The year was 1965. Having successfully launched the Mustang in the United States the previous year, Ford was hoping to promoate the car in Europe through motorsports. Already the Mustang had taken a 1-2 class victory at the Tour de France Automobile road rally the year before with the support of Holman & Moody, and Ford’s top brass held a meeting to discuss how to become further involved in racing in Europe. After a chance meeting with executives Martini & Rossi (who would form Martini Racing a few years later), the two companies decided to join forces to build a Mustang race car that would compete in road rallies. With Martini & Rossi providing the sponsorship funds, Ford shipped over a 1966 Mustang fastback fitted with parts from the Shelby GT350R as well as Ford’s Indy 4-cam engine for the purpose of endurance testing. Since the export version of the Mustang was known as the T-5, the new race car was dubbed the T-5R.