looking for info on Lola T290 chassis #27

[mpurdy]

Hi Guys- I ran across this site while looking for info on my uncle's old Lola T290 2L Can Am car. From your chassis number archives, it looks like this is chassis number 27.

My name is Matt Purdy, and my uncle Warren raced the T290 from 1972 until 1978 when he was killed in a car accident (not racing related). At the time of his death, the car went to a couple of his buddies, with Tim Evans from South Lyon area of Michigan as the driver. Tim took the 1979 SCCA 2L championship with it. My father crewed several races that year. After the 1979 season, I think the car was sold again and I don't know where it went from there. I heard rumors that it was recently restored by a place in Chicago, but I have had no response from them over email (the name escapes me right now).

It would be really neat to see what the old car has been up to, and if it is still racing! If anyone has any of the recent details that would be great. I think my father would be glad to help fill in any gaps in the history up to '79.

Thanks for any information!
Matt

[John Turner]

Welcome, Matt! Can we help Matt, here, folks?

[allenbrown]

Hi Matt

I've talked with your uncles Steve and Wendell about this car but we weren't able to make much progress. The last note I have was that Wendell was going to get in touch with Irv Zwicker to see if it was the car Ebby Lunken has. Ebby would be worth talking to.

Allen

[mpurdy]

Thanks guys! Wendell is my father- I just found the email he sent me after talking with Irv. This is what we know-

Irv Z. and Lou I. sold the car to EB Lunkin (1979 or 80)
EB sold it to Pat Naglan in Kansas City
After that it went to "The last Detail" restoration shop outside of Chicago. After that we don't know where it went.

The engine from this car, Irv thinks is now in a Chevron B19 owned by Brian Redman, as he recognized the engine at a vintage race because of the custom bracketry he built for it (complete with his initials engraved) way back when. Irv though potentially the Lola is now on the east coast somplace, maybe Conneticut.

It sure would be cool to see some newer photos of the car, or perhaps see it run again.

Thanks again guys- great website!
Matt

[allenbrown]

Matt

The Last Detail is still in operation: http://www.thelastdetail.com. It's still run by Tom Snellback and he may well be able to remember the Lola.

Allen

[mpurdy]

I tried to email the company a couple months ago with no response. I should try to call them. If you look at the companies web site under the "about us" and the "performance division" tabs, there appears to be a v8 Lola, although I am by no means any good at identifying these cars in that amount of detail. Are any of you experts able to tell if that car pictured is a T290? Perhaps #27 was converted to a V8 during restoration?

Matt

[Nordic]

If you mean the red one it looks like a McLaren, the same car can be seen behind the guy in another photo.

Tom Snellbeck raced a McLaren M8F in the past and it is I am sure, that car.

[Wolfgang]

Hello Matt

there are some inormations from John Starkey at the LOLA forum: http://lolaheritage.co.uk/phpBB2/vie...hp?p=1576#1576 about the LOLA T290 - 27

I will write your informations about the chassis-no 27 in the T290 list at http://www.racecar-collection.com

best regards Wolfgang

[Wolfgang]

Hello Matt

do you have informations about the races your uncle do in 1972? Do you have old pictures about the car from 1972?

Wolfgang

[driftwood]

this info was poste don lola site
can you shed anymore light on this lot
I assume Warren Purdey had the car directly from Lola via Haas agency
& Tim raced the car but did not own it after Warren died

HU27
3/5/72: Invoice # 1984.
Gearbox #: FG400/105.
Red.
Engine # FVC 70138.
Sold to Carl Haas.
1979:
Can Am. Up to 2 liter class.
Driver: Tim Evans. Crew chief: Lou Infanti. Mechanic: Gary Swanson.
06/5: Rd. Atlanta: T. Evans; 10th
19/5: Charlotte; T.Evans; RU.
03/6: Mosport: T. Evans; 7th.
10/6: Mid-Ohio: T. Evans; 6th.
08/7: Watkins Glen: T. Evans, RU.
22/7: Road America: T. Evans; 9th.
19/8: Brainerd: T. Evans; 8th.
02/9: Trois Rivieres: T. Evans; 5th.
14/10: Laguna Seca: T. Evans; RU.
28/10: Riverside: T. Evans; 8th.
1st in 2.0 l. class.
Tony Podell later on crashed the car at Road America. what year event?
Sold to Jim Jagua. when?
Car restored by John Collins. when? this man is in LA or Frisco?
Sold to Brian Minaki.when?

[ikz]

Hello, My name is Irv Zwicker.

I was the engineer on this car for both Warren and Tim Evans. Hello Matt!. A little more information. Warren purchased the car from Carl Thompson as a rolling chassis after he (Carl) won the old SCCA B/SR national championship in 1976. Carl purchased it from Mike Hall when he upgraded to a T294. I believe Mike was the original owner. This car was somewhat unusual in that it had the long distance fuel cells in it. The tub needed a lot of repair when puchased in late 1976, the bottom sheet had to be replaced and the fuel cell boxes needed extensive repair, a lot of damaged metal was cut out and patches were put in. At the time Carl Thompson owned it it had a 2.0L BDG Cosworth installed. I do know that Mike Hall had either a Hart 420S or 420R in the car at one time.The BDG engine was split from the car and went to Dave Johnson in Canada and was installed in the sister T290 that was driven by Bobby Rahal at one time. We purchased an FVC from Pat Nagalen in KC who had wound up with all of the Doug Shierson/Bill Barber Chevron equipment. This engine was run in 1977 and 1978. The block cracked at the 1978 Trois Riviere race and Warren died shortly after. We scrambled to find an engine for Tim for 1979. Fortunately Dave Johnson was quiting and we bought the BDG back from him. It was pretty worn out and required an extensive overhaul, which I performed in the winter of '78 - '79.

You are correct in the details of the car after 1979 season up to the point when Tom Snellback had the car although I don't think the engine ever went back in the Lola, I believe it was installed in one of Snellback's customer Chevron's which he had purchased from the estate of Pat Nagalen. I saw the engine at a vintage race some years ago at Mid-Ohio and talked to Brian Redman about its history. I did see a picture of the car restored to its original condition with the factory wing and original red color in a old racing car calendar. Unfortunately I did not keep the picture. I still have two pictures of the car, one with Warren driving it at Riverside, CA in 1977 in its original colors and one with Tim Evans driving it at Elkhart Lake, WI in 1979 in its beige, brown and orange scheme

Incidentally, Gary Swanson was not the mechanic. I was. Gary, along with Wendell Purdy, Steve Purdy, Rick Orzel, Denny Fullegar, Steve Teveter and Mike Williams (West Coast swing only) were the crew. Dave Craddock handled the body work repairs (almost a full time job). Lou handled the business details and keeping Tim's dad from meddling, which was fulltime job in itself.

When Warren died, I inherited the car; after 1979 the car was no longer competitive in Can-Am. I sold it to E.B. Lunken who kept it for several years before it went to Pat Nagalen. Pat died before he had a chance to restore it. The estate sold it to Tom Snellback. Tim had purchased the engine back from E.B. in 1981 and was run in a Ralt RT1 1/2 in the Can-Am for several races that year. I did the maintenance on it. After Tim was done with it, it went to Pat Nagelen as well. At one time this particular BDG was considered to be the highest horsepower BDG in the U.S. as measured on the dyno, nearly matching a typical 420R, but it didn't have the RPM capability.

[John Turner]

Warm welcome, Irv; great first post.

[driftwood]

WOW great info Irv u have solved many questions i had about usa lola t290 cars
Its very difficult to find people wh wher ether in period or get race mags with results
can u PM me yr email addres I can send u my list of queries and car fotos that to u will all make sense
ive been stuck on Mike hall car for long time
i have him in t290 and t292/4 shape car was not sure if it was same car or he sold 290 to get newer car

as far as i know usa had 4 lola t290 cars sent form UK in 1972

hu27 Mike hall in 1972 then to carl thompson then warrend purdey/tim evans etc car now with Judge Joe di loretti ( o?) sorry list not to hand)

hu28 stuck on who ha dthis car ( sorry list not to hand on the other PC with no data kept!!)

hu34 Rahal car then to canada ( italian sounding name it escapes me as my list is not to hand had the car for doneys years) then back to Bobby
there is another car im not going to mention as i can hear a hornet buzzing!

Hope to hear from you directly Irv

[tgaff1]

I see that this string goes back to 2007. I am the owner of Lola T290 HU28. I have been trying to buy this car since 2008 and I finally got it! It an exciting project but it was no bargin.

I will be doing a full restoration on the car and installing a BDG in it.

I am a little fuzzyu on the cars history. All I know is
1972 Mike Hull
1985 James Wilson
2015 Tim Gaffney

If anyone has any info, I would be most interested. Kind regards,
Tim

[911thillclimber]

This forum was a god send and more when I asked for help in tracking down the history and chassis number of my Lola T 492, and has led to a huge thread on the car, enough to write a small book or a play!

I found all the history, the number and a lot lot more besides, fantastic, and I'm indebted to all those that helped me.

I hope you get the same result!

If I can suggest pictures of what you have as every detail of the chassis and bodywork will play a major part in getting all the info you need. They jog a lot of memories.

Graham.

[allenbrown]

Originally Posted by tgaff1

I see that this string goes back to 2007. I am the owner of Lola T290 HU28. I have been trying to buy this car since 2008 and I finally got it! It an exciting project but it was no bargin.

I will be doing a full restoration on the car and installing a BDG in it.

I am a little fuzzyu on the cars history. All I know is
1972 Mike Hull
1985 James Wilson
2015 Tim Gaffney

If anyone has any info, I would be most interested. Kind regards,
Tim

Hello Tim

I think you mean Mike Hall, the Chicago racer, who had a new T290 in 1972 but he had HU27, not HU28. HU28 also went to the US, in the south east, then moved to California for 1973 and was raced there until it suffered a massive accident in May 1974. It was eventually repaired with a new monocoque from Lola and raced again later in the 1970s. I have been in touch with the son of the man who crashed it and repaired it. I have several great pictures from two of its other former drivers racing it in 1973 and in 1977.

Also, I have the name of the last US owner before it was sold back to the UK. All we need to do is connect that up to the name James Wilson and we should be home and dry!

Allen