Lola

[mountainstar]

Interesting article on Lola and Champcar:

http://www.champcarworldseries.com/N...le.asp?ID=9796

I remember some posters on this forum saying that Lola hadn't built any new cars for a while so there were some nice figures on sales numbers for the B2/00's

2000 19
2001 22
2002 32
2003 4
2004 2
2005 2

Looks like champcar has been a nice business for Lola. Sad to see them go.

[NikkiM]

The Lola are really built to last and must be good quality if you consider how many are running and how few have been sold recently, pity loyalty doesn't count for much with Champcar bosses.

[NikkiM]

And i think the new Lola Champ CAr looked much better than the Painoz

[Marcel ten Caat]

If another car is just as good (or even better) but the price is lower and you know that lower costs could mean more cars, what would you do?

Opt for the more expensive car?

This has nothing to do with loyalty, pure financial, to survive.

[NikkiM]

I think the prices would have been very close (although clearly the exchange rate going forward is an unknown), cheapest is not always best, the aero performance of the new car whilst in close proximity to other cars is important, I think Lola with its in house windtunnel etc is best placed to produce a guaranteed result.

[mountainstar]

Compared to 10 or 20 years ago we now have the ability to design and build top quality formula cars in the USA. I don't see the exchange rate moving in the USA's favor anytime soon. It's sad to see Lola go, but it may be better with an American manufacturer for logistic and financial reasons.

[climb]

The only concern is about panoz' ability to fulfill their commitments is what seems to be their biggest contract ever.

[Amar7605]

This is why Panoz is going to have a busy 2006. They have to get ready for not only the construction of the chassis, but also the parts to support them. Plus backups and possibly training for the teams on how to maintain the cars.

But Panoz is a very professional company, like Lola. I am sure that they can handle it!