Lola T70s @ Monza
- Thread starter Luke Warmwater
- Start date
SteveA
GT Owner/B.O.D
FourFather
GT Owner
I certainly enjoyed mine!
The day we got married my wife Ercie and I drove mine through downtown, with a police escort. Fun Stuff!
Eddie:biggrin
The day we got married my wife Ercie and I drove mine through downtown, with a police escort. Fun Stuff!
Eddie:biggrin
SteveA
GT Owner/B.O.D
Sinovac
GT Owner
Vince H
GT Owner
Fast Freddy
GPS'D 225 MPH
FourFather
GT Owner
FourFather
GT Owner
Well, since you asked, I do have this preowned Honda powered Atom II, for $49,980, and two new 300HP Atom 3's being built for sale.
Eddie
FourFather
GT Owner
Small-block Chevys were in almost all of them. Mine used a 365 inch small block Chevy with 48 IDA Weber carbs, built back in the day, by Traco. Over 7000 RPM with a very broad torque curve/powerband. No mufflers on mine- one of the best sounding cars on the street.
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FourFather
GT Owner
Almost all of them used small block Chevys similar to this one of mine-
365 inch, 48 IDA Weber carburetors, over 7000 rpm, with a very driver-friendy wide torque curve/powerband. Big fun!
Eddie, I was a big fan back in the day and met you in the pits at Bandimere in '89 I think it was. You were running the Super Shops T/F car if I remember. I would have never imagined running into you on an innerweb site 25 years later. After reading about your wedding day cruise I'm an even bigger fan today! Right on!
THamonGT
GT
Great pictures and story Eddie, thank you. The first Lola T70 I ever saw was owned by John Mecom Jr. And was driven by Walt Hansken in Galveston, Texas in I think 1964-65. Demo Johnson from Dallas owned a Super lite Corvette he purchased from John Jr.. They ran in SCCA in C Modified. We ran a 289 Cobra in A production. Wow those were the days. I think the Lola T 70 was Chevy powered as John Jr. Was big time into GM and got all of their new engines. We ran in the SW Region. It's amazing you still have that car, I'll. bet many have tried to purchase it?
FourFather
GT Owner
I do not still have it. After loving on it for ~ 32 years, in 2007 a gentleman from Belgium came to Wichita Falls with his broker from Florida, and made me an offer I could not refuse. I traded the Lola for a new Ariel Atom II. a new Ultima Can-Am, and a 300 mile Ford GT Heritage edition.
It was a good trade for me, because I have had more fun with each one of these three than I ever did with the Lola.
I still think the Lola T-70 coupe is the most beautiful car ever built, with the Ford GT a close second place in my eyes. But the Lola had become so valuable, that I could not relax and really play hard with it, for fear of damaging it in some way. Kinda like my Heritage has since become.
On the other hand, I do not worry at all about hurting any of my Ariel Atoms (I have three now) and have run them absolutely as hard as my instinct of self preservation will allow, twice a month, weather permitting, at two different road race tracks, ever since the trade in 2007. Over three gee max cornering while winning the open wheel race car class at Hallett weekend before last. 300 HP, 1325 pounds.
The Ultima is a real hoot to drive, too, and is faster than the Atom on the straights, especially long ones, and it sounds wonderful with a 427 cube small block Chevy turning 7500 or more, no mufflers. It will actually turn lap times about as quick as the Atom, and here again, I don't worry about hurting the Ultima, but the extra 700 pounds that it weighs more than the Atom , makes it feel heavy and unresponsive by comparison. 569 HP, 2090 pounds. So it is not as much fun as the 1325 pound car.
I would not dare put my Heritage on track, with what they are worth now, but I love looking at it and photographing it, and detailing it, and taking it to our little Cowboy Church (60 mile round trip) on pretty Sundays. Taking friends for rides or taking Wife BabyCakes to the Dairy Queen, or daughter Sabrina to the Sonic in the Heritage, has been more fun for me than what I did with the Lola.
My Lola was originally owned by James Garner, (Rockford files, Maverick,) and with his drivers Ed Leslie and Lothar Motzenbacher, finished the 1969 24 hours of Daytona in second place. The AIR on the front of the car was Garner's American International Racing. When the studio required Garner to quit racing, George Lucas used the Lola in his first full-length movie, THX 1138, with Robert Duvall driving the car.
I think there were only ~24 of these coupes made, and with the provenance this one has, it might have brought a lot of $ if it was actively promoted and marketed, but my buyer was there, with the funds for the trade, and it was an easy deal, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the results of the trade and been very grateful for the time I had with the Lola, and the joy I've had, and continue to have, with the replacements.
Thank you, Lord.
Life is good.
Eddie:biggrin
It was a good trade for me, because I have had more fun with each one of these three than I ever did with the Lola.
I still think the Lola T-70 coupe is the most beautiful car ever built, with the Ford GT a close second place in my eyes. But the Lola had become so valuable, that I could not relax and really play hard with it, for fear of damaging it in some way. Kinda like my Heritage has since become.
On the other hand, I do not worry at all about hurting any of my Ariel Atoms (I have three now) and have run them absolutely as hard as my instinct of self preservation will allow, twice a month, weather permitting, at two different road race tracks, ever since the trade in 2007. Over three gee max cornering while winning the open wheel race car class at Hallett weekend before last. 300 HP, 1325 pounds.
The Ultima is a real hoot to drive, too, and is faster than the Atom on the straights, especially long ones, and it sounds wonderful with a 427 cube small block Chevy turning 7500 or more, no mufflers. It will actually turn lap times about as quick as the Atom, and here again, I don't worry about hurting the Ultima, but the extra 700 pounds that it weighs more than the Atom , makes it feel heavy and unresponsive by comparison. 569 HP, 2090 pounds. So it is not as much fun as the 1325 pound car.
I would not dare put my Heritage on track, with what they are worth now, but I love looking at it and photographing it, and detailing it, and taking it to our little Cowboy Church (60 mile round trip) on pretty Sundays. Taking friends for rides or taking Wife BabyCakes to the Dairy Queen, or daughter Sabrina to the Sonic in the Heritage, has been more fun for me than what I did with the Lola.
My Lola was originally owned by James Garner, (Rockford files, Maverick,) and with his drivers Ed Leslie and Lothar Motzenbacher, finished the 1969 24 hours of Daytona in second place. The AIR on the front of the car was Garner's American International Racing. When the studio required Garner to quit racing, George Lucas used the Lola in his first full-length movie, THX 1138, with Robert Duvall driving the car.
I think there were only ~24 of these coupes made, and with the provenance this one has, it might have brought a lot of $ if it was actively promoted and marketed, but my buyer was there, with the funds for the trade, and it was an easy deal, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the results of the trade and been very grateful for the time I had with the Lola, and the joy I've had, and continue to have, with the replacements.
Thank you, Lord.
Life is good.
Eddie:biggrin
THamonGT
GT
Eddie, great stories and yes we all are very blessed these days. You and your wife do Need to come to a GT Rally. Great friends and lots our kind of fun. The young guys I don't even try to keep up with. Thanks for the great pictures and stories.