1966 Lola T70 MKII Spyder

Eric Broadley founded Lola Cars in 1958 in Huntingdon, England. His first 'production car' was the Lola Mark 1. One of Broadley's more interesting cars was the Lola MK 6 GT, which the Ford Motor Company later successfully raced as their GT 40.

This Lola T70 MK II was the last of 67 Spyders built. The car was sold by John Mecom, the original U.S. distributor, in 1966 to Richard Galloway. With driver Ross Greenville of New Zealand, the car raced successfully in the Can-Am Series and SCCA Nationals, which included such race tracks as Bridgehampton, Laguna Seca, Las Vegas, Riverside, Road America, and Watkins Glen.

The car was involved in an accident at Bridgehampton. The car was traded-in to Illinois-based Carl Haas, the subsequent U.S. distributor for Lola Cars, for an Mk II Coupe replacement. Haas renovated SL7/36 before selling it on June 14th of 1973 to Colorado club racer John McDonald for $4,800. At the time, the car was described as 'Used Lola T-70 MK S.N SL71/36 Can-Am roller with transaxle, repaired chassis, rebuilt suspension.'

Mr. McDonald used the car in a few SCCA regional events before ownership passed to Mac McLendon of Santa Ana, California on September 23rd of 1979 for $3,500. McClendon eventually restored the car to as-new condition, using most of the original chassis and other fit components. It was sold to the current owner in 2008. Since that time, the car has enjoyed a three-year National Historic Race career, scoring six 1st place overall and class victories, three 2nd places, and three 3rd places. The car was crowned the overall champion in Bobby Rahal's 2010 Legends of Motorsports United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC). In 2011, the car was award Best in Class trophy at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.

The car is powered by a 5.7-liter Chevrolet V8 engine fitted with side-draft Weber carburetion on a crossflow manifold and offering 578 horsepower. There is a Hewland LG 500 four-speed transaxle and four-wheel disc brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2014