Cosworth 4wd F1 car

[Dare]

bet Cos will love this


[edit] Cosworth
 
The Cosworth Formula One car.With Keith Duckworth's DFV engine being the root of the grip problem, it was perhaps to be expected that Cosworth were the first to attempt a 4WD solution. Ford's Walter Hayes, who had backed the DFV, gave the project his blessing and former McLaren designer Robin Herd joined Duckworth in designing the car, which was a pretty radical departure from the normal late-60s cars. The Cosworth featured a very angular shape, with sponsons between the wheels either side of the aluminium monocoque to house the fuel tanks and improve the car's aerodynamics, and the cockpit was quite visibly off-set to the drivers left. Unlike all the other 4WD F1 cars, instead of using the Ferguson transmission Cosworth built their own version from scratch, and even went as far as producing a new gearbox and a bespoke magnesium-cast DFV, perhaps anticipating a future market for their technology.
Trevor Taylor and Cosworth co-founder Mike Costin tested the car extensively, the first problem being the positioning of the oil tank, which for weight distribution had been placed directly behind the driver's backside, causing considerable discomfort. With the oil tank moved back behind the engine and a redesign of the front driveshafts the only major remaining problem was the excessive understeer which dogged all the 4WD cars. A limited-slip front differential was tried with some slight success, but after Jackie Stewart briefly sampled the car reporting that "the car's so heavy on the front, you turn into a corner and whole things starts driving you", confirming what Taylor and Costin already felt, Hayes withdrew his support and the Cosworth 4WD project was axed shortly before the British Grand Prix.
This remains the only Formula One car Cosworth have ever built, and like the Lotus 63 the car is now on display as part of the Donington Grand Prix Collection.

[Steven Roy]

I didn't know Mike Costin could drive.  I thought he got into the sport as an engineer.  It is icredible how many of the great engineers took up that profesion when they iscovered they couldn't drive fast enough or couldn't rise the money to continue.  I guess everyne with any interest in the sport is a fustrated racing driver.

The Cosworth couldn't e the first 4X4 if it was based on th DFV and the Ferguson was runningn 1961.

[cosworth151]

I find it odd that Cosworth tried to develop their own 4 wheel drive system rather than turning to Ferguson. Like Steven Roy said, they had already built a 4X4 F1 car. By that time, they were also building the 4X4 system for the Jenson Interseptor FF road car. In fact, the FF stood for "Ferguson Formula."

Ford's ties to Ferguson go way back, too. The famous Ford-Ferguson 9N tractor began with a gentleman handshake agreement between Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson in October of 1938. Ford and Ferguson also developed 4X4 cars for the military during WW2. Most famously, a Ferguson Ford 4X4 station wagon (estate car) had its roof cut off for use by the commander of the Eighth Army in North Africa. Alexander and Motgomery both used this type of cars.

Cos