In the mid-1960s, a small but successful engineering company was approached by Colin Chapman of Lotus to design a grand prix engine following the announcement of Coventry Climax to cease production, leaving the team without a supply of engines.
With generous funding from Ford, a new Formula 1 engine was created by the co-founder of Cosworth Engineering, Keith Duckworth, who disappeared into his home office and, using a clean sheet of paper, gave the project his undivided attention. The result was the V8 3-litre DFV that would dominate grand prix racing from 1968 until its final victory in 1983. It also changed the way the cars were built as it was mounted directly to the rear of the monocoque chassis to become a structural member. Due to the power it produced, the cars tended to oversteer out of corners as the tyres struggled to find grip so Duckworth and his business partner Mike Costin gave the matter further consideration and decided the answer might be to introduce a four-wheel drive system. In order to carry out a proper assessment they designed and built a Formula 1 car that featured several creative solutions to the perennial problem of constantly dividing the power amongst all four wheels consistently but without making the car undriveable in the process. The monocoque chassis was clad in body panels that appeared aerodynamic although opinion was divided on the matter, while the driver was located slightly off centre. Mike Costin was not only a skilled engineer but also a very capable driver so he was elected to test the new car but found the handling to be highly unpredictable, an opinion echoed by Formula 1 driver Trevor Taylor who was the only other person to test the prototype. The photograph shows Mike Costin at the wheel of the Cosworth 4WD car and by the look on his face, the experience was not a pleasant one. Despite the best efforts of Cosworth, the numerous problems proved insurmountable and the project was cancelled. The car retired to a dark corner of the workshop where it languished as another ‘what if’ in the history of Formula 1. (The other ‘what if’ is the thought that Cosworth might have chosen instead to build a ‘standard’ F1 car powered by its DFV engine for Lotus to race with Jim Clark at the wheel.)
