In late 1962 the Ford Motor company issued an extraordinary press release that stated they had purchased the Italian car manufacturer Ferrari. The announcement would start a war between the two companies that would last for nearly 20 years.

Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford II

Whether Ferrari really had any intention to sell the company to Ford is debatable, but it would start a war between the two companies that would change Formula One.

Today, we think of Ferrari as a multi-billion-dollar company, but in the mid 1960’s they sold three or four hundred cars a year, and if you wanted to hurt them financially you would go after their road car sales, and that is just what Ford did.

Ford would spend the next two years developing the GT40, a car that had a single purpose, beat Ferrari at Le Mans.

The GT40’s crossed the finish line in a one, two, three finish at Le Mans in 1966.

Ford decided the best way to hurt Ferrari was in Formula One. And that is just what they did.

While Ford was developing the Le Man cars another project would start that would change F1 for the next 15 years.

Chapman at Lotus was also looking for a new engine. He approached an old friend at Ford named Walter Hayes and suggested that they design a new engine for the spec. Hayes was interested and said Ford would fund the project if the right people were involved.

After a lot of haggling a deal between the three companies was done. Ford would finance the project with an investment of £100,000. Cosworth would design the engine and Lotus would get the “A” engine, and Ford could sell the “B” engines to anyone else. The target date for the new engine, to be called the DFV (double four valve) was the third or forth race of 1967. The work began.

The 1967 F1 season would have a total of 11 races, starting in South Africa and ending in Mexico. The new Ford – Cosworth was targeted to enter the third race in the Netherlands. Until then Lotus would have to run the first two races with the old BRM engine.

The 1967 F1 Season

1	South African Grand Prix	Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Midrand	2 January
2	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	7 May
3	Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	4 June
4	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	18 June
5	French Grand Prix	Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans	2 July
6	British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	15 July
7	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	6 August
8	Canadian Grand Prix	Mosport Park, Bowmanville	27 August
9	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	10 September
10	United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, New York	1 October
11	Mexican Grand Prix	Magdalena Mixhuca, Mexico City	22 October

 

Lotus now knew the Cosworth car wouldn’t be ready until the third race, which was the Netherlands, and would have to make due until then with the old BRM engine.

The first race was in South Africa and won by the Mexican, Pedro Rodriguez in a Cooper Maserati.  It would be the sole win of the year for Cooper and Rodriguez.

Mexican, Pedro Rodriguez in a Cooper Maserati

The second race of the season was Monaco. It was an easy win for Hulme, who lapped everyone. The bright spot for Lotus was Hill finishing second. But the good news for Lotus was the new car with the Cosworth engine would be ready for the next race in Holland.

The third race of the season was in Holland and for Clark and Hill the new Ford – Cosworth engine was ready.

Costin far left, next to Duckworth, the Cosworth designers.

With the next race in Holland, Lotus and Cosworth both felt confident the new engine was ready. Ford would see if their investment had been worth it.

Zandvoort in 1967

Qualifying was promising with Hill taking the poll. Clark had some minor problems and started the race. 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, this was the first time that the other Lotus driver, Jim Clark ever drove the car, which — combined with mechanical issues — led to him only qualifying in eighth. Hill retired from the lead, while Clark 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. The meeting also saw the first appearance of the Brabham BT24 and the BRM P115, but neither took part in the race.

Clark winning Cosworth’s first race at Zandwoort.

The first Lotus Cosworth victory.

The next race was in Belgium at Spa. This race was also notable as it saw Dan Gurney win. For Lotus the jubilation from the Netherlands was gone, with Clark finishing sixth and being lapped, and Hill suffering a DNF.

Gurney’s Eagle

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	36	Dan Gurney	Eagle–Weslake	28	1:40:49.4	2	9
2	14	Jackie Stewart	BRM	28	+ 1:03.0	6	6
3	1	Chris Amon	Ferrari	28	+ 1:40.0	5	4
4	29	Jochen Rindt	Cooper–Maserati	28	+ 2:13.9	4	3
5	12	Mike Spence	BRM	27	+ 1 Lap	11	2
6	21	Jim Clark	Lotus–Ford	27	+ 1 Lap	1	1

The fifth race of the year was the French GP. It was held at the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans.

Graham Hill was on pole and led away for the first lap until Jack Brabham took over. On lap 7 Jim Clark took the lead and Hill passed Brabham to make it a Lotus 1–2. Hill then retook the lead until his crown-wheel and pinion failed on lap 14. The same problem caused Clark’s retirement from the lead on lap 23, leaving Brabham ahead of Dan Gurney, Chris Amon and Denny Hulme. On lap 41 a fuel line broke on Gurney’s car, making it a Brabham 1-2 and Amon’s throttle cable broke several laps later. Brabham drove home serenely to win his first race in eight Grands Prix by 49.5 seconds from teammate Hulme, and over a lap in front of the BRM of Jackie Stewart.

The sixth race of the season was the British GP at Silverstone.

Clark winning the 1967 British GP.

Silverstone was race 6 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 80-lap race was won by Lotus driver Jim Clark after he started from pole position. Denny Hulme finished second for the Brabham team and Ferrari driver Chris Amon came in third.

The seventh race of the 1967 season was the German GP at Nurburgring.

Clark converted his pole position into an early lead, while his Team Lotus team-mate Graham Hill was pushed from his grid position of 13th, onto some grass, restarting the back of the field, behind the F2 cars. Clark stayed ahead Hulme and Gurney for the first three laps of the race. On the fourth lap, Clark dramatically slowed, his suspension having buckled, and so ended his race. Hill managed his Lotus up to tenth before mechanical troubles eventually put him out of the race.

Immediately, Gurney passed Hulme for the lead, while Brabham was third after McLaren retired with a split oil pipe. Ickx continued to impress. He was now up to fifth, behind Stewart. The Scotsman overtook Brabham, only to encounter transmission problems, and so Ickx moved up to fourth. Shortly after this, the Ferrari of Chris Amon closed up and passed the F2 Matra. By lap 12, Ickx was also out of the race, following the collapse of this front suspension. On the next lap, the universal joint on a driveshaft broke for the race leader, Gurney. Hulme took the lead to win from his team-mate Brabham and fellow Kiwi, Amon.^[1] This was the first Championship race since 1962 French Grand Prix without a driver from the United Kingdom on the podium.

Clark suffers a DNF.

Hulme with the winner’s trophy

The eighth race was 1967 Canadian GP at Mosport just outside of Toronto.

 

The 1967 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on August 27, 1967. The 90-lap contest was race 8 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was won by Jack Brabham driving for his own Brabham team. This was the first Canadian Grand Prix to have World Championship status.

Having already changed his battery on the grid, losing six laps, local driver Al Pease spun his private Eagle–Climax and stalled out on the circuit during the race, and suffered another flat battery. He ran back to the pits for a new one, ran back to the car, fitted the battery himself and continued. He was still running at the finish, albeit 43 laps down on Brabham.

Chris Amon in the Ferrari 312

Jack Grabham crossing the victory line

The 1967 Italian GP at Monza was the ninth race of the season.

The 1967 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on 10 September 1967. It was race 9 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won by British driver John Surtees driving a Honda. It was the sixth and final career victory for Surtees, as well as the first ever race for the Honda RA300 which he drove to victory. This was the first Formula One race where start lights were used.

John Surtees winning the 1967 Italian GP

The 1967 US GP was held at Watkins Glen.

The 1967 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 1, 1967, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 10 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 108-lap race was won by Lotus driver Jim Clark after he started from second position. His teammate Graham Hill finished second and Brabham driver Denny Hulme came in third.

Clark winning the 1967 US GP at Watkins Glen

1967 Mexican GP

The 1967 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixhuca on 22 October 1967. It was race 11 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

For the first time in eight years, two teammates went into the last race with a chance of winning the title. Denny Hulme on 47 points required a fourth-place finish to claim the drivers’ title. Jack Brabham with 42 points needed to win the race and for Hulme to finish fifth or lower.

The race was won by over a minute by Jim Clark, driving for Lotus-Ford, despite not being able to use his clutch during almost the entire race.  New Zealander Denny Hulme clinched his only World Championship by coming home third, earning the necessary points to edge out teammate and three-time World Champion Jack Brabham.

Final Results

1	Denny Hulme	4	1	3	Ret	2	2	1	2	Ret	3	3	51
2	Jack Brabham	6	Ret	2	Ret	1	4	2	1	2	(5)	2	46 (48)
3	Jim Clark	Ret	Ret	1	6	Ret	1	Ret	Ret	3	1	1	41
4	John Surtees	3	Ret	Ret	Ret		6	4		1	Ret	4	20
5	Chris Amon		3	4	3	Ret	3	3	6	7	Ret	9	20

 

Denny Hulme overall 1967 F1 Champion

Next week the 1968 Season and the Triumph of Lotus-Ford!

 

Ian Caldwell