FAIRTHORPE FANATIK: Remembering Norbert McNamara: The Costin ZMT Climax

On the tentenths forum, markpde wrote: “Rob - the Costin Sports Racer's history is covered in Dennis E. Ortenburger's excellent work on Frank Costin and his car designs, 'Flying on Four Wheels'.

Here's a summary:

Commissioned in 1964 by Jim Diggory, North Wales. Wooden monocoque chassis with the entire seat as part of the chassis and without upholstery or padding. Body alloy formed by Williams and Pritchard. Headlights designed for plexi covers but these were never fitted. Also intended to be fitted with anti-roll bars but again these were left off, although Norbert McNamara later had them fabricated in California by Ned Bourgeault. Suspension fully adjustable by threaded spherical bearings at the front and threaded Heim (rose) joints at the rear. Brakes were discs with Girling alloy racing calipers. Weight when completed 900lbs less fluids.

Engine 1.6 litre Cosworth-modified Ford twincam with Hewland five speed gearbox. Lotus wobbly web mag wheels with Dunlop racing tyres - 500 x 13 front, 600 x 13 rear.

Jim Diggory shook the car down but since his finances were low he put it up for sale @ £2,000. Purchased by Norbert McNamara and shipped to San Francisco. Modified there by fitting a roll-over bar to the cockpit, then the anti-roll bars.

At Laguna Seca in 1965, on the uphill approach to the Corkscrew, McNamara was clipped by a Brabham and flipped four times. The seat belt mounts broke - McNamara had purposely modified them to shear, feeling he would be safer to be thrown clear, and his only injuries were cracked ribs. Cockpit was completely intact - the outer torsion boxes absorbed all the impact and the only damage to the outer chassis was splintered wood - this was when the SCCA discovered that it was a wooden chassis - McNamara had been frightened to tell them in case the car was turned down and not allowed to race!

Since the chassis was a one-off, there were no drawings or jigs, so a replacement chassis was not shipped out until 1967. Assembled by 1968 with a Webster 2.0 litre Coventry Climax twincam engine. Sadly this was overreved due to a faulty tach drive, the valve train was ruined, and although the engine was repaired, the cost was so high that Norbert McNamara reluctantly sold the Sports Racer to an enthusiast in Phoenix, Arizona. That's the last the author heard of it.

To quote Norbert McNamara: "The acceleration and speed on the straights had to be experienced to be believed, and after the sway bars were installed it had cornering power to match. My only regret is letting Frank Costin down by not achieving the car's full potential - it was one of the great designs."

Hope this helps. Worth getting hold of the book though - Costin was an eccentric genius!”