History of a Lola T492 Sports 2000 chassis?

[driftwood]

i was trying to think of the name other Brit girl in usa but i had to leave some room for you!
Big girls blouses fk me i dont have time to start listing

[bob k.]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Good luck Bob!
It is clear that there are some very very keen guys on this forum who can be a massive help because they were actually there!

Graham.

Those keen guys and their massive help ???? !!!!!

They seem to be stuck arguing over which lady driver is better than the other, a kind of 'my mom can beat your mom" game
but then again, maybe they are just killing time as they research my info request.

Surely someone has the information that will help me out.
I keep waiting and hoping
bob k.

[911thillclimber]

Bob: I am sure you will get there soon. Your quest is far simpler than mine.
I know I could not have found the truth about my car without the help of others on here. All other 'related' sites are 'dead' in comparison.

Mine had taken about 7 months on a car that went missing for 15 years, about 1/2 its life. It also came about a times by pure fluke, just by chance and could so easily be missed and lost.

Have you been on the Sports 2000 site in the UK?
They have some history there and are keen on original Lola's like yours, not so keen on mine! (I'm call the Butcher on there at times.)

You have to flood the sites with requests. I gave up on here about 2 months back, then gave it another prod and it all cascaded from there.

Keep at it!

Graham.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by bob k.

While everyone is still thinking T490 and researching the 1977, 78 era perhaps you can help me to determine ownership of HU4. It was used by Divina in 1977 and then, so the story goes, bought by John (pancho) Webb in 1978. He sold it into Canada in 1983. Does any one have proof or evidence of Mr Webb owning the car in those years? I was told that a 1978 Autosport had picture of car and driver with National Fuels sponsorship and a Smurf for good measure. Any old programs? Any for sale ads late 82 or early 83? Any contact info for Mr Webb himself?

After tracing Grahams history, my request sounds simple.

Any and all help most appreciated.

bob k.

Bob, just to confirm some of the above:

1) Divina Galica did drive the Kelly Girl Lola T490 in 1977. It was run by Brands Hatch on behalf of the sponsors.
2) John L Webb (nickname "Pancho") ran a privately entered T490 in 1978. In 1979 Webb also ran the T490 under the "London Sports Car Centre" banner. Webb didn't run the T490 in 1980/81/82 as he was driving for "RG RACING" in 80 and 81 in Sports 2000. No sign of Webb in the 3 S2000 events I saw in 1982.

Hope that is a mild distraction from the Babe Watch element of this thread!

[bob k.]

Yes Graham, I have tried a few other sites about a year ago and did not get too far. I have been following your request for some time and was impresssed with the amount of information that surfaced. There was a story on my car in the UK S2000 magazine last year and I attended their Dinner Dance at year end. I met with Divina and had a good chat. I took a small removable aluminum panel with me and had it signed by Divina, Bob Marston and Eric Broadley, a nice unique touch fo my car I thought.

What I am missing now is the verification of ownership and I was hoping someone had programs, magazine articles or personal memories that will give me the history I am looking for.

My other comments were tongue in cheek, playing their game.

Steve, thanks for pulling it all back together for me.

cheers to all bob k.

[driftwood]

also have you tried atlas f1 site ive been looking at some old race car photo thread and there are a lot of S2000 car photos- Steve W has been putting some photos on the thread
i will confess did not see any kelly girl car pics BUT i did get 4 tony dickenson skoda lola photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by driftwood

also have you tried atlas f1 site ive been looking at some old race car photo thread and there are a lot of S2000 car photos- Steve W has been putting some photos on the thread
i will confess did not see any kelly girl car pics BUT i did get 4 tony dickenson skoda lola photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll pop the invoice in the post then!



Bob, I have programmes from the meetings I attended and possibly some photos; however I wasn't into logging chassis numbers then (what was I thinking about?) so consequently cannot provide any substantiating documentation.

[911thillclimber]

Where are these Lola pics?

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Where are these Lola pics?

You asking Drifty or me?

[911thillclimber]

I think I've found them on Atlas. About 28 pages of them.

Fab thread there, and so many great pics.
The Skodas look great, and the VW Super Saloon is just the best. That would be great on my Lola for hillclimbs!
Keep me dry too...

If I have this wrong Steve, please point me in the right direction.

Graham.

[Clive Brown]

Just to show easily how history can get distorted , there is a series of pictures on the Atlas site all purporting to have been taken at Oulton Park in 1980 , but in that sequence is a picture of Tony Dickinson's third Skoda ( yes, Graham's chassis ! ) in its final form , with the pukka rear wing ( as seen in the pictures of Alan Humberstone at Lydden ) , as opposed to the simple bootlid spoiler it carried earlier in its career . Somehow , this picture has got inserted into a sequence of pictures which do look more like 1980 .

[driftwood]

i see everyone has trolled through all those page sof fotos dont any of you guys have something better to do on a cold wet windy winters day??

[911thillclimber]

Even I can only stand so many hours (in the Den) on this bloody Lola!
Clicking on a mouse is theraputic but I must admit to getting dizzy looking at 24 pages in sucession...
Now you have said 'my' car is in there I've got to go back, find it and print it!

Think it's on page 11 if I've noted it right.

[Clive Brown]

There's actually a number of pictures of it at various stages in its career dotted through the Atlas site , and also ( treacherously ! ) one of the second TD Skoda . Just look at the rear wheels ; they are a dead give-away !

[Clive Brown]

Postings #954 on P. 24 and #741 on P. 19 are your car ; notice the difference in the rear spoilers / wings . Posting 551 on P.14 , though , is in my view the 2nd , T290-based , car .

[911thillclimber]

Thanks Clive, that's saved me a lot of time.

I'm now printing everything I have to build a folder up inc the emails from John Schenieder etc. to get everything in hard copy in one place.

Alongside this I'm continuing the car with refreshed vigour!
Mounting the huge dry sump tank and the rear suspension for the zillionth time. Tight fit to say the least and trying to keep the weight down. The 911 engine is really oil/air cooled so needs about 15 litres of oil in the system plus a cooler fan.

All the work is behind the roll bar, the front is all done by those in the past.

TD had 'the very latest' AP calipers on the car, but it now has huge (Formula 3000?) radial mount Brembo calipers by someone else, I suspect Mike did that after Autoquip sold him the tub.

Still adding rivets...

[911thillclimber]

Help! Searched for the thread again and can't find it!
FOUND IT!
Been to www.atlasF1.com then forum then Nostalgia but no sight of it.
Mind you, found a pic of Bluebird on the lake which is almost magcal...

Can you post the link please Clive/Steve?

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Can you post the link please Clive/Steve?

This is a NEW thread on Sports 2000:
http://forums.autosport.com/showthre...hreadid=105650

This is the thread on British Club Racing:
http://forums.autosport.com/showthre...threadid=99466

And finally this thread is for Paddock shots:
http://forums.autosport.com/showthre...threadid=89266

Happy trawling!

[Clive Brown]

Try this link for the thread : http://forums.autosport.com/showthre...threadid=99466 . I managed to run through it this morning .

[driftwood]

forget the rear wing look at front arches
livery is different as well

[Clive Brown]

I meant the difference between posting #954 ( the third car as originally run ) and the same car shown in posting #741 , the third car very much later in its career , a picture incorrectly attributed to 1980 .

The car in posting #551 is palpably a different car altogether ; in fact , it's the same car shown in Steve W.'s posting of Oulton Park in 1978 .

[Clive Brown]

More of your car here ....http://rupert8766.fotopic.net/p3155404.html

It occurs to me that given its secret life as Tony Dickinson's Skoda , yours is probably the most sucessful of all Lola T490/2 chassis !

[911thillclimber]

They are a bit of a mystery as awhole?

On the Lola Heritage site only a few are 'bagged' but I think there were just 10 made in 77, and most of the USA ones were converted to side rads/T492 spec very early on.
I know you could buy a conversion kit from Lola to do this in late 77/early 88.
This is why Bob in BC describes his car as a 490/492 I think.

I sure hope you are right and it will rub-off on me when I drop the clutch on the start line of Loton Park hillclimb, my club's very own track.

Gulp!

ps: I now feel guilty of butchering it!

[bob k.]

Graham

[bob k.]

sorry about the above

the 490 cars were chassis 1 through 10 with all but #3 going to the UK, #3, made in 30/10/76 went to Switzerland I believe. The first US cars to go to Haas, were chassis #'s 19, 20 and 21

Word of mouth had my car going back to factory for 492 updates and fitting of centre lock wheels. Lola does not have records of this though. the car came to Canada in 1983 with the chassis plate stamped as 490/2

It is my understanding that only the 490s were front radiator cars. Last chassis listed for 492 is #101 on 31/10/79. I see only 29 cars in 490 series sold in UK

Be sure to post more pictures as you complete your project and good luck on the hills

cheers bob k.