Lola MK6 GT replica? Feedback required.

[RobBeddington]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think micro processors were around then

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OK, so Eric Broadley was an innovator, but not THAT much ahead of his time... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Rich Dommers]

Hi James,

You can find information on Denis' XJ13 replica at The Sports Car Factory . The production of these replicas is being transitiond from Denis' facility in Australia to my facilities in the U.S. I just returned from my visit with Denis, and his engineering and detail work is top notch!

I'd be happy to provide any additional info or answer any questions.
Best Regards
Rich

[F3L]

I have to second that about Denis. We had a chat on the phone about his Jaguar XJ220 replica, his CD photos were very inspirational...

Rick

[RobBeddington]

Hello

A quick update on progress. This may not be the only option going forward, but I today picked up an amazing set of moulds for the Lola - they were the moulds used to recreate the 1963 Le Mans car below, and were produced by a firm in the UK which has developed moulds for some big buck factory race cars - Audi, etc.



If you are wondering why this car required new moulds, then the picture below shows the car as it was in the early 1980s, with the rear end taken off Ford GT40 serial number 105, gull wing doors, etc.

Other developments: Someone mentioned the possibility of a spaceframe chassis. If all goes to plan, I've got access to Ken Attwell's original KVA C Type chassis drawings - with some minor modifications, a spaceframe Lola GT should be very straightforward.

In addition, it's early days, but if anyone wants a KVA GT40 Type C chassis, let me know.

Cheers

Rob

[Andre40]

The Lola MK6's three races in total were a baptism by fire!

I posted the story many months ago but as many new members have joined since they would have missed out. It's also motivated by Rob Beddington raising the subject again.

The Lola MK6's first race was at Silverstone in mid-May, 1963. John Surtees was due to drive the car but at the last minute had to withdraw because of his contract with Ferrari. The South African, Tony Maggs, a Cooper F1 works driver at the time was asked to step in. So short was the notice that Tony didn't have time to practice with the car - not even one lap and had to start at the back of the grid. I wonder in the history of motor racing if a driver ever raced a strange car without practising!

During the race Tony battled with the cable driven gear change on top of which the car kept cutting out. He had to do some deft ballerina type footwork to keep the car on the island and in so doing got the car at some alarming angles. He did well to finish in 9th spot on the same lap as the winner.

Two weeks later he was teamed up with his fellow countryman, Bob Olthoff , to drive the car in the Nurburgring 1000 kms race. I was there that day with the Porsche team. To illustrate how little was known about aerodynamics at the time the Lola's rear end would lift clean off the deck on the long undulating straight leading up to the start and finish line. Bob and Tony told me a different times how they would play games with the throttle at some 140 mph by blipping (quite a good word!) it and watching the rev counter shoot up. There were two rows of neat hedges on either side of the track and the Lola's tail, apart from lifting, would sway from side to side and clout the hedges leaving a trail of swirling leaves next lap round.

Then Tony noticed something glinting in the rear view mirror. It was a rapidly departing right rear wheel spinner followed by a crunch as the wheel came off. Tony then found the wheel in the undergrowth and then found a pole and stones with which to jack up the car. He was encouraged by spectators who offered him hamburgers and beer, etc, but if one of then laid a finger on the car to help he would have been disqualified. Eventually he got going and handed over to Bob who continued for a while until the distributor shaft broke.

I never knew about Bob punching the cop as per Rob Beddington's post. I wouldn't have thought it a good idea to punch a member of the German Polizei! Perhaps Bob didn't tell me as he wanted me to have an image of him as a gentleman and not someone who went around hitting people. Mind you I also didn't tell Bob of a punch up I got into with two fellow South Africans, friends of his and five Australians in London's Earls Court. Please note Pete in Oz that we won the bloody battle and that the five Aussies spent the night in the slammer at Her Majesty's expense. It all goes to prove that South African can win sometimes, unlike recently in cricket and rugby!!

Two weeks later I was at Le Mans to see the Lola MK6 in action again, this time driven by Richard Attwood and David Hobbs. In its first two races the car was silver but at Le Mans it was dark green. I don't know if it was the same car or a sister car.

See two pics of the Lola at Le Mans. In the one of the start I was more focused on the Edgar Barth/.Herbert Linge eight cylinder Porsche Spyder but luckily the Lola was in the firing line. Please note Attwood driving without gloves! Imagine that today!

Once again there were gear selection problems and in the early hours of Sunday morning Hobbs crashed the car in the Esses whilst he was trying to find third gear, luckily without injury.

That was the end of the MK6's race career. The Broadley/ Ford deal followed and the MK6's only claim to fame was that it gave birth to the GT40.

It's also interesting to note that Bob drove a car that would result in the GT40 and that he was due to market a South African built GT40 some 41 years later. Sadly that is not to be, but then who are we mere mortals to question the deeper meaning of life and death?

A replica of the MK6? Yes, in view of the historical significance of the car I believe that there would be limited market out there - but who knows how many.

On another historical note, when Dan Gurney won the French Grand Prix on July 8, 1962 in an eight cylinder Porsche , thereby scoring the German company's one and only F1 victory, Tony was not far down the road in second place in a works Cooper.

Henry Ford said 'history is bunk'. I'm a Ford fan but I don't agree!
Andre 40

[Andre40]

MK6 front view about two hours before the start.

[Andre40]

Two minutes before the start.....a deathly hush from the mass of spectarors across the road from the pits.....so quiet one can hear a pin dropping .....it's eerie.....then a patter of sixty pairs of feet ..... then an ear bashing for 24 hours .... then deafening silence.

That door on the MK6 looks familiar doesn't it!

[Andre40]

CORRECTION.....I should have said that the Lola MK6 raced three times in Europe only.

In 1965 Augie Pabst, driving John Mecom's metallic blue car powered by a Chev engine, won a race in the Nassau Speed Week.

Andre 40

[RobBeddington]

Hi Andre

Thanks for your posts - although Tony Maggs must have been seriously frustrated about the wheel nut and gear change problems, he said this about the car:

"Although, the later Ford GT40, with its spoilers and ducts, was a faster car, it lost a lot of its character. The Lola GT was the most beautiful car I have ever seen."

At the risk of being the Lola GT anorak of the forum, it was raced 5 times in Europe. The prototype ran the Silverstone and Nurburgring races. The first production car ran at Le Mans. Augie Pabst then raced the Le Mans car, with the same Ford 289, for John Mecom at the 1963 Brands Hatch Guards Trophy. It had been repaired after David Hobbs' Le Mans crash, and repainted in Mecom colours. Oil pressure problems caused a DNF - Augie should have raced the third (Chevy) car that Mecom had ordered for that race but, in the true Lola style of the time, this car was not yet ready. It was eventually ready in time for the Nassau win.

At the same Brands Hatch event a year later, Augie ran the third car for John Mecom, fitted with a 6 litre Chevy engine. He came 11th.

As well as Nassau, where Augie beat Dick Thompson and Jim Hall's Corvette Grand Sports in style, the third Chevy car was raced at Sebring, Road America (twice) and Mosport Park, with mixed success.

After the 2nd Brands Hatch event, Lola in Slough widened the track and the bodywork at great expense to John Mecom (Laurie Bray told me that Eric was away when they widened the car. When Eric returned, he was really unhappy about how they did the back end - Eric confirmed this...).

The new body mods were short-lived. Augie took the GT to Riverside where the throttle jammed and it crashed in style. If it had been LHD, Augie would not have survived - the GT ended up with the crash barrier sitting above the central gear shift. Augie remembers thinking he was spitting out all his teeth after the crash, then thankfully realised it was just glass from the exploded windscreen! The third car has been rebuilt to its last correct racing specs and is on display at the Rosso Bianco Museum in Germany, except it's no longer the nice looking Mecom metallic blue.

So endeth this Lola lesson. I could write a book...!

Rob