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Cosworth 4WD F1


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#1 Arjan de Roos

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 09:53

In 1969 Cosworth developped and tested their 4WD car. It proved uneasy in roadholding with strong understeer and most weight moving to the outside wheel during cornering even lifting the inside wheel at times. Most pictures show a slim nose with Costin testing.

Today (still at the Donington Collection) it features wide front wings with NACA ducts. Obviously these wings have been added to improve handling.
When exactly were these added? Was it tested in this configuration? Or only just to be sold of to Mr. Wheatcroft?

Below is one of the few pictures of the last configuration (note missing ducts). Is this Donington Park?
The later assembled 2nd chassis features the original nose.

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Edited by Arjan de Roos, 05 April 2011 - 09:56.


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#2 MCS

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 11:01

I don't think that's Donington. Did the car test anywhere else other than Silverstone?

#3 Stephen W

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 11:04

I don't think that's Donington. Did the car test anywhere else other than Silverstone?


Didn't it run at a Mallory Park meeting? :wave:

#4 Alan Cox

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 11:19

I would say that it is not Donington, Arjan. That looks like one of the contemporary photos from 1969 with Mike Costin at the wheel. Donington didn't reopen until 1977. Alan Henry's book, 'The Four-Wheel Drives' includes a photo of the car being driven by Tom Wheatcroft at Silverstone after he had taken delivery, wearing the nose, complete with the NACA ducts, that it carries today. Henry also confirms that Jackie Stewart tried the car for a few laps while he was there testing the Matra.

#5 Roger Clark

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 11:30

Didn't it run at a Mallory Park meeting? :wave:

Yes, and the car looked like that.

#6 Alan Cox

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 12:56

Didn't it run at a Mallory Park meeting? :wave:

As Steve and Roger suggest, it could well be the Mallory appearance. If you notice the grid markings over which the car is driving, they are marked out for motorcycles as well as cars which wasn't the case at Silverstone.

#7 Chezrome

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 13:54


I always remember the quote (I forgot who said it) by the driver that tested the Four Wheeled Cosworth: 'It was as if you tried to steer a car while someone was pushing against your elbow the whole time.'

#8 Amphicar

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 15:04

I always remember the quote (I forgot who said it) by the driver that tested the Four Wheeled Cosworth: 'It was as if you tried to steer a car while someone was pushing against your elbow the whole time.'

I think that quote was by Bruce McLaren about the 4WD McLaren M9A rather than the Cosworth car - but all the "class of '69" 4WD cars seem to have been a handful. See this thread for more discussion: http://forums.autosp...w...=141383&hl=

#9 Arjan de Roos

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 15:25

I think that quote was by Bruce McLaren about the 4WD McLaren M9A rather than the Cosworth car -


McLaren indeed! But what about the Cosworth, were the wider front spoilers a last attempt before they stopped the car for good?


#10 Rob G

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 17:35

This is the first photo I've seen that had someone inside the car. It's quite a bit smaller and less ungainly than I thought.

#11 Amphicar

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 17:55

McLaren indeed! But what about the Cosworth, were the wider front spoilers a last attempt before they stopped the car for good?

There is quite a good summary of the development of 4WD in racing, with particular attention to the Cosworth F1 car here: http://8w.forix.com/4wd.html

The Cosworth car was originally designed without front or rear wings but in early testing it sprouted a "tea tray" device at the rear (similar to the one used on Graham Hill's Lotus at the 1968 Monaco GP). Later still this was replaced by the full rear wing, as shown in your photo. This was also when the front "snowplough" was added - presumambly to balance the rear wing.

#12 Roger Clark

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Posted 05 April 2011 - 17:58

The Mallory appearance was on 1st September 1969, a FordSport day. Jackie Stewart demonstrated the MS80 and Jacky Ickx the Le Mans winning GT40. There is a photograph of the Cosworth in Autosport (5th September).

#13 Arjan de Roos

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Posted 06 April 2011 - 06:44

Did you notice the resemblance with the Pininfarina Sigma, launched in the same year. Strangely in Automobile Year the Sigma is shown, not the Cosworth.

#14 Amphicar

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Posted 06 April 2011 - 14:49

Did you notice the resemblance with the Pininfarina Sigma, launched in the same year. Strangely in Automobile Year the Sigma is shown, not the Cosworth.

Some similarities - notably the side pods and full-width nose but whereas the Sigma was stunningly beautiful (as befits a show car), only its mother could love the ugly duckling Cosworth. The inclusion of the Sigma in Automobile Year but not the Cosworth, could be because the class of '69 4WD drive cars proved to be a cul-de-sac in Formula 1 history. By contrast, several of the safety ideas pioneered in the Pininfarina Sigma became compulsory for F1 cars: deformable crash structures; leak-resistent fuel cells; seat belts; and an automatic fire suppression system. As I recall, it even had a forerunner of the HANS device - an inertia reel belt attached to the back of the driver's helmet, intended to reduce whiplash in the event of a crash.

#15 Roger Clark

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Posted 06 April 2011 - 15:12

I've always thought that the car the Cosworth most resembled was Segrave's 1929 Land Speed Record car, Golden Arrow.

#16 Lotus47

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Posted 07 April 2011 - 02:20

In 1969 Cosworth developped and tested their 4WD car. It proved uneasy in roadholding with strong understeer and most weight moving to the outside wheel during cornering even lifting the inside wheel at times. Most pictures show a slim nose with Costin testing.

Today (still at the Donington Collection) it features wide front wings with NACA ducts. Obviously these wings have been added to improve handling.
When exactly were these added? Was it tested in this configuration? Or only just to be sold of to Mr. Wheatcroft?

Below is one of the few pictures of the last configuration (note missing ducts). Is this Donington Park?
The later assembled 2nd chassis features the original nose.

Posted Image
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Uploaded with ImageShack.us


I took numerous photos of this car in a museum in the town of York in Western Australia, in Novemebr 2008. Maybe it is back at Donington. I'll see if I can load the photos

#17 Tim Murray

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Posted 07 April 2011 - 05:06

The car in the York Museum is not the car in the photo but the second incomplete chassis, as referred to by Arjan in his opening post. There is a thread on the museum:

Pete Briggs' Australian York Motor Museum

but all the photos of the Cosworth have turned into the dreaded red cross, so any new shots would be very useful.

#18 jasonnichols

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Posted 19 July 2013 - 05:07

The 2nd chassis is in my shed . It was bought at auction from the Briggs Museum a couple of years ago . The gearbox is getting internals and a dfv is being built. The sump has had to be modified to to allow the starter to be put on the 'wrong side'.The brake discs that were on the car weren't correct or usable so they are getting changed to original spec. Its a project that will slowly be finished over the next couple of years.

#19 alansart

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Posted 19 July 2013 - 06:59

This is the first photo I've seen that had someone inside the car. It's quite a bit smaller and less ungainly than I thought.


The chassis looks a similar size to other cars but seems higher off the ground, possibly due to the tyre diameter which looks larger compared to the McLaren and Lotus. I always thought it was an odd looking car at the best of times.

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#20 D-Type

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Posted 19 July 2013 - 08:17

The 2nd chassis is in my shed . It was bought at auction from the Briggs Museum a couple of years ago . The gearbox is getting internals and a dfv is being built. The sump has had to be modified to to allow the starter to be put on the 'wrong side'.The brake discs that were on the car weren't correct or usable so they are getting changed to original spec. Its a project that will slowly be finished over the next couple of years.

It's reassuring to know it's gone to a good home. :up:

#21 dolomite

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 09:28

What is the grey car in the background behind the Lotus 63?

The chassis looks a similar size to other cars but seems higher off the ground, possibly due to the tyre diameter which looks larger compared to the McLaren and Lotus. I always thought it was an odd looking car at the best of times.

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#22 Tim Murray

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 09:46

It's the ex-Patsy Burt McLaren M3A 'whoosh-bonk' car:

http://commons.wikim...McLaren_M3A.jpg

#23 hamsterace

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 09:49

What is the grey car in the background behind the Lotus 63?


Looks like the ex-Patsy Burt McLaren M3A to me.

The colour scheme and BRDC badge on the side would appear to confirm this, and - although a bit vague - that looks like her name on the side of the car.

EDIT: Apologies - Tim Murray beat me to it!

Edited by hamsterace, 22 July 2013 - 09:50.


#24 David McKinney

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 12:09

It looks more like a McLaren badge than the BRDC logo to me (unless I'm looking in the wrong place :) )

#25 f1steveuk

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 13:26

It looks more like a McLaren badge than the BRDC logo to me (unless I'm looking in the wrong place :) )

I thought it was the one under the mirror, which does look BRDC, the badge in front of the exhausts, I have no idea!

#26 hamsterace

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 13:38

I thought it was the one under the mirror, which does look BRDC, the badge in front of the exhausts, I have no idea!


The link which Tim posted shows the decals on the car more clearly - BRDC badge under the wing mirrors, and the "old style" BP logo in front of the exhausts.

#27 David McKinney

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 13:46

BRDC badge on one side and McLaren on the other?

(I don't give up easily :) )

PS: But I do now
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#28 arttidesco

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 21:54

Here is what appears to be a period pic of the Cosworth being run in it's current configuration.

#29 GD66

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Posted 23 July 2013 - 00:47

Somewhat surprisingly, on wiki :

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#30 dolomite

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Posted 23 July 2013 - 06:51

OK, thanks chaps, apologies for the thread drift!

#31 timbo

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Posted 27 July 2013 - 06:08

The 2nd chassis is in my shed . It was bought at auction from the Briggs Museum a couple of years ago . The gearbox is getting internals and a dfv is being built. The sump has had to be modified to to allow the starter to be put on the 'wrong side'.The brake discs that were on the car weren't correct or usable so they are getting changed to original spec. Its a project that will slowly be finished over the next couple of years.


A rather dark photo of the Cosworth 4WD as it was in the York Motor Museum a few years ago now.

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