driver Andrew Smith putting a Ford GT40 MKI through the paces on a winding, tree-lined road in the French countryside. The filming took place during the La Gabelle special stage at Peter Auto’s Tour Auto Optic 2000, so that means the road was closed to the public at the time. That’s a good thing, too, because as you’ll see from the video, Smith does not hold back in pushing the 50-plus-year-old car to its limit. The car’s V8 roars, its brakes squeal, and its tires scream for mercy as it flies around the scenic and tranquil road — threatening to come undone at every turn. The video is both a thing of beauty and a bit anxiety-inducing, and it will definitely spice up your quarantine.
The Ford GT40 is, of course, best-known for finishing one, two, and three at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race, a feat that was dramatized in last year’s hit film Ford v Ferrari. Seeing it once again go crazy on French country roads in this video just proves that the car’s lofty legacy is no fluke, and that some things will never go out of style.
