Origins of the Lola T70

The origin of the Lola T70 series of cars lies in Italy. Bizarre?

Well…….. no, because when in 1963 Henry Ford decided he wanted a Ford car to win the Le Mans 24Hours he commenced negotiations with Enzo Ferrari to purchase the Italian Company outright. A deal was almost complete but at the last moment Ferrari pulled out leaving Ford’s plans in tatters.

Ford was wise enough to know that European racing technology was honed to the specific requirements needed to win the all important Le Mans event. So who else could aide him to the victory he so desired.

Lee Iacocca, the man who coined the phrase; ”win on Sunday – sell on Monday” was head of Ford’s ‘Total Performance’ programme. Knowing that the best chassis engineers in Europe were all based in the UK he despatched Roy Lunn, Bill Geddes and Carol Shelby to select a suitable partner. They chose Eric Broadley.

The 1963 London Racing Car Show saw the debut of the Ford

Fairlane-engined Lola Mk6. Broadley’s timing could not have been

better, highlighting Ford products in his design just when Ford were

looking to recruit a partner was one of those unplanned strokes of

genius which occur from time to time. Eric was recruited to provide

design and prototype building. During 1963 John Wyer was also
The Mk6 at the Racing Car Show.
(The Lola Archive)
appointed to the project and by the beginning of 1964 Ford took premises in Slough, Berkshire, under the title ‘Ford Advanced Vehicles’. (Later to become AVO). Ford had purchased two Mk VI GT’s, one of which

was sent to Dearborn to be tested and evaluated, the other

remaining in the UK for the same purpose. Track testing by such

luminaries as Bruce McLaren convinced Ford they had the right Team

but sadly, within the organisation relationships were not entirely

harmonious. With a pedigree in production cars Roy Lunn visualised a

road version of the GT 40 project and required a steel monocoque

Eric Broadley and John Wyer with the Mk6.
(The Lola Archive)
and other sturdy, over engineerd components. Such a concept was anathema to Eric who saw racing cars as pure, lightweight minimalist creations. So rapidly did the relationship between Broadley and Lunn

deteriorate that by the summer of 1964 Eric had renegotiated his

contract with Ford and Lola Cars were back in production.To enable

his commitment to both companies Eric set Lola up in new premises,

in Slough next door to Ford Advanced Vehicles! The Ford GT40 had

an inauspicious debut at Le Mans in 1964 marred by accidents at the

test days and gearbox failures in the race. It would take a massive

effort by Ford to produce the iconic car of later seasons but in the

meantime Eric Broadley’s sojourn with Ford had highlighted a hole in

The Lola-built GT40 at New York Airport.
(Media.Ford.com)

the market. And nobody was better at exploiting the situation than Eric – the Type 70 was on it’s way……...

To be continued.