Credit: Andrew Basterfield, Flickr - CC BY-SA 2.0 (credit links at the end of the content)
In the late 1960s, Formula One was changing faster than almost anyone could understand. Engines were becoming more powerful, and by 1968 the arrival of aerodynamic wings had already started to transform the sport completely. Teams were searching for new ways to control all that power and grip, and in the middle of that technological revolution, the Cosworth 4WD was born.
At the time, some believed the future of Formula One was simply more horsepower. Others were beginning to see aerodynamics as the real breakthrough. But at Cosworth, the answer seemed obvious: if the cars could not handle the power through two wheels, then all four wheels should drive the car.
The result was the mysterious Cosworth 4WD, one of the strangest and most ambitious F1 projects ever created.
In never started a race, never officially raced, and yet it became one of the sport’s greatest ‘what if’ stories.
The Cosworth 4WD project
Credit: Andrew Basterfield, Flickr
The entire project really began with the arrival of the legendary Ford Motor Company-backed Cosworth DFV engine in 1967.
It was designed by Keith Duckworth and MIke Costin, the DFV immediately transformed F1.
We have shared before the story of Cosworth engines, and how they managed to outperform some of the biggest teams in F1 during that era.
But success created a new problem; the DFV produced so much power that the narrow rear tires of the era simply couldn’t handle it properly.
Drivers constantly fought wheelspin when accelerating out of corners, especially in wet conditions.
To many engineers; the conclusion seemed logical; if two driven wheels couldn’t cope with the power, perhaps four wheels could.
At the time, four-wheel drive looked like the future not only in F1; but in motorsport in general.
Several teams began experimenting with the concept; believing it would revolutionize racing the same way the rear-engine layout had done years earlier.
But Cosworth took things further than almost everyone else; instead of merely supplying engines, they decided to build an entire F1 car themselves.
Cosworth Builds Its Own Formula One Car
That alone made the project remarkable; Cosworth was famous for engines, not complete chassis, yet in 1969, the company committed itself to creating a full F1 machine from scratch; it would become the only F1 car Cosworth ever built.
The design work was handed to Robin Herd, an engineer who later became one of the founders of March Engineering, he approached the car with unusual ideas from the beginning.
The chassis used Mallite, a lightweight composite material made from aluminum bonded around a wooden core.
F1 in the late 1960s was full of experimentation, and engineers were trying almost anything in search of speed; the drivetrain itself was even more radical.
Everything was bespoke; the car also used a special magnesium-cast version of the DFV engine to reduce weight.
On paper, this car looked futuristic, on the circuit, it became a nightmare!
The Car That Fought Its Drivers
Testing quickly revealed that the Cosworth 4WD was deeply flawed, the biggest problem was understeer, severe, relentless understeer.
The front wheels were trying to pull the car forward while the rear wheels pushed from behind; but instead of creating balance, the system made the car resist turning into corners.
Drivers described the sensation as unnatural and exhausting, reports suggest that even Jackie Stewart tested the car, he reportedly said that ‘ you turn into a corner and the whole things starts driving you’.
Also the car felt heavy at the front; awkward in direction changes, and unpredictable at speed.
On straight, the limited slip differential caused alarming weaving movements, forcing drivers to back off the throttle just to keep the car stable.
In slower corners, the situation became even stranger; the inside wheels would sometimes lift awkwardly, creating bizarre handling behavior that drivers struggled to predict.
They expected that the four wheel drive system should have improved traction, but it made the car slower.
A Cockpit That Became an Oven
The handling issues were only part of the disaster; Robin Herd wanted near-perfect 50:50 weight distribution, something considered highly desirable in racing design, to achieve this, the oil tak was placed directly behind the drivers seat.
It sounded clever; then the testing began, as the car ran, oil temperature climbed dramatically and the cockpit became unbearably hot, turning long test sessions very difficult for the drivers.
By mid-1969, confidence in the project was fading quickly.
Before we continue with the story of the Cosworth 4WD, we also want to share other fascinating “what if” stories from F1 history, like the six-wheeled Ferrari 312T6 or the story of the Toyota TF110, a car that never even reached the grid. There are many more forgotten projects and unrealized ideas like these in our “What Could Have Been” category.
Aerodynamics Killed the Four-Wheel-Drive Dream
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Cosworth; while they struggled with mechanical complecity; the rest of F1 discovered aerodynamic downforce.
Wings began appearing everywhere, suddenly, engineers realized they oculd force the car into the track using airflow rather than complicated drivertrain systems.
Instead of adding heavy front differentials, driveshafts and extra transmission components, they could simply create more grip aerodynamically.
Rear-wheel-drive cars instantly became more stable under acceleration because wings increased tire grip naturally, and unlike four-wheel drive, wings didn’t create massive weight penalties or terrible understeer, so the Cosworth project suddenly looked outdated before it had even raced.
Why the Cosworth 4WD Never Raced
The car had originally been planned to appear at the 1969 British GP; instead, the project quietly disappeared before ever reaching the starting grid.
The handling problems remained unresolved, and the car simply wasn’t fast enough; despite using the same DFV engine, the extra drivetraing weight made the Cosworth sluggish compared to lighter two-wheel-drive rivals.
The complexity of the system also hurt reliability and predictability, drivers couldn’t fully trust the car; which in F1 is often enough to end a project immediately.
Financial support also weakened, Ford Motor Company reportedly lost enthusiasm after disappointing testing results; and without strong backing the future became uncertain.
The Cosworth 4WD was abandoned before it ever got the chance to prove itself in competition.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: Andrew Basterfield, Flickr – CC BY-SA 2.0
