Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula Ford has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone into formula racing after karting. The series typically sees career-minded drivers enter alongside amateurs and enthusiasts. Success in Formula Ford can lead directly to other junior formula series such as a Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Three, or F1 Academy for female drivers.
Formula Ford is not a one-make championship, unlike the vast majority of open-wheeler series. It allows freedom of chassis design, engine build and numerous technical items of specification on the car. This opens the door to many chassis manufacturers, large and small.
Many drivers aspiring to professional careers in open wheelers racing now choose Formula 4 as their first car racing series, as it features cars with aerodynamic downforce, a semi-automatic gearbox, and other features found in Formula One and other professional open-wheeler series. Despite this, Formula Ford remains popular.
History The origins of Formula Ford began in the early 1960s, where motor racing schools such as the Jim Russell school and Motor Racing Stables featured single-seat Formula Junior and Formula Three-like machines from world-class constructors like Cooper and Lotus. Many aspiring Formula One stars looked to these schools in the hope of learning the craft and also looking the part. However, although there was no shortage of aspiring drivers, these schools had much trouble avoiding bankruptcy. The 1-litre Formula Three engines, the 1.1-litre Coventry Climax FJ and later the Kent engine from the Ford Anglia 105E, cost around £3,000 at the time in addition to the Dunlop racing tires which cost £80 a set. Furthermore, these engines were incredibly fragile and had a tendency to self-destruct. All these factors contributed to a steep maintenance and upkeep cost of the schools.
In 1963, Geoff Clarke; the owner of Motor Racing Stables, moved his racing school to the Brands Hatch circuit. This brought him in contact with John Webb; managing director of developments at Brands Hatch. At about this time, two of the school's Lotus Formula Junior chassis were fitted with a standard 1498cc Ford Kent pushrod engine as featured in the recently introduced Cortina GT saloon. The 1500 Cortina, with its reliability and horsepower output fairly close to “F3 proper” proved a resounding success in the school. The earliest experiments with radial tires bore fruit as well: the students of the day did not care that these were not the racing engines or racing tires, just that the cars were equal.
At an informal meeting at the December 1966 racing car show day at Olympia, Webb and Clarke were discussing the possibility of building a fleet of identical open wheel race cars based on the success of combining the Ford power plant and road wheels, radial tires, and Formula Junior style chassis. Not only would they make ideal school cars, but would also provide a new entry level formula for a race series. They felt if they called it “Formula Ford" they could get backing from Ford itself. Webb was on the phone the next day to Ford competition manager Henry Taylor, who agreed to provide Clarke and MRS with 54 Cortina GT engines at £50 each (£15 below retail). Webb also approached the Royal Automobile Club's competition director, to establish rules for this new class. Late in 1967, Ford announced the new Formula Ford class to the world.
Rules: (reprinted from May ‘67 issue of R.A.C. Motor Sport Bulletin)1. Type of car – This formula is open to single-seat cars with open coach work as defined by the F.I.A. for Formula 1, 2, and 3 and complying with R.A.C. vehicle regulations. 2. Engine and ancillaries – Standard normal specification Cortina GT engine. All standard parts to be used with the exception of the air cleaner (which may be removed and substituted by a ‘trumpet’), carburetor jets, spark plugs. Exhaust manifold, oil sump and pump (‘dry sump’ is allowed). Re-boring is permitted using production pistons to a limit of .015. The only modification is allowed if balancing and polishing but the compression ratio must not exceed 9:5:1 (total combustion space to be not less than 44.2cc per cylinder). The dimensions of all moving parts must be within standard Ford production tolerances. 3. Electrical equipment – Standard dynamo and starter to be retained in working order. Diameter of dynamo driver pulley free. 4. Cooling – Radiator, fan and water pump free. 5. Gearbox – Not more than four forward speeds and one reverse (which must be operable from the driving seat) but otherwise free. 6. Flywheel – Standard Cortina GT. 7. Clutch – Free including attachment to flywheel. 8. Drive – Rear-wheel drive only, final drive ratio free, but torque biasing differential not allowed. 9. Steering gear – Free. 10. Wheels – Only steel disc type with a maximum rim width of 5.5 in. 11. Brakes – Only Standard parts from any homologated Group II car(s) allowed, except for drums or discs or linings. 12. Fuel pump – Free. 13. Chassis – Of tubular construction with no stress-bearing panels except bulkheads and undertray, but the curvature of the undertray must be limited to a maximum of 1 in. Tubes may transport liquids if required. 14. Body – Free within limits of 1. 15. Fuel tanks – Free. 16. Suspension and running gear – Free except that all parts are steel except springs, hub adapters, rear hub carriers and bearing bushes the materials which are free. 17. Shock absorbers – Free. 18. Tires – Racing tires are not allowed-otherwise free within standard production retail range as specified in section 1 of R.A.C. tire regulations. 19. Weight – Minimum weight of 400 kg (881.6 lbs). 20. Cost – not to exceed £1,000 retail complete running order. 21. Eligibility – No driver who has competed in an International Formula 1 or Formula 2 race may participate.
Clarke then set about approaching existing race car constructors to build the first Formula Fords. Both Bruce McLaren and Jack Brabham turned down the idea; Colin Chapman however dusted off the obsolete Lotus 31 Chassis and reinvented it as the Lotus 51. He agreed to provide the first of two 25 car batches at £850 per car. The only stipulation Chapman had was that a Renault gearbox was to be used. This proved to be fundamental weak point in the drive train. Difficulty with the Renault transmission resulted in a failure to continue with the second batch of cars for MRS.
Russell approached Chapman to supply Formula Ford cars for his own school. Chapman insisted Russell match Clarke's 50 car order; Russell would only commit to 10 cars so the deal fell through. Russell then approached Taylor who built the Alexis car and a deal was struck to jointly produce the Russell-Alexis. This car had a Hewland racing gearbox which made the car more expensive (£999), but was more reliable and allowed interchangeable ratios.
The first standalone Formula Ford race took place at Brands Hatch on July 2, 1967. Of the 20 cars that competed, 10 were MRS Lotus 51s, including the eventual winner, Ray Allen. The Russell-Alexis car won its debut race in August 1967, and by 1968 54 Russell-Alexis had been sold. Based on this success Russell opened two more racing schools in Britain, another in Canada, and another in the United States.
Chapman and his Lotus 51 did recover, replacing the troublesome Renault gearbox with the Hewland unit, even claiming Russell as a customer in 1968. Also in 1968, Merlyn debuted as a Formula Ford constructor, dominating sales for that year. Other new manufactures included Crosslé Car Company, Dulon, Elden Racing Cars, Hawke Racing Cars and Royale Racing Cars, together with existing constructors such as Brabham choosing to build a Formula Ford chassis.
As the production Ford Cortina engine evolved to a new 1600cc crossflow unit, so did the Formula Ford regulations. Increasing costs forced them to relax the £1,000 price ceiling on Formula Ford as Blueprinting of the engine was now allowed.
Belgium hosted the first race outside England, in 1967. Formula Ford racing quickly spread across Europe and North America, with the first official Formula Ford race in the United States on March 23, 1969, and was included in the SCCA Runoffs that same year. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Formula Ford had established itself as a direct path to a seat on a Formula One car, the highest level in open wheel motorsport. Australian Tim Schenken won over two dozen Formula Ford races in 1968, two years later he was driving a Formula One car for Frank Williams. Emerson Fittipaldi impressed during the 1970 Formula One Grand Prix season after a short stint in Formula Ford. In 1970, he became the first Formula Ford graduate to win a Formula One Grand Prix. In 1972, he became the first Formula Ford graduate to win the Formula One world championship.
In the United States, starting with a 1983 debut race and victory at the 1983 SCCA Runoffs the Swift DB-1 became the dominant chassis in North America Formula Ford racing with ten championships between 1983 and 1996. The DB-6 evolution of the chassis won an additional six championships through 2008. During this time Formula Ford was on the decline in the US for several reasons. The rising cost of competition, SCCA's introduction of a spec sports racer, Sports Renault, and the dominance of the Swift chassis helped to collapse the class in the US.
Currently, Formula Ford racing exists in two main forms in Europe: National Series for aspiring 'career' drivers run around the world which have used the 1600 Duratec engine, (which replaced the heavier but not significantly more powerful Zetec engine in 2006), and for 2012 are beginning to adopt the new EcoBoost 1600 turbo engine; and a mainly amateur, club-racing series attracting serious enthusiasts using the now rejuvenated 1600 Kent engine with which the formula ran from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s, as Ford restarted production of the Kent engine in 2009 for motorsport reasons. Whatever the engine of the Formula Ford car, it has long provided a relatively inexpensive way for drivers to race purpose-built racecars. There are many Formula Ford 1600 series for drivers of the older Kent-powered cars.
Formula Ford cars A Formula Ford car is one of the more distinctive-looking open-wheel race cars because it does not have wings to create aerodynamic downforce. In order to reduce cost and allow smaller manufacturers to produce their own design of chassis without prohibitive tooling costs, chassis are steel space frame, unlike the monocoques found in other types of single-seater racing.
The more popular marques were Van Diemen, Mygale and the Australian-built Spectrum, but smaller manufacturers such as Ray Race Cars and Vector have had some success. Historical designers who have made a mark on the series have included: Titan, Lotus, Merlyn, Hawke, Citation, Swift, Euroswift, Elden, Reynard, Crosslé, Lola, Zink, Bowin, Royale, and Cooper Racing.
Top speeds in the National Class are easily as high as in the other junior formulae of BMW and Renault, but cornering speeds tend to be lower as Formula Ford cars lack the downforce-producing aerodynamic aids on the other cars; handling is therefore entirely down to mechanical grip, and the lack of wings ensures that cars following another are not aerodynamically disadvantaged, allowing some of the closest racing with plenty of overtaking. Series' rules may permit slick or treaded tires, generally supplied either by Dunlop or Avon. As the rules limit engine modifications, all cars are relatively equal and racing results tend to be close. Formula Fords allow suspension, damping, gearing and braking bias changes, but not aerodynamic options such as winged cars.