1969 Lola T-70 Mark III B::
Chassis number SL76-149

Engine: Alloy Chevrolet V8. 409ci, Lucas McKay fuel injection, 700 plus bhp.

Gearbox: Hewland LG500 5-speed and reverse.

Front suspension: Unequal length A-arms, coil spring/shock absorbers.

Rear suspension: Lower A-arm, top link, radius rods, coil spring/shock absorbers.

Brakes: Ventilated discs, four-pot calipers.

Background (courtesy www.johnstarkeycars.com):

Having designed and built the Lola GT Mark V1 in 1964, a very pretty ground-breaking mid-engined sports-prototype, Eric Broadley then retreated to his own company in Slough and designed the Lola T70 Spyder in the fall of 1964.

A herculean effort by all at the tiny Lola factory resulted in the T70 roadster being put on display at the Racing Car Show at Earls Court, London, in January 1965 where it was the star exhibit.

The Lola was designed to accept any of the then-current American V8¹s, the prototype having a 4.5-liter Oldsmobile engine in front of a Hewland LG500 gearbox which drove the rear wheels through sliding-spline driveshafts.

World Champion John Surtees had formed Team Surtees in conjunction with Lola cars, with the first T70 going to him. Surtees and the Lola made a tremendous combination and proved to be very fast in testing. In America, the Lola was quickly in demand, cars being sold through John Mecom (the Lola
importer) to Carrol Shelby for his team, John Klug for Buck Fulp and Bob Bondurant, Walt Hansgen for Mecom¹s own team, Parnelli Jones, and Mario Andretti.

Eric Broadley did not rest on his laurels. By the time the Mark One was in production, he was already designing the follow-up, designated ŒType 71" ‹ although referred to by the press as the T70 Mark two. For the Mark Two, Broadley designed a mainly aluminum riveted and bonded chassis that saved some one hundred pounds in weight.

In America, the T70 immediately proved itself a winner: Walt Hansgen won at Laguna Seca and placed second at Las Vegas. John Surtees won at Mosport in June and St. Jovite in September.

1966 really was the T70¹s year on both sides of the Atlantic. Besides Surtees, Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart were campaigning the "works" T70s, and cars were now in the hands of such as Denny Hulme who won six out of seven races with Sid Taylor¹s SL71/31.

And then there was the Can Am. The money drew many competitors to this series and the very first race saw five T70¹s entered at St. Jovite. The final race of the Can Am series was held at Las Vegas raceway. There Surtees blitzed the opposition to win the race, and series, outright. He won over $50,000, more money than could be won in the Formula One World Championship, a reason so many top line teams contested the Can Am over the coming years.

For 1969, Broadley produced the Mark 3B T70 coupe, a car which had no part in common with the Mark Three but which needed the type designation to obtain homologation as a Group 4 sports-prototype.

Using what was basically the lighter, stiffer and simpler chassis of the ill-fated T160 Can Am car of the year before, Eric Broadly penned what many regard as the most beautiful car of its era. Low, wide and sleek, the 3B coupe once again was the star of the racing car show in London in January 1969.

The season started off with a great result. The new coupe won the opening round of the World Championship, the Daytona 24-Hours. Roger Penske had bought two cars and prepared one in a great hurry for Mark Donohue and Ronnie Bucknum. Chuck Parsons stepped in to replace Bucknum after he broke his thumb (!) and he and Donohue won the race when all the favoured Porsche 908s, uncharacteristically, dropped out with mechanical failure. The Penske car ran well but spent a lot of time in the pits with various maladies such as splitting exhaust manifolds. Lothar Motschenbacher and Ed Leslie drove James Garner¹s AIR Mark 3 into second place. That team¹s sister car was also seventh.

This particular T70 was sold to Mike De Udy on 7th March 1969. De Udy had already owned two Mark 111 Coupes previously.

In Bob Akin's care, the car was totally rebuilt and race-prepared by his team. A 400 cubic inch alloy small block Chevrolet V8 was fitted, producing in excess of 700 horsepower. Bob won everything possible with the car. When it passed to a subsequent owner, that gentleman purchased a specially-strengthened Charlie-Agg modified Hewland gearbox to take the power this fuel-injected engine would deliver.

This is undoubtedly the fastest and best developed T70 racing today.

It's also important to note that this is one of the very few Lola T70s about which there are no "stories". This car has been in view since new and there are no duplicate chassis numbers of it. This car had an excellent history, having been driven by the noted Australian racer, Frank Gardner, one of the (if not THE) fastest race drivers of his day.

Beautiful, fast and easy to drive and maintain, the Lola T70 is remembered as one of the sports most attractive sports-prototypes ‹ and rightly so.

SL76-149 History

Delivered 7th March 1969 to Michael Grace, D'Udy (Bahamas Racing). Wet sump Bartz Chevrolet 5 litre engine. Gearbox no. LG600-182. Light green.

1969 - Three outright victories, seven podium finishes.

04/4: Guards International Trophy, RAC Gr.4, round 2. Snetterton. Frank Gardner. DNS. (Suspension).

07/4: Thruxton, RAC Gr.4, round 3. Gardner, DNF (clutch).

06/6: Vila Real, Portugal. Frank Gardner; 2nd. (lap record of 104 mph).

13/7: W.D. & H.O. Wills Trophy. Croft. Frank Gardner 2nd in 1st heat. DNF in 2nd heat. (Fuel starvation).

10/8: Thruxton. Gardner, # 1; 2nd.

18/8: Oulton Park: Gardner; 1st.

8/11: Rand Daily Mail 9 hours. Kyalami. Gardner/De Udy; 2nd.

23/11: Cape International 3 hours. Killarney, De Udy/Gardner; 1st

1/12: Lourenco Marques 3 hours. De Udy/Gardner, # 7; 1st,

13/12: Roy Hesketh 3 Hours, Pietermaritzburg. De Udy; DNF (Differential).

1970

21/3: Sebring 12 hours, De Udy/Hailwood. DNF after one hour.

Leased to Solar Productions for the film "Le Mans".

Sold to Rod Leach of 'Nostalgia'.

1986

Sold to Terry Jones of Cerritos, California. Totally restored with re-skinned tub by Jim Chapman. 5.7-litre engine built by Dennis Fischer.

Sold to Reginald Howell USA.

1993: For sale in December

1994: Sold to Bob Akin, raced extensively in historic events. Won HSR Thundersports Championships in 1997 and 1998; Watkins Glen and Sebring in 1999.

2000: Sold to private collector and racer.

2002: Purchased by White Shoes Racing

--- SOLD ---