Lola T 70 Mk3B Coupe

[petestenning]

As this is my first thread in this section hope you can follow my thread.

I am researching into the history of the Lola T70 mk3b, i have some gaps in the chassis nos that i have so far been able to find.

here follows my list so far:

chassis no team sold to or used by
sl76/134 Tech Speed Racing
s176/138 Sid Taylor Racing
S176/141 Sportscars Unlimited of Switz.
s176/142 Paul Hawkins Racing LTD
s176/143 Ecurie Bonnier
s176/144 Team Elite
s176/145 Scuderia Filipinetti
s176/146 John Woolfe Racing
s176/148 Avalon Racing
s176/149 Grand Bahama Racing Car Co.
s176/150 David Piper Autoracing
s176/151 Scuderia Filipinetti
s176/153 A& J Motors Chadwell Heath

Some of these cars were possibly written off in accidents, have they been rebuilt?, Paul Hawkins car for example.And if so did they retain their
original chassis no.?

If anyone can fill in any gaps i would be grateful.

[John Turner]

Hi, Petestenning. You need to acquire a copy of John Starkey's Book 'Lola T70 - The Racing history & Individual Chassis Record' which will probably answer some of your questions. For example it will tell you that SL76/142 - the Paul Hawkins car 'is reputed to be buried in a gravel pit in Slough' but that 'two other cars have been constructed since with this chassis number'.

The revised and enlarged 3rd edition was issued in 2002 and shouldn't be too difficult to get hold of.

[Jeremy Jackson]

Pete, according to John Starkey's T70 book, at least 2 cars have appeared with chassis 142 since that fateful day in 1969... The remains of the original are "reputed to be buried in a gravel pit in Slough"

Gaps: (138 was the first 3B coupé, and there are 2 of these chassis now!)
139: Penske (Daytona 69 winner)
140: Penske (Spare car), raced occasionally thereafter
147: Louis Morand in 1969
152: Jacques Rey
154-158, 160-161 were constructed "post-production", but not sure when. 154 renumbered as SL76/137.

Most chassis are still current, but how much of the orignal is in some of them, I'm not sure. Another new chassis exists, 136, this number wasn't used in period, but is now on a 3B. (Carlos Barbot's car in Supersports)

Some histories are, as usual, murky!!

[josvandeperre]

Starkey has his own website with contact details

[petestenning]

Hi chaps many thanks for your info, i shall look into the John Starkey lead.

Regards Pete.

[petestenning]

With regards to chassis no 138 i have found that a t70 mk3 which had chassis 134 was sold to Sid Taylor racing,
could this be the one which ended up as the prototype mk3b?

Pete.

[Jeremy Jackson]

Pete, after Taylor & Techspeed, 134 went to David Piper and was used in the filming of "Le Mans" for the Ferrari crash sequence. 138 was the first 3B, and was the one shown at the Racing Car Show in Jan. 69.

Re: Starkey's book, I found the 3rd edition reduced (from £40 to £15.99) at Motor Books last year, and that price is still current. 3rd edition is the one to have. I also bought he first ediiton, but the third ironed out the errors / duplicated chassis info.

Cheers

Jeremy

[petestenning]

Thanks Jeremy i have just purchased a copy of the 3rd edition on line from Motor Books.


regards Peter

[John Turner]

Worth every penny!

[mickj]

Did the Swiss built Sbarro T70's have Lola chassis numbers???.

[David McKinney]

According to Starkey, yes

[jph]

Current edition (January 2004) of French magazine Automobile Historique has a chassis-by-chassis history of Mk 3Bs in-period ownership and racing history.

[John Turner]

Pete, I've just thought of another book which might be useful even though it does not give chassis histories. 'Lola
T70 V8 Coupes - A Technical Appraisal' by Ian Bamsey, published by Foulis in 1990.

[Steve Wilkinson]

History of the Lola T70 Mk3B Chassis Number SL76/148:

Sold to Picko Troberg through Swedish agent Jo Bonnier
Later sold to Barrie Smith
Smith eventually sold it to Mike Weatherill who converted it to a road car.

When Richard Bond bought the car from Weatherill he converted it back to racing spec.
He later sold the car to Marsh Plant Hire.

[ricardo1954]

In december of 1970, one Lola T-70 Mk 3 B ( chassis number ? ) race in the four races of the Copa Brasil , in Interlagos circuit. The driver is Wilson Fittipaldi Jr, and the results are:
Dec/06 - DNF
Dec/13 - First
Dec/22 - 3rd
Dec/27 - DNF

This car is sold to the brazilian driver Antonio Carlos Avallone, who race ten races in the year of 1971:

Jan/10 - Interlagos - First race - DNF
Jan/10 - Interlagos - Second race - 2nd
Jan/25 - Interlagos - DNF
Mar/21 - 12 H Interlagos - DNF
May/30- Tarumã (BRA) - 7th
Jun/20 - Interlagos - 4th
Jun/27 - Buenos Aires (Arg) - 5th
Aug/15 - 250 Miles of Interlagos - 3rd
Sep/07 - 500 Km Interlagos - 5th
Dec/19 - Interlagos - 4th

Then, the car is sold to other brazilian driver, Mario Antunes, who enter with this in two races, in the year of 1972:
Jun/18 - Buenos Aires (ARG) - DNS
Sep/03 - 500 Km Interlagos - the car is destroyed in practice.

Can anyone help me to know this chassis number?

Thank you.

Ricardo

[Jeremy Jackson]

According to John Starkey's book, this was SL76/153, the ex Terry Croker car, allthough the info. about Mario Antunes is not in the book. (The book actually says is was sold to africa and and crashed).

The car has since been rebuilt and raced in ISP and other events.

[ricardo1954]

Jeremy:

Thank you for your information.

About Mario Antunes, the brazilian magazine " Quatro Rodas " in the number 147 (october/1972), on the page 133, says that the Lola is destroyed by fire in an accident in practice for the 500 Km Interlagos. The driver is safe.

Ricardo.

[Jeremy Jackson]

Thanks Ricardo, I wasn't doubting your information, sometimes things in the Starkey book can be contradictory, and incomplete in other cases.

Thanks for your information.

[Al Weyman]

Pete,

Paul Hawkins was once a friend of mine and a relly great bloke who I first met when he operated out of the same garage complex in Fortis Green as the people I was working for as a mechanic, Roger Nathan Racing. Paul was a great guy and it was a terrible day that will always be in my memory when I came into work on the Monday to be told he had been killed.

Although only a young guy of 19 I did a lot of business with Paul and some of the others in the complex (DAvid Piper was there) buying old racing tyres and even Borrani GT40 wheels and resellng them in Autosport (well I couldn't have ran a Healy 3000 on the money Mr. Nathan paid).

Anyhow I digress and this is the interesting part of my little tale which you may or may not believe but I assure you is as I recollect it. Paul had the Lola sitting at the back of the garage with no engine in it and absolutely covered in **** as they were more involved by then with the GT40's. So for weeks (months?) I kept badgering him to sell me the Lola without an engine as a roller. He kept saying to me 'What do you want it for yer crazy Limey' and I told him (and I meant it) I wanted to put a mild engine in it and run it on the road, to which he thought I was a total headcase but said if I wanted it I could have it for £750. Now remember this was the sixties and although a ridicoulously low price even then was still a tidy sum of money. I tried to negotitate at £650 and I think we agreed at £700 and I set about trying to raise the money.

Then sadly Paul meet his untimely death at Oulton Park before we had finalised the transacton and that was the end of that. Strange to think that dirty old car at the bottom of the garage that I so very nearly owned for the princely sum of 700 quid would hve been worth several million pounds today.

[Al Weyman]

Another little snippet of information for you on the T70, a few years later the accountant I was using at the time a Mr LeForte (John?) had a T70 and he used it on the road and used to often be seen around the streets of Mill Hill in NW London, painted red as I recollect. EVery time I went to see him he never wanted to discuss my accounts, just the Lola which although I enjoyed talking about it as I was paying for his time I would rather have been talking about my pending tax bill!.

[D-Type]

How do you think accountants manage to get to run Lola T70's as road cars?
And the rest of us have to work to pay for the VW!

[Alain HACHE]

this chassis enterred Brands Hatch 6 hours race the 13 April 1969 . He was destroyed after a crash for broken suspension reason.
French magasine "AUTOMOBILE HISTORIQUE n°33 tell that Scuderia Filipinetti ordered a new car (sl 76/151) and used some parts of sl 76/145 .
At Le Mans Classic 2004 event the owner of the T70 with Jo Bonnier's colours tolled to me and friends that her car was builded from BH 69 crashed car ....
best regards
Alain

[ricardo1954]

Hello :

In 1969 another Lola T-70, a Mk 3 model, races in Brazil :
The Team De Paoli races the following races:
Jun/29 - 3 H da Guanabara - Rio de Janeiro - DNF - Marcelo de Paoli
Jul/27 - Regional Race - Rio de Janeiro - First - Marcio de Paoli
Aug/31- Prova Duque de Caxias - Rio de Janeiro - First - Marcelo de Paoli
Sep/21 - Regional Race - Rio de Janeiro - DNF - Marcio de Paoli
Oct/19 - 500 Km Fortaleza - DNF - Marcio/Marcelo de Paoli
Dec/13 - 1000 Km Guanabara - Rio de Janeiro - DNF - Marcio/Marcelo de Paoli

The car is sold to de driver Norman Casari in 1970, and races:
1970-
Nov/22 - 1000 Milhas Brasileiras-Interlagos - 10th Norman Casari/Jan Balder
Dec/27 - Copa Brasil - Interlagos - DNF - Norman Casari
1971-
May/30 - Torneio SUDAM - Tarumã (BRA) - 10th - Norman Casari
Jun/20 - Interlagos - Torneio União e Disciplina - DNF - Norman Casari
Aug/08 - 6 H Nova Lisboa (ANGOLA) - DNS - Norman Casari/Jan Balder
Sep/07 - 500 Km Interlagos - Destroyed in practice - Norman Casari (the driver is safe).
Can anyone help me to the chassis number?

Thank you.

Ricardo

[Barriebrdc]

Ricardo,
what we do know is that this car was not 148 as reported elsewhere on this blog site.
hope that helps,
Barriebrdc

[John Turner]

Well done for digging this one out, Barrie. Since I cannot readily identify the car that Ricardo refers to from John Starkey's book, I wonder whether, after a year he has found out from another source!

My initial enthusiasm for the Starkey book has been slightly tempered by the more recently acquired knowledge and feedback that there maybe some errors. It would be great to document the errors (quoting source for provenance) and also to fill some of the many (and understandable) gaps. These cars have been campaigned a lot in historic racing so there should be a lot of good info. out there. It would also be interesting to know how far the originator of this thread, Pete Stenning, has got with his research. I know you still post on this website, Pete, and hope you can catch up here, sometime!

Pete's first post, giving as it does a list (incomplete) of the 3B chassis nos. is justification for moving this into the chassis archive, for development. In the meantime, I'm going to leave the specific thread on SL73/148 (see below)on the main forum whilst we continue to acquire info. on it. Later, I'll add in the info to this thread in the archive!

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83502