ALL IN THE FAMILY

NO INDUSTRY IS MORE FAMILY ORIENTED THAN THE CAR BIZ. NO SPORT IS MORE FAMILY ORIENTED THAN CAR RACING. HERE'S WHY.

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A. (Previous pages) We all have formative childhood car memories. Bill Ford's just happened to be in an Indy 500 pace car.

B. Unlike many factory replicas, the official pace car was fitted with the 428 Cobra Jet V-8.

c. With William Clay Ford Sr. at the wheel, the Torino leads the field to the green flag on May 30, 1968.

D. After a meticulous, years-long restoration, the Torino looks just as it did in 1968.

E. A blue-vinyl interior is perfectly suited to a car from the Blue Oval brand.

CAR FANS CAN OFTEN pinpoint a childhood memory of when the passion was born. Often, it’s a story that becomes family legend.

Bill Ford—great-grandson of Henry and a former Ford CEO—recalls a time in 1968 when his dad, William Clay Ford Sr., drove the Indy 500 pace car, a Ford Torino convertible packing a 428 Cobra Jet. “I was there all week with my father as he was doing the practice laps,” Ford says. “I'll never forget, the chute at Indy was very narrow to exit the track and go into the pits, and it was built for narrower race cars. So this land yacht enters at 140 mph. . . . It was an incredible adrenaline rush.”