This is an original Cosworth CA Formula 1 engine, though it may not be as famous as the British company’s legendary DFV V8 it is historically important for one key reason – it’s believed to have been the first F1 engine to exceed 20,000 rpm.
Cosworth was founded back in 1958, it’s now widely regarded to be one of the most important racing engine development and manufacturing companies in the world.
Impressively, Cosworth engines have powered drivers to 176 wins in Formula 1, with 10 Constructors’ Championships, and 13 Drivers’ Championships.
This CA Coswroth F1 engine still has its exhaust headers attached, they’re an impressive feat of engineering all on their own.
The Cosworth CA engine was racing in Formula 1 between 2005 and 2013, it was used by a variety of teams including Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Williams, Lotus, HRT, Virgin, Minardi, and Marussia.
The engine is a 90º V8 with an aluminum alloy block and heads, multi-point electronic fuel injection, and it has four valves per cylinder that are operated by a high-pressure pneumatic system – the only reason the engine was able to surpass 20,000 rpm without valve float becoming an issue.
Amazingly at speeds above 20,000 rpm each piston experiences 10,616 Gs and the load on each crank pin reaches 5,937 kilograms (13,089 pounds).
The seller doesn’t know if this engine still has its internals in place, so more research will be needed by anyone who wants to get it running and usable.
Early in the engine’s development it was capable of 720 bhp and 220 lb ft of torque. As development continued power increased, eventually reaching 915 bhp and 300 lb ft of torque – impressive figures for an engine that weighs just 100 or so kilograms (220 lbs).
The Cosworth CA engine you see here is being offered with its exhaust headers still attached but without its intake manifold. The seller notes that they don’t know if it still has its internals, so if you plan on using it further investigation may be required.
It’s currently being offered for sale out of Huntingdon Valley in Pennsylvania by Collecting Cars in a live online auction. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
