Lola. When you hear this name, most people immediately think of the song that made The Kinks a worldwide hit in 1970, but for us car enthusiasts it rings another bell: Lola Cars, a manufacturer of racing cars from Bromley in Kent.
The brand was founded in 1958 by Eric Broadley. This man is a technical genius who certainly belongs among the greatest racing car designers. He mainly makes and sells racing cars for clients, but also works on commission for various car manufacturers. Among other things, he is responsible for the Nissan Group C design in the 1980s and the Gulf Aston Martin DBR1-2 LMP1 at the beginning of this century. The Lola range has included almost every possible racing class over the years: Formula Junior, Formula 5000, A1 GP, Formula 3, Formula 2 and even the occasional Formula 1 car came off Broadley’s drawing board. Lola’s greatest successes with Formula cars came in American Indy Car races, with several victories in the Indy 500. Broadley also scored one win in Formula 1 with the Honda RA300 in the 1967 Italian GP. He was co-responsible for the design but the car was a Honda and was nicknamed “Hondola”.
Besides the “one-seaters”, Lola was also a real sports car manufacturer. A small 2 litre, a bigger 3 litre or more than 5 litre proto’s: you could find it all at Lola. But also with Can-Am versions and later LMP1, LMP2 or the IMSA variant, there was something for everyone in the Lola catalogue. One of the most successful models, especially in terms of sales, was the T70 in the second half of the 1960s. A simple and light construction that was equipped with a powerful and heavy American 8 cylinder engine. ( Chevy or Ford ) This T 70 was the ideal racing car for many private teams. Well-known teams such as Penske and David Piper had the T 70 in their racing stable. A Can-Am version was also in the catalogue and John Surtees won the first Can-Am title in 1966 with this T 70 Spyder.
Even today, the T70 and Spyder version can still be seen regularly. In the Master Historic Sports Car Series, the T70 is a fixed value for several teams. And when five of them pass each other at Spa, they make a heavenly sound with their heavy V8 engines. The Spyder is a regular at the Goodwood Revival and Festival of Speed. And so, after their bankruptcy in 2012, Lola will remain forever in the memories of many motorsport enthusiasts and will claim its place in motorsport history.
Author Gordon Jones delivers a brilliant work on the complete history of the T 70. After a general introduction and the founding of the Lola brand, the development and participation in all the races is covered in great detail. Every chassis number, every pilot, every team, every race and a complete history including palmares can be found. Even the starting number of each T70 in all competitions is mentioned. The book reminds us of Pete Lyons’ work, also published by Evro, about Don Nicols and his Shadow racing team. Both works are quite similar in style, content and detail. They are both aimed at a smaller, but certainly connoisseur audience that will enjoy them to the full.
The book has 576 pages, richly illustrated with the necessary photo material. Two racing legends provide the foreword. And they are not the first to do so, with Richard Attwood and George Follmer. On the cover photo we find the Penske Sunoco T 70, which makes a pit stop during the 1969 24 hours of Daytona, and in which Mark Donohue and Chuck Parson, won perhaps the most beautiful and biggest victory of the T 70.
Publisher Evro adds another beautiful work to its already impressive oeuvre of both car and motorsport related publications. You can order via their website: www.evropublishing.com or in the better bookstores with ISBN number 978-1-9100505-53-3.
Report: Joris de Cock
Photos: Evro Publishing