The blockbuster Hollywood film Ford vs. Ferrari brought the story of the Ford GT40 to a larger audience than perhaps at any point in history.

Of course, Ford vs. Ferrari told only a small portion of the tale, leaving off shortly after the death of Ken Miles in testing of the J-series GT. The early years of Ford’s Total Performance assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans was covered, but the rich history of later GT40s, specifically the MK IV, which won Le Mans in ’67, was not part of the film.

This documentary picks up the Ford GT story where the film Ford vs. Ferrari left off.

Resurrecting Legends, The Rebirth Of The MK IV is a new documentary that not only explores this car’s rich racing history, but introduces Riley Technologies’ new continuation series of vehicles that are such precise builds of the GTs that it’s as if production never ended.

The Ford GT40 MK IV was not only victorious on track, but it was technologically superior to every other car it raced against. It had an aluminum honeycomb tub (inspired by aircraft technology), which helped make it a few hundred pounds lighter than the Ford GT MK II that won Le Mans in ’66. It is also special because it had the 427 FE engine, which would be outlawed for the 1968 race season.

Bob Riley was the original chassis designer on the 1966 and ’67 Ford GT40. He founded Riley Technologies, which builds sports prototype race cars for Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Daytona, etc.

As a young engineer, Bob Riley helped develop the MK IV while working at Kar-Kraft. Until his death during the editing phase of this documentary, he spent his life in racing and the vehicles he developed won every type of motorsport: NASCAR, Trans-Am, IMSA and the Indy 500 — his cars were always on the podium.

Bill, his father Bob, and an investor came up with the idea of building continuation cars based on the GT MK IV. Build number 21 (the factory left off at 19) is street-legal version.

“From our side, we are trying to get as much attention for the documentary as possible. It’s not just about the continuation builds Riley is offering, but it’s to honor Bob Riley, the original chassis designer for the Ford MK II and MK IV Le Mans winning project,” said Curtis Boggs, the director and co-producer of Resurrecting Legends. “Bob passed away in October of 2024 just a few months after completing filming for this documentary. This documentary picks up the history where the Ford vs. Ferrari movie left off.”

The Rest Of The Story

It was Bob’s son Bill who came up with the idea of building continuation MKIVs. The elder Riley bought Kar Kraft, which built the MKIVs, and it was discovered that the original blueprints and many original parts were still there.

These continuation cars are so faithful to the originals that the engines (built by Roush Industries) make the same horsepower as those that were entered at Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, etc. (Technically, they make one more: 501 vs. 500.)

Roush used an original Ford SAE paper to replicate the 427s from 1967 as closely as possible.

They do use Edelbrock cylinder heads due to the availability of the originals and some of the internals have been updated for reliability, i.e. Carillo rods, etc.

Bob Corn founded Roush with Jack Roush and it built the 427s in the continuation cars so faithfully, they made 501 horsepower — exactly one more than they made in ’67.

The car you see here pays homage to the Le Mans-winning GT of Dan Guyney and A.J. Foyt, right down to the number.

Believe it or not, the gearbox is a faithful reproduction of the original. There was no other gearbox they could just slip in there that would work. Same for the brake calipers, wheels, oil pan and pump, etc.

The new MK IVs are so faithful that every rivet is in the exact same place on the honeycomb tub as it was in 1967. The only real deviations are for safety, including the fuel cell, as these are expected to participate in vintage/historic racing events. Of course, you can order one and use it as your street car.

No, the new MK IVs are not for the bucks-down enthusiast. There’s no definitive answer, but per Boggs, it’s around $1 million. There are less expensive copies out there, but this is as close to the real deal as you can get. The body can be fiberglass or carbon fiber. Riley/Kar-Kraft will build the car in whatever livery you want — Sebring, with or without a number, etc. There is a lot of customization that can be done, depending on the customer’s expected final use.

If you love automotive history, specifically that of Ford’s Total Performance era, you’ll love Resurrecting Legends. In addition to Bob and Bill Riley, legendary designer Peter Brock, who was Shelby American’s first hire, and the man behind Chevrolet’s 1959 Stingray race car, is also featured, as are those who worked to bring the continuation cars to life.

One of my personal favorite parts was watching Jarrett Andretti, Mario’s great grand nephew, fire up and drive the first continuation car on track.

Amazon Prime has licensed the showing of Resurrecting Legends, The Rebirth Of The MKIV, and should be available for viewing in mid- to late-May of 2025. If you enjoyed Ford vs. Ferrari, you’ll love Resurrecting Legends. It tells the remarkable story, not just of one car, but one of the great men behind it.