A day for Duckworthisms

• 

There was a time when clever guys came up with inventions that could really change the world of motorsports. And Keith Duckworth certainly was one of these guys. He was born 81 years ago, in Blackburn Lancashire, and was introduced to motorsports when he bought a Lotus 6 kit car direct from Colin Chapman, ending up working for Lotus. But not for long, since his job as a gearbox engineer had its limitations. “I am not prepared to waste my life developing something that will never work”, Duckworth supposedly said. It wasn’t his only striking statement. Some of them even became known as ‘Duckworthisms’. How about “It is better to be un-informed than ill-informed”; “a genius can make for a penny what a good engineer can only make for 10p”; and “young fools go on to become old fools”.

Duckworth teamed up with colleague Mike Costin forming Cosworth and the rest, as they say, is history. Chapman remained a friend, though. In fact it was him who instigated to design a Grand Prix engine, and Chapman famously convinced Ford to back it up. This sponsorship famously became ‘the best £100,000 Ford ever spent’.

(Picture courtesy Veloce publishing)

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.