- 1,115
- Rivera
- Tsukishima-TDUDT
Eric Broadley's Lola is specialized in building small displacement sports cars and single seaters, before stepping up to the virtually no-limit Group 6 class with the V8-engined Mk VI GT in 1963. The mid-engined machine featured a state of the art monocoque chassis and a Ford Fairlane V8. It grabbed the attention of Ford in Detroit and shortly after Broadley was deeply involved in what would later become the GT40. He did not stay long as he felt the Detroit design brief included too many compromises to make the GT40 a success on the track. Broadley again focused on the production of the familiar smaller cars, still using a spaceframe design.
It did not take long for Broadley to be tempted to build a large displacement sportscar again. This time his eye was on the American racing scene, where no-limit Group 7 cars were raced in a very lucrative championship. With the arrival of the mid-engined layout and the more advanced chassis designs, it had become virtually impossible for entrants to build a racing car in their backyard, so the demand for customer sports cars grew rapidly. One of the first to acknowledge this was Bruce McLaren as he licensed his M1 Group 7 car to Elva for production. Lola quickly followed suit with the T70 introduced in 1965.
Designed to take any American V8 engine, the T70 featured a monocoque chassis constructed of a mix of aluminium and steel for additional reinforcement. The suspension was very conventional by double wishbones and coil springs over dampers. Somewhat more unusual was the location of the front brakes, just outside of the wheels. This was done to provide sufficient amounts of cool air to the discs. The package was topped off by a sleek fiberglass spyder body, designed to meet the class' only requirement; an open top body.
At the end of 1966 over 40 cars were completed and the homologation loomed for 1967. To be eligible for Group 4, several modifications were required, the biggest being the installation of a roof and a windscreen. Obviously a completely new body was required and with the help of Tony Southgate and a wind-tunnel, Broadley created a highly effective shape. Up to that point the minimizing drag and lift was the biggest concern, but thanks to its high tail, the T70 Mk3 Coupe actually created considerable downforce. This made the new Lola very stable, even at high speeds.
The Mk3B variant of the T70 Coupe used a full aluminium monocoque similar to that of the 1968 T160 Can-Am racer. The fiberglass body also received plenty of attention and created even more downforce than its predecessor. The biggest visual difference was the lower nose with two headlights on either side, installed under a Perspex cover. Equipped with Fuel Injection the Chevrolet V8 was now able to produce approximately 450 hp and the Hewland LG600 was now equipped with five instead of four forward gears. It is safe to say that the T70 Mk3B was a completely new car, but the CSI again leaned in Lolas favour and considered it a mere development of the already homologated Mk3.
Specs:
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