1969 Lola T163 CanAm Spider

This car was originally owned by Roger Penske and driven by Mark Donohue. Donohue qualified third at Mid-Ohio in August of 1969. The Lola had a half shaft fail during the race and did not finish. Penske subsequently withdrew from the Can-Am Series and focused on the Trans Am Series, which he won that year.

The car continued to be campaigned in the Can-Am Series by private entry. Since the purchase of the car by the present owner in 1994, it has been campaigned in several vintage events. The car has an all aluminum fuel-injected, 486 cubic inch, 850 horsepower, Chevrolet big block engine.

The Can-Am Series was very innovative. The rules were rather open, encouraging the development of down force using wings and ground effects, which continue in racing today.

Recreating Can-Am racing events has become very popular, and these cars have been acquired by a number of vintage enthusiasts.

Eric Broadley was a designer, constructor, and a brilliant businessman. He had no factory or even factory-back team; rather he relied on customers exclusively.

One very exciting and challenging arena for the Lola-based cars was the Canadian-American Challenge Cup series (CanAm). Two early competitors in the series were Roger Penske and Mark Donoue. They finished second in the series' first year, 1966, and tying for third in 1967. Both 1966 and 1967 they drove Lola T70s. In 1967, the team won the Road Racing Championship with six victories out of the seven races.

In 1968, the team switched to a McLaren chassis. The McLaren cars were fast and often set the pace of the race. Competing with a customer McLaren car was difficult for the Penske/Donohue team, as they had to compete with the factory McLaren team.

For 1969, a deal was made with Lola to use its chassis for both oval track and road racing. The T70 had evolved over time and it was now a truly refined automobile; it was dubbed the T163.

The 1969 season was extremely busy for Penske and Donohue, as they competed in a Trans Am Camaro, Lola T152 and T150 for the USAC oval races, a new T70 MkIII for endurance races and the improved open T163 for Can-Am. Penske wanted more from the T163 and requested that Lola built a special extra lightweight version just for his team. Broadley was hesitant, but complied. He created a unique lightweight tub.

Due to a busy schedule, the Penske team was not able to have the car ready for the first Can-Am races. With little preparation and testing time under its belt, the car made its debut at Mid-Ohio in August. The car handled poorly and later broke a half shaft in practice and another in qualifying. Still, Donohue had qualified it in third place and just 3.6 seconds behind Denny Hulme and 3.3 seconds behind Bruce McLaren. Nine laps into the race a half shaft failed. When it broke, it tore up the rear of the chassis and the car went right into an embankment.

The car required more testing, development, and financial resources to be properly prepared for the very competitive CanAm competition. Penske, at the time, had many more successful and commercially more important obligations, so he withdrew from the remainder of the Can-Am races.

The lightweight T163 was sold to the present owner who was racing another T163. During the mid-1990s, the owner began a restoration which first entailed re-skinning the tub with thicker aluminum than Lola had used. The sheet metal gauge was increased from the sparse 20 gauge to 16 and 18 commonly found in other Lola T163 monocoque tubs. The owner theorized that this lightweight sheet metal gauge had been responsible for the half shaft failures. He believed that the lightweight tub was flexing, thus causing the shaft failures.

The restoration was completed in the mid-2000s. Since then it has only seen a few laps at Lime Rock.

The car is powered by a GM big block 510 with Lucas/Kinsler fuel injection and can produce in the neighborhood of 750 brake horsepower. The transaxle is a Lucas LG600. The car rides on modern BBS alloys and the brakes are Wilwood discs. The original lightweight monocoque panels were retained for reference. A correct T163 body taken off the original molds was obtained from Waterman in England. It is finished in correct Penske/Donohue Sunoco sponsored Lola T163 livery. There is Sunoco Blue paint, bright yellow Sunoco brand identifications and white numerals. In the rear is the unusual rear spoiler developed by Mark Donohue.

In 2008, this T163 was offered for sale at the 'Quail Lodge, A Sale of Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia' presented by Bonhams Auction. The lot was sold for $150,000 inclusive of buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2008