Car racing is a sensory feast, with a truckload of muscle thrown in. It doesn't matter whether you are a driver or a spectator that rush of adrenaline as the cars swoosh past you, the anticipated celebration as the checkered flag waves in the victors, much like people welcoming back a victorious army, the skill of the drivers, hugging the track while making improbable turns at death defying speeds, it's all very exciting and remains fresh in our memories. But what really makes a car race exciting, is the cars themselves, and like all technology, race car engines have come a long way.
The first Formula Ford race car used the 1500 cc Ford Cortina GT. But this engine was not made for race cars. It was made for Ford's mass-market mid-sized car of the same name, and suited it perfectly. But its four-speed manual transmission meant it could be driven fast, fast enough for Geoffrey Clark's students at the British racing school, Motor Racing Stables. The inexperienced students had been ruining the more expensive Formula 3 engines with their bad handling for long enough.
However, after a few initial British Formula Ford races in 1967, the Cortina engine was overtaken by the OHV 1600 cc Ford Kent engine, originally developed for the Ford Anglia. While the Anglia engine was fitted with an 80.96 mm bore and 48.41 mm stroke, the Formula version featured a longer stroke, huge torque and thus higher capacity.
