Hill, Clark and the Cosworth

The 1967 Dutch Grand Prix was held at Zandvoort, on June 4, 1967. The race saw the debut of the Lotus 49 equipped with the Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Having tested it for a long time, Graham Hill took pole for the race. By contrast, it was the first time that his team mate Jim Clark drove the car and qualified in eighth.

Picture above: Keith Duckworth, designer of the Ford Cosworth V8 DFV, the most successful engine in the history of Formula One; then Colin Chapman, Jim Clark and Graham Hill, next to the Lotus 49, before the start of the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix.

The development of the Cosworth DFV engine in 1967 for Colin Chapman’s Team Lotus, was sponsored and funded by major American automotive manufacturer, Ford. For many years, it was the dominant engine in Formula 1. It collected 176 wins in F1, a record that, most probably, will never be broken.

In the race, Hill retired from the lead, while Clark – picture below, V8 Cosworth engine apparent – started to get a feel for the car, as he fought his way through the field to record the car’s first victory, in its first race.