Forty years ago this week the Ford-funded, Cosworth-built DFV engine was born. MARCUS SIMMONS leads the celebrations for Formula 1's greatest ever engine
Think of the 1970s in Formula 1 terms and you conjure up a scruffy paddock at Silverstone or Brands Hatch, full of primary-coloured, fat-slicked machines, sideburned drivers standing in the sunshine signing autographs.
It was the decade when F1 was at its most democratic. Entry lists were bulging, to the extent that pre-qualifying - where a driver had to qualify for the right to qualify - was invented. Exactly three decades ago, in 1977, no less than 21 constructors turned out over the course of the year.