A Northampton engineering company that began building racing engines in 1958 and now supplies high-performance engines, electronics and data systems.
Cosworth is an engineering company with roots in motorsport. It builds high-performance internal combustion engines under its Propulsion Systems business, and makes electronics, software, data logging and control systems through Data & Control Systems. It serves aerospace, marine, automotive and motorsport customers, and also works on battery and hybrid systems.
It was founded in 1958 in a garage in north London by Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth, and moved to Northampton in 1964. The Ford-backed DFV V8 won in Formula One from 1967. More recent engines include the V12 in the Aston Martin Valkyrie and the Gordon Murray T.50. Its tagline is "Faster, Further, Smarter", and its site says Cosworth empowers organisations to reach their full potential. We did not find a longer mission statement.
Its UK headquarters are at The Octagon, St James Mill Road, Northampton, and its electronics business, Cosworth Electronics Ltd, is at Cottenham near Cambridge. It also has an electronics operation in Indianapolis in the United States. Wikipedia gives 400 to 500 employees, though that figure may be dated. In October 2023 the company marked 65 years with an event at its Northampton site, attended by Sir Jackie Stewart and Professor Gordon Murray.
At that event, the company credited its motorsport "DNA" for its success, and chief executive Hal Reisiger set out a vision for its future. Gordon Murray said the T.50 "has a Cosworth engine" and described the relationship as having come full circle. These are the company's own accounts of its culture. The Northampton anniversary event also showed a Lotus 49, which won Cosworth's first DFV Formula One race, alongside a 2023 BTCC car that uses a Cosworth hybrid system as a push-to-pass device. Cosworth has changed ownership several times across its history, and its anniversary item says developing young engineering talent is a core value.
Teams at a firm like this include engine designers and analysts, calibration and control engineers, electronics and software developers, machinists and assemblers, and test and project staff. If you enjoy engines and electronics, Cosworth shows how a small British racing business became a supplier to hypercar and aerospace programmes.
Website: www.cosworth.com
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