50 Years ‘Lola Hall of Fame’ poll

In 2008 Lola Cars celebrates a memorable 50 years in motorsport, during which it has recorded more race and championship victories than any other racing car manufacturer in the world. As part of the ‘50th Anniversary’ celebrations the Huntingdon based marque invited leading journalists and drivers to vote for their top 10 favorite Lola cars of all time.

A number of notable voters included ITV F1 expert Mark Blundell, who set the fastest ever pole position lap at Le Mans in 1990 with the Lola built Nissan Group C car, Brian Redman, a regular race and title winner in a variety of Lola’s from T70’s, F2 cars and F5000 designs; three times Cart Champion Bobby Rahal and ALMS race winner Chris Dyson.

In 50 years Lola has mastered all disciplines of the sport including Formula 1, Le Mans, Daytona 24 Hours, Can-AM, Champ Car and Indy 500. Lola has an established reputation for producing ground-breaking race car designs, having manufactured almost 4000 competitive cars during the last five decades, so it was always going to be a tough task for anyone to narrow down their selection to just 10 favorite Lola Cars.

Lola T70 MIIIB

1st Place – T70 MIIIB: The T70 MIIIB took the checkered flag, finishing the 50 Years ‘Lola Hall of Fame’ poll in first position. Acclaimed as one of the most beautiful Sports-Prototype cars of all time, the Lola T70 MIIIB was the successor to the T70 Can-Am. The T70 MIIIB was an immediate success, when the sleek design of the new coupe claimed victory in the 1969 Daytona 24 Hours to secure Lola’s status in world motorsport.

2nd Place – T70 Can-Am: The T70 Can-Am won a closely fought battle to claim second position. The T70 Can-Am was famed for John Surtees winning the 1966 inaugural Can-Am Championship in this open cockpit design. During the same year, under an ‘All American Racers’ banner, Dan Gurney drove the car to victory at Bridgehampton, New York, which marked Ford’s only win in the Can-Am.

Lola T332 F5000

3rd Place T332 F5000: After an overwhelming response, the Lola car voted in third position was the T332 F5000, which won a hat-trick of SCCA/USAC titles from 1974-1976, and added the UK title in 1974. The US success was masterminded by Carl Haas, while the car was driven by Brian Redman, so it was little surprise that the legendary British driver voted the T332 as his favorite Lola. Regular drivers behind the wheel of the T332 also included David Hobbs, Frank Gardner, Guy Edwards, Ian Ashley, Derek Bell and F1 ace Clay Regazzoni. In 1974 Lola set a record at Oulton Park when the top six cars finishing the F5000 race were all T332 models.

Lola’s Executive Chairman, Martin Birrane, himself an avid fan of the T70 series, said: “Many racing enthusiasts have fallen in love with T70’s over the years. When you consider that the original car was built over 40 years ago, it’s an amazing testament to the design team how modern the car still looks today. Some of the original staff that built the first series of T70’s still work at our Huntingdon factory, so it will always hold an affectionate place in the history of Lola."

The top 10 Lola cars, as voted by the media and drivers, were as follows:
1. T70 MIIIB
2. T70 Can-Am
3. T332 F5000
4. T90/10
5. Mk6 GT
6. Mk 1
7. B01/60 LMP2
8. T93/00
9. T212
10. T260