Founded in the year nineteen twenty-four February 1980

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Wind tunnel testing at Imperial College resulted in a body with 10% less drag and considerably more downforce. The three-quarter monocoque too is completely new and stronger, with improved footwell protection and resistance to crash damage. Further detail improvements include better brake cooling and improved engine mountings. Maintenance is said to be particularly easy. The first time out with the new car, on a cold winter’s day at Snetterton, Lola’s Sales Manager and Development driver, Mike Blanchet, ran below the lap record at Snetterton and a potential customer subsequently took 2 sec. off the Zandvoort lap record. The T590 rolling chassis costs £6,750 plus VAT, inclusive of the four-speed and reverse Hewland Mk. 9 transaxle, belts, fire extinguisher, exhaust system, engine mountings, mirror and fully-piped oil system, but less the Formula Ford 2000 type engine. By current standards, the highly competitive Sports 2000 formula is a not too expensive and very sensible way to go motor racing in a “proper” racing ear, without the sometimes lunatic dangers of the more extrovert open-wheel formulas. “Formula Three is our bete noir” Broadley commented, referring to a particularly poor 1979 season with a new chassis “which wouldn’t work, and we’ve just found out why. It was designer stupidity — I designed it!” The problem was an aerodynamic one and a revised version of last year’s car, though fitted with a Super Vee engine (the two formulae share the same chassis), was being readied for wind-tunnel testing during our visit. Broadley views it with great confidence. Mike Blanchet sees Super Vee as having a great deal of potential and Lola intend to push it in the USA and Europe. The in-line, 1,600 c.c, water-cooled VW engines give about 175 b.h.p., making them almost as quick — quicker on some circuits — as Formula Three. Alas, it is almost as expensive as Formula Three and Blanchet feels that fuel-injection should be banned in favour of carburetters, to increase the differential. The bulk of the 200 or so racing cars built annually at Lola are Formula Ford and Formula Ford 2000. mainly for the USA and Europe, because, as Broadley put it, “there are too many dicey deals in Formula Ford over here to get too involved.” Straight-line speed seems to be all important in US Formula Ford racing and the cars for that market are narrow tracked. This has always meant that handling has gone to the wind, “but now we’ve got them to handle as well.” Blanchet told us. As we walked round the Lola factory, where new machines have been installed to pre-cut and drill monocoque panels for quick and easy assembly and where almost every part of a Lola is manufactured except for castings and glass-fibre, we noticed several rows of strange little single-seater cars. They transpired to be T506Bs, built in batches of up to 30 for US track operators, who hire out these 50 m.p.h., belt-driven racing cars to “over-sixteens” at 1 dollar 30 cents per lap. against the clock. Power comes from twin-cylinder, Bombardier-Rotax, two-stroke engines, driving through a special gearbox built up by Lola in conjunction with Hewland. But the biggest surprise of our visit was to round a corner and be confronted by a brand-new Lola T70 Mk. IIIB Group 4 coupe under construction, which immediately threw all our views on “the replica syndrome” into consternation. Alter all, it can’t be a replica if the original manufacturer is making it with the original jigs, moulds and off-the-shelf parts, albeit after a production gap of over nine years, can it? This magnificent red car was bound for a customer in Britain. Another, yellow example had recently been despatched to a US enthusiast. It will be interesting to see how the HSCC regards the British car on a dating basis. . . . Even more intriguing were two further T70 chassis covered by dust sheets “for a secret Le Mans protect”, in connection with which we heard the words “Aston Martin engine” uttered by a Lola mechanic. The wheel seems to be turning full circle! — C.R. The HSCC Historic Special GT Championship BY COINCIDENCE, a communication from the Historic Sports Car Club, announcing a new sponsor for its 10 round Special GT Championship, arrived as our printers were setting the Lola story above. It reminded us that the Championship is for cars built between 1965 and 1968, so we shall watch the future of the new 1979/80 T70 Mk. IIIB with interest. Last year’s series was in fact won by a T70, that of Mike Wheatley, and the Club expects more T70s to come out from hibernation (or construction?) to challenge the Marshplant T70, David Piper’s Ferrari 330P (built in — when was it — 1978?), Mike Salmon’s GT40. some early McLarens and a hoard of Chevron B8s. The scries will be sponsored by Willhire, a van, motor home and truck hire operation run by HSCC member Roger Williams in Hast Anglia. Championship dates are: April 20th, Cadwell Park; May 5th, Thruxton; May 11th. Brands Hatch; May 26th and June 28th, Silverstone; July 19th/20th. Donington (which the HSCC can’t spell); August 3rd. Mallory Park; August 25th Castle Combe; September 21st, Donington; October 5th, Brands Hatch. The HSCC will also run a 12 round Championship for Classic Sportscars built between 1960 and 1964. — C.R. * * * No actively involved motorsport enthusiast worth his salt should be without a copy of the FIA Year Book of Automobile Sport, the official handbook of world competition motoring. The 1980 edition has just been released by the UK publishers, Patrick Stephens Ltd., Bar Hill. Cambridge CB3 8EL, price £9:95 net. This pocket sized book has 792 pages, including 198 photographs and 203 drawings. All the regular natures are included, including photographs and biographies of the 1980 FIA graded drivers, photographs of the leading non-graded drivers and the 1979 FIA Championship winners, photographs and technical details of the world’s leading competition cars, the 1980 homologation list, the text of 29
the International Sporting Code and Appendices H, J and M, current circuit safety criteria and the 1980 FIA Championship regulations. Also included are details and maps of the World’s major racing circuits and hill climb courses, a useful directory section, the 1980 international racing and rally fixture lists plus names and addresses of organising clubs and 1979 FIA Championship results. Absolutely indespensable! — C.R. 30
Page 1 and 2: February 1980 Motor Sport Founded i
Page 3 and 4: is more than twice as dangerous as
Page 5 and 6: and Swedish F3 driver Stefan Johans
Page 7 and 8: During the warm-up Andretti’s Lot
Page 9 and 10: go that there was no need for major
Page 11 and 12: acing a white, low-chassis. 100 m.p
Page 13 and 14: time, there comes the temptation to
Page 15 and 16: in a taxi, on a day of visits to hi
Page 17 and 18: layer of leather. The lid was then
Page 19 and 20: THE BANDAMA RALLY A TITLE collected
Page 21 and 22: FORD’S SABBATICAL IT is just over
Page 23 and 24: Apart from having to provide an ope
Page 25 and 26: ack. “At least we had our back se
Page 27 and 28: Fitzpatrick’s opinions of the mac
Page 29: We got totally confused and found l

Founded in the year nineteen twenty-four February 1980

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