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CosworthCosworth is now two companies, Cosworth Racing and Cosworth Technology; they split in 1998. The original company was founded as a British racing engine maker, founded in Northampton in 1958 by Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth. Despite being an independent company Cosworth was supported by Ford and most of the Cosworth engines were branded Ford. The company has been through a number of owners. United Engineering Industries (UEI) purchased the company in 1980; UEI were taken over by Carlton Communications in 1988. Vickers bought Cosworth in 1990. In 1998 Vickers sold the company to Volkswagen Group, who then signed a deal with Ford, which bought the racing division which had long always made racing engines for Ford. Cosworth Technology (also known as CT) offers powertrain development consultancy, and its patented aluminium casting process is used by several car makers including Audi and Aston Martin. Volkswagen sold CT to the Mahle Group in December 2004. In September 2004, Ford announced that it was selling Cosworth Racing, along with its Jaguar Formula One team. On Nov. 15, 2004, the sale of Cosworth was completed, to Champ Car World Series owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven. Engines Cosworth began manufacturing racing engines in 1959 by modifying the 1000 cc Ford Kent engine engine for Formula Junior. Cosworth began its associating with Lotus Cars by boring the Kent out to 1340 cc for the Lotus 7. 1.5 L and 1.6 L units were developped in 1963 for use in Formula B and sports car racing, as well as for powering the Lotus Cortina. The final evolution of the Cosworth-Kent, in 1965, was the MAE, when new rules where introduced in Formula 3 allowing 1000cc engines. The domination of this engine was absolute as long as the 1000cc regulation lasted. As Cosworth had some difficulty facing the demand, the MAE was mainly sold as a kit. A year before, the SCA was introduced, a 1000cc engine based on a Ford Cortina 116E block that raced in Formula 2, and featured the first Cosworth design head. The Cortina engine was also the basis for the FVA, a F2 engine introduced in 1966, for the new 1.6 L engine rules. This engine dominated the category until 1971, and was also used in sports car racing in 1.8nbsp;L form as the FVC. The V8 Ford Cosworth DFV is the most successful engine in Formula 1 history. It won on its first outing, at the Dutch Grand Prix in the hands of Jim Clark, fitted to a Lotus 49. Cosworth also developed a 72° V10 for the Sauber Formula 1 team. It was rumored in the late 1990s that a manufacturer (Volvo Cars was the prime candidate) intended to use a road-going version of this engine in a production car. One of the most successful and longest-lived projects of Cosworth has been its CART/Champ Car engine program. Starting in the 1970s, Cosworth developed a derivative of their DFV Formula 1 engine to fit Champ Car's 2.65 litre turbocharged V8 formula. This engine, the DFX, quickly became the gold standard in Champ Car throughout the 1980s, until it was finally rendered obsolete by advancing technology. Cosworth subsequently designed a series of replacements, the X-series, beginning in 1992 with the XB. The XF, developed in 2000, was chosen as the spec engine for Champ Car in 2003, and will continue in that role at least through the 2005 season. Cosworth was also a huge contender in the WRC Circuits. Using a 2litre turbocharged engine to power Ford Cosworth Sierras, Cosworth Escorts, and now Cosworth Focuses. External links
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