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COSWORTH HERITAGE
“We thought it must be possible to make an interesting living messing about with racing cars and engines. That was the total objective behind the formation of Cosworth.”
Keith Duckworth, co-founder of Cosworth.

For anyone even slightly interested in motoring and motorsport, the name Cosworth cannot fail to conjure up images of performance and success.

Since it was formed in 1958 by Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth, Cosworth has become the most successful engine manufacturer in the history of Formula One, with a string of driver and manufacturer titles to its credit. In addition, it has also achieved enormous success in a variety of formulae, including IndyCars, Champ Cars, rallying, sportscars and motorcycling.

Cosworth began life in a small workshop in London in 1958. However, things quickly grew and a move to larger premises was soon required. The company moved to north London, where it began working on the development of the Ford 105E engine. Cosworth actually achieved its first victory when Jim Clark took a win in the Formula Junior category in his Lotus 18 at Goodwood in 1960.

By the mid 1960s, the company had moved to Northampton and much bigger things were around the corner. In 1966, Duckworth signed a contract with Ford to develop a new three-litre Formula One engine, and the legendary DFV was born. It got its first taste of victory in 1967, when Jim Clark again provided the maiden victory, on this occasion first time out at the Dutch Grand Prix. The DFV, in subsequent development guises, went on to dominate the sport for 15 years and clinched 155 race wins during that time.

A host of famous names benefited from Costin and Duckworth’s approach – Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt and Nelson Piquet all took championships using the company’s engines during the 1970s. And it was during this decade that Cosworth engines crossed the Atlantic to take the Indy/CART world by storm. There, the DFX version of the F1 powerplant began to take an incredible 151 race wins in a 14-year reign, culminating in ten driver’s championships and ten Indianapolis 500 victories.

As the 1980s became the 90s, Cosworth continued to provide winning power, with the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 taking the 1987 Touring Car world title and the Cosworth-powered Ford Mondeo winning the World titles for Paul Radisich in 1993 and 1994.

In Formula One, the DFV was replaced by the HB which won 11 races between 1989 and 1993, while Nigel Mansell’s 1993 CART championship and Jacques Villeneuve’s 1995 Indy 500 win were both provided by Cosworth power. In 1994, the Zetec V8 F1 engine was introduced and powered Michael Schumacher’s first world driver’s title. And in rallying, the Ford Escort Cosworth notched up numerous wins during the 1990s and the Duratec-R engine in the Focus WRC gave Ford more success.

Bringing the story up to date, in 2004, Cosworth provided the power to 30% of the Formula One grid, as well as to the entire Champ Car World Series and the Ford BP Rallyesport Focus World Rally car

Any questions about kits, parts, installations or services are welcome. Contact Bishop by phone at  866-867-8324 or e-mail bishop@bishopsales.com and we will respond promptly. If you're in the neighborhood, then drop by the shop at 1130 West 15th Street North Vancouver BC and we will gladly give you a tour of our facilities, but beware – there may be a Monster and ferocious horsepower beasts in our shop when you visit! We really love to share the fun with other performance enthusiasts who want to take their cars to the next level of performance, appearance and handling!

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