David Gathercole Racing Engines

The show has been an outstanding success for the company, with large numbers of interested show-goers stopping by Stand E62. On display were a complete 2 litre FVC engine and a range of the major parts including cylinder heads, new iron and aluminium blocks and a part built engine showing the intricate gear train which drives the camshafts.

The show was very successful for the Gathercole's, and the level of interest from race car owners, engine builders and preparation specialists (as well as the other visitors to the show) was unprecedented. "We now have enquiries to fulfil from all over Europe and as far away as Japan" said David Gathercole at the end of the show. "The excellent range of visitors this show attracts was the perfect place to launch the new product, which has been the result of over a year's work, and the interest shown is very rewarding. By manufacturing and building the whole engine ourselves, we can ensure the high quality of the first production run will be maintained in all future builds. "

The first customer engine is destined for a Lola T212 to be driven by Anthony Hancock in the World Sportscar Masters series while the prototype will continue to run in the back of Neil Primrose's Isla Racing Lola T212. First outing for the engine in David's Chevron B25 will be at Hockeheim in late April at the first round of the Historic F2 championship (administered by the Historic Sports Car Club).

The newly manufactured engines will be available in 1600cc, 1800cc and full 2 litre formats. Engines can be built to order to suit a particular car or series regulations. Also available are a complete range of components from the major items such as cylinder heads and blocks through the complete throttle and injection system to smaller items like individual gears for the timing modules.

Also available from David Gathercole is a large range of newly manufactured Lucas metering units suitable for 4- 8- and 12 cylinder engines. These have been in production for just over a year and something like 40 are now running on a wide range of cars. Complete units, overhauls and spares are available for all the metering units.

"We have worked very hard to arrive at this point in the program" said Lorraine Gathercole, who is very much an active part of the business as well as being a keen historic racer in her own right with the ex-works Formula Junior Lotus 18. "We are a small family business but we have had a lot of experience with the cars and engines over many years and this is the next step for us. The level of interest shown has exceeded our expectations massively and we are now going to be working just as hard to make sure our customers have ready access to parts and engines from stock, to keep up with the demands of going racing".

For further information and details of the full range of parts and products, please contact David at (+44) 1733 208 228. For further details and other opportunities to see the engines in action contact Gordon England on +44 7887 846 416.

See our website: www.davidgathercole.co.uk for additional information

Background details

The Cosworth FVA engine was announced in 1966 and was suitable for the "new" Formula 2 championship which changed to 1600cc engines with a production block for 1967. The engine is based on the Ford L series and has a new cylinder head with two camshafts and four valves per cylinder, hence the code FVA. There are a lot of similarities in the details of this engine and Cosworth's legendary formula one engine the DFV. The engine was fitted to most of the British chassis then competing in F2, notably Brabham and Lotus but many others also including Matra, Lola, Cooper, and Protos.

The engine went on to be used in 2 litre sports cars as the FVC, initially opened out to 1800 cc and eventually to 1970cc. It remained in use in sports cars well into the 1970's and finished 22nd overall and second in class at Le Mans in 1976. The engines have been in short supply for many years now, and a large number of the cars that used them originally have been allowed to race with Cosworth BDA or one of its variants. The arrival of a very high quality remanufactured unit will mean a lot more cars can return to the correct engines they ran in period, albeit with the reliability benefits of modern materials and manufacturing methods

David and Lorraine Gathercole have been racing with 2 litre sportscars and F2 cars for several years while preparing and supporting customer cars in the same series. In 2009 they embarked upon a project to remanufacture the complete FV series engine parts. The prototype engine in 2 litre alloy block specification ran at the Masters Series end of year festival in the Algarve and was instantly fast, achieving P2 on the grid in the back of Neil Primrose's Lola T212. A few problems in the first race still netted 2nd overall and fastest lap.