1969 Lola T70 Mk3B

This was one of the competitors in the Classic Gold Pre-1974 Le Mans Cars race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's Portugese driver Carlos Barbot's 1969 Lola T70 Mk3B with a 5 litre Chevrolet engine. It seems that it is chassis SL76/136 (a chassis number that was not issued in the 1960s) that was apparently built up in 1984 using parts from Jo Bonnier’s car, SL76/145, which was wrecked in a crash in the 1969 B.O.A.C. 500 race at Brands Hatch. Production of the Lola T70 started in 1965 and over 100 examples were built, usually powered by large American V8 engines, and the cars were more successful in the USA than in Europe, John Surtees and Mark Donohue finishing first and second in the 1966 Can Am Series. They were not so successful in that series in 1967, and in 1968 were replaced by the Lola T160. The cars took part in endurance racing, competing at Le Mans but never making a mark there, although they did manage first and second places in the 1969 Daytona 24 Hour race.