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In January, 1965 ‘SL70/1’ was displayed at the London RacingCar Show, finished in royal blue and white livery, before beingdelivered ostensibly to John Surtees’s then father-in-law, Jack Burkeof Eastleigh, Hampshire. In the then re-liveried red car, ‘John theGreat’ finished second to Jim Clark’s Lotus 30 and ahead of BruceMcLaren’s McLaren-Elva-Oldsmobile M1A upon the car’s rain-soakeddebut at Silverstone that March. The combination led from poleposition at the Silverstone May Meeting before its engine overheated,and Surtees then used the car to win the major Player’s International‘200’ race at Mosport Park, Canada.He led the Martini Trophy race back at Silverstone before adeveloped T70 Mark II car emerged, whereupon ‘SL70/1’ wasentrusted to new star, Jackie Stewart to drive as a second TeamSurtees entry - with suitable tartan striping – the young Clydesiderfinishing third behind John and Bruce McLaren in the prestigiousGuards Trophy race at August Bank Holiday Brands Hatch. Havingoriginated with a 4.5-litre Traco-Oldsmobile V8 engine, ‘SL70/1’ ranits first races with a similar-sized Chevrolet V8 before a 5.9 Traco-Chevrolet unit was fitted. John Surtees would win the inauguralCanAm Championship in the US and Canada in 1966, using a laterT70 while ‘SL70/1’ had been acquired by Texan private entrant JohnMecom Jr, apparently not being raced but used as a ‘hangar queen’source of spare parts to sustain Mecom’s sister T70s.Early in 1967 ‘SL70/1’s original bodywork and – it is believed – someother components were transferred by Mecom’s mechanics ontoa fresh T70 Mark II monocoque chassis. This car and a secondT70 were then shipped to Japan by local Firestone agent DonNichols. While he would race the second car under the pseudonym‘Roger Clark’ (!) the updated ‘SL70/1’ went to driver Ginji Yasuda’sDaikyo Chain team. Its chassis was fitted with local Group 6 Coupebodywork for Yasuda’s debut race, quickly reverting to open form forhis only other outing that year, finishing second. Yasuda raced the cartwice in 1968, leading Japanese star Kunimitsu Takahashi once, andin 1969 it was campaigned by Matsuaki Samada and Isamu Kasuya.The aging Lola was then retired, being stored by Yasuda teammechanic Yoshiaki Kobayashi, surviving in storage for some 30years before being acquired by legendary local racing car collectorYoshiyuki Hayashi. In 1999 restoration began in Japan, both TeamSurtees red paint, and the original Racing Car Show blue, beingfound beneath Daikyo Chain’s orange. That tub was consideredtoo badly corroded to be saved. Consequently a fresh tub wasproduced, a new body acquired from Lola Cars and a rebuilt 5.9-litreChevrolet V8 installed – the restored car being test-driven at Mt Fujion September 15, 2003.224 | Goodwood festival of speed