How watching Ford vs Ferrari changed the life of this green retailer, and taught him about focus and perseverance
- The film, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, follows the story of Ford’s attempt to build a car to beat champions Ferrari at 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1960s
- When he watched the film, Terence Hon’s business GreenPrice was struggling, and he was inspired by the tale of underdogs who succeed against the odds
Sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019), directed by James Mangold and starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, tells the story of the American company’s attempts to build a car that could take on its Italian rival at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.
Terence Hon Chun-him, co-founder of Hong Kong retailer GreenPrice, which tackles food waste and poverty by selling items near their expiration date at heavily discounted prices, tells Richard Lord how it changed his life.
I first watched it in a cinema. Just the words “Ferrari” and “Ford” in the title made it interesting to me. I hadn’t known that Ford had done any racing.
The film was very encouraging during that period of time when we were struggling. We were experiencing a downturn in our business, sales were average and we could barely afford salaries for the co-founders.
We were struggling with whether we should continue. I had just graduated from university, and I didn’t know whether to carry on with the company or just get a job.
The movie shows Ford and Ferrari facing each other in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Obviously, Ferrari were dominant and had won for many years.