Description
The Millbrook Sale | Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire
Location: Millbrook Proving Ground, Station Lane, Bedford MK45 2JH
Viewing: Tues 2nd December – 12:00 til 18:00 and Weds 3rd December from 9am.
Auction: Weds 3rd December 12:00
1965-Type Lola T70 MkII Spyder
Built to 1965 specification with a current FIA HTP
Estimate
£170, 000 - £210, 000
Registration No: N/ A
Chassis No: SL142/ 22
MOT: N/ A
Eligible for some of the world's most iconic historic motor racing events
Offered for sale with a valid FIA HTP up to January 1st 2036
Subject to a comprehensive restoration completed in 2025
Fitted with a Chevrolet 'small block' engine with an understood 440 BHP
Said to be a highly competitive race car
Lola's sublimely beautiful T70 Spyder sports-racer is historically significant as winner of the first ever Can-Am Championship. It was designed and manufactured by Lola Cars Ltd, of Bromley, Kent, a relatively young company that had been building competition cars for only seven years prior to the T70's introduction in 1965. From humble beginnings, Lola Cars quickly established a winning reputation and grew to become a major force in world motorsport. Eric Broadley, his cousin Graham and Rob Rushbrook, at whose garage premises the first customer production versions were made, were the architects of the early success, which continued with a front-engined, single-seater Formula Junior, the Mk2.
Among Broadley's early projects was the Mk6 GT coupé, which had been designed to take advantage of readily available American V8 engines that offered the ideal combination of compact size and adequate performance. Lola's first monocoque design, the Mk6 GT became part of Ford's Le Mans programme in 1963, Broadley having been hired by the American company to assist with the development of what would emerge as the all-conquering GT40. At odds with his American bosses, Broadley left in 1964 and the following year, having penned a handful of Formula 2 monopostos, returned to sports cars with a new design for Group 7 racing: the T70. Effectively a 'formula libre' for sports prototypes - enclosed wheels and provision for an onboard spare were just about the only regulations - Group 7 was becoming popular on both sides of the Atlantic and the potential market for such cars looked promising.
Designed to accept American V8 engines, the T70 Spyder incorporated a full-length monocoque body tub fabricated of aluminium panels on a steel framework, the engine being bolted to the firewall bulkhead as a semi-stressed member. The suspension was conventional, boasting unequal length wishbones and coil spring/ damper units all round, though the positioning of the disc brakes inboard of the wheels was an unusual feature, adopted in the interests of better cooling.
John Surtees was one of the first customers for the T70, running what in effect was a 'semi-works' team in 1965. Traco-prepared Chevrolet V8s were used, a 5. 0-litre unit at first and then from mid-season a 5. 9. A Mk2 version of the T70 became available before the end of the '65 season, Broadley taking advantage of the forthcoming deletion of the 'spare wheel' requirement to redesign the nose, replacing the original twin radiators with a large single unit while incorporating a host of detail improvements to both chassis and suspension. The result was a significantly quicker car, which in prototype form was driven to a convincing victory by Surtees in the Guards International Trophy at Brands Hatch on the August bank holiday weekend. Surtees then wrote off the prototype Mk2 at Mosport Park in Canada following a suspension failure, sustaining injuries that put him out for the rest of the season.
He bounced back in 1966, winning three of the inaugural Can-Am Championship's six races for Lola and defeating rivals McLaren and Chaparral in the process. Privately entered T70s won two of the other races making it a magnificent five out of six for Lola. Surtees' success capped what had been a tremendous year for the British manufacturer in North America, Graham Hill already having won the celebrated Indianapolis 500 in a T90.
Although the works McLarens would dominate Can-Am for the next five years, the Lola T70 remained a popular choice for privateers, among whom it was rated as the sweetest handling of the customer cars. Given its Can-Am origins, it is not surprising that the long-serving T70 family of sports cars was better suited to sprint events, yet against the odds a Mk3B coupé entered by Roger Penske lasted the distance to win the coveted Daytona 24 Hours endurance classic in 1969.
The Lola chassis number associated with this T70 MKII Spyder – S142/ 22 – was originally allocated to a T142 Formula 5000 single-seater which is known to have contested some fifty-two races from 1969 – 1975. The late owner who acquired the sports racer in a somewhat forlorn, crash damaged condition during 1997 was under the impression that it had passed through the hands of Eagle Racing of Sussex and may have contained some parts transplanted across from the monoposto. Determined to make the T70 MKII Spyder race ready once more, he started work on the tub, engine, gearbox, pedal box and suspension components but sadly succumbed to illness. Entrusted to Loaded Gunn Racing by his heirs, the Wiltshire-based engineering firm and sports prototype manufacturer set about finishing the project to their own exacting standards.
Not long completed, the renovation took over a decade in total. Built by Nick Adams Race Engines, the fresh Chevrolet 350 V8 features a wet sump, total loss charge system, sidedraught carburettors and angled spark plug heads. Said to produce 440bhp @ 6, 800rpm, it is allied to a refurbished Hewland LG500 4-speed gearbox with Salisbury-type plated limited-slip differential. Boasting a formidable (and competitive) power to weight ratio of 550bhp per tonne, the Lola has a current Historic Technical Passport for FIA events which remains valid until December 31st 2035. All period components used in the build were crack tested (uprights, wheels etc) prior to fitment. A custom motorsport wiring loom was installed together with the following new parts: a bespoke stainless steel exhaust system (including the manifolds and silencer add-ons), FIA-compliant bag tank, cooling system (plus associated plumbing / pipework), Koni steel body dampers / springs and Dunlop CR65 race tyres. The fibreglass bodywork is understood to comprise a circa 50:50 mixture of period and modern pieces. Deemed to accord with the model’s 1965 specification, this stunning T70 MKII Spyder is eligible for a host of prestigious events. On the button and ready to race, it comes complete with history file (receipts / invoices, dyno printout etc) and the aforementioned FIA HTP papers.
