One of three cars built by Yorkshire’s Billy Needham in the early 1970s to contest international sports car races, this Coldwell C14 has now re-emerged in historic racing, powered by one of the new, remanufactured Cosworth FVC engines from David Gathercole.
This particular Coldwell was the first to be built in 1969 for the 1970 season, and made several starts but without much success. The second car, built for 1971, has not been seen for many years and is believed to have been destroyed, but the third example is a C14B that now belongs to Jim Gathercole. It is also powered by a remanufactured FVC, and is raced periodically in Orwell Supersports, Masters and one-off events.
The original C14 was purchased by Lorraine Gathercole in 2001, and both she and David drove it through 2002 and 2003. Following an accident at the Nürburgring in 2004, however, the car was set aside and, though repaired, had seen little use until recently.
Powering it with one of the FVC engines makes it eligible for the popular World Sportscar Masters Series where, upon the occasion of its first outing at the Donington Revived meeting in early September, it won its class in the hands of David Gathercole.
