FORMER FORD AFFILIATES COSWORTH & LOTUS TEAM UP ON TOYOTA ENGINES

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The Lotus Cortina . . . the Ford Cosworth DFV . . . The Ford Cosworth XF: These are legendary accomplishments from Ford Motor Company's storied past.

Once, the brands of Lotus and Cosworth were firmly linked to Ford. The brilliance of Ford's Walter Hayes helped put both Lotus and Cosworth on the map. Ford's affiliation with Lotus and Cosworth "polished the Oval" in innumerable ways during the "Total Performance" era and beyond.

But long ago, Ford and Lotus went their separate ways. After Colin Chapman's death, Lotus even for a time fell under the ownership of GM. Later, Lotus cars began using Toyota power.

Much later Ford divested itself of Cosworth as it abandoned professional open wheel racing.

Walter Hayes probably turned over at 18,000 r.p.m. in his grave at the shortsightedness of Ford's mishandling of the Lotus and Cosworth brands.

Now, Autoblog is reporting that Lotus and Cosworth are teaming up to develop Toyota engines for Lotus road cars.

That makes the decision to cut Cosworth loose look even more ridiculous. A brand that Ford -- more than any other OEM -- built and even once owned is helping another brand once synonymous with Ford build the sporting reputation of Ford's major world competitor. Who in the Glass House thinks that's a good development?

Meanwhile, Ford's reputation in the world of two-seat sports cars and open wheel racing is totally forgotten, except for Formula Ford, Shelby Cobra kit cars, and the fading revival of Ford's 1960s GT.

Sad. Tragic.

It reminds Truth With Speedzzter about how ex-Ford NASCAR stars Junior Johnson and Cale Yarbrough teamed up in the 1970s to win three consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup championships for Chevrolet. That was a direct and foreseeable result of Ford's disasterious November 1970 decision to abandon Johnson, Yarbrough and scores of other Ford racers. It's also reminiscent of a Holman-Moody engine builder, Robert Yates, who became a lead developer of Chevrolet racing engines in the 1970s and early 1980s because Ford quit motorsports.

Will Ford ever learn?