The inaugural edition of Historic Motorsport International (HMI), a brand-new show dedicated to all forms of historic motorsport, will be held at ExCeL London from February 23-26, targeting anyone with an interest in classic racing and rallying.
To kick off the event in style, the organizers will honor and celebrate the Ford Cosworth DFV Grand Prix engine that debuted 50 years ago in the Dutch GP at Zandvoort, where Jim Clark took it to a stunning victory in the back of his equally brand-new Lotus 49.
With its designation, DFV, standing for Double Four-Valve, it was a V8 of 3.0-litre capacity developed by Mike COStin and Keith DuckWORTH’s Cosworth company and funded by Ford. After enjoying that instant success, the engine went on to dominate Grand Prix racing for the remainder of the 1960s, through the entire ’70s and into the ’80s.
Between 1967 and 1985, the DFV won 155 Grands Prix from 262 races, its last win coming at the 1983 Detroit Grand Prix when Michele Alboreto took his Tyrrell to victory, while Martin Brundle, also in a Tyrrell, became the last man to race the DFV in F1 at the 1985 Austrian Grand Prix.
In various forms, this remarkable engine also enjoyed success in sports car racing — including victory at Le Mans — while also forming the foundation of Europe’s ultra-competitive Formula 3000 series and, in turbocharged form, powering American Indycar racing for two decades as the DFX.
“Anyone watching motor racing from the 1960s onwards will be aware of the place the DFV has in motorsport history,” noted HMI show director Ian France. “During the 1970s, for example, every car on the F1 grid, bar the Ferraris, was powered by a DFV. We are honored that Cosworth has chosen HMI to launch the 50th anniversary celebrations of this significant British engineering achievement.”
Historic Formula One will be represented not just by Cosworth, but also by FORCE, which will display cars from the 1990s, while the Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) will join in by celebrating another golden anniversary, the 1967 launch of Formula Ford. For complete information about the show, please visit www.historicmotorsportinternational.co.uk/
