Lola Mk1

This is a photograph that I took at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008. It’s a Lola Mk1 but is not shown in the programme of the event nor in the results listing, and the number 14 car in the Sports Racing Cars race is the Piper of Anthony Goddard.

The Lola Mk1 was designed by Eric Broadley in 1958 and was usually powered by a 4-cylinder inline 1,098cc Coventry Climax engine. Around 40 of the cars were built and a variety of engines were used.

1956 Aston Martin DB3S

I took this photograph at Luffield corner during the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

Leading is the 1956 Aston Martin DB3S of Tony Smith followed by Adrian Hall's 1955 Lotus Mk X. The car on the right looks like it may be the Lola Mk1 of Irvine Laidlaw.

1960 Lola Mk1

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's Stirling Moss in his 1960 Lola Mk1 which is chassis BR17. The Lola Mk1 was designed by Eric Broadley in 1958 and was powered by a 4-cylinder inline1,098cc Coventry Climax engine. Around 40 of the cars were built and a variety of engines used, this car having 1,220cc Coventry Climax engine.

1959 Lola Mk1

This car competed in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's the 1959 Lola Mk1 of David Pratley and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,220cc Coventry Climax engine. David Pratley wrote the definitive history of the Lola Mk1 in 1998.

1970 Tyrrell 001

This car competed in the FORCE Classic Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the John Delane's 1970 Tyrrell 001, not a successful car itself, but one which led to the last two of Jackie Stewart's three World Drivers' Championship wins. Powered by the ubiquitous 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine it was introduced towards the end of the 1970 season replacing the March 701 for the last three races, but retiring in each of those races. Jackie Stewart finished in fifth place in the championship that year having won it with the Matra MS80 in 1969. Jackie Stewart only drove the car in the first race in 1971, in South Africa, where he finished in second place, then drove the Tyrrell 003 in the rest of his appearances that season to win the Championship again, repeating that feat with the Tyrrell 006 in 1973. The car number 95 behind the Tyrrell is Peter Austin's 1960 Lola Mk1. These cars were produced by Lola Cars from 1958 to 1962, initially with a 1100cc Coventry Climax FWA engine. The programme of the event shows that this one has an engine of 1490cc and it appears to be chassis BR-19.

1950s Sports Car Racing at Oulton Park

I took this photograph at Britten's chicane during the AMOC '50s Sports Cars race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2015.

Leading is Tim Reid in his 1960 Lola MkI followed by Paul Kennelly in a 1950 Jaguar XK120. The next car is the 1955 Jaguar XK140 of Alexis de Beaumont then the 1955 Austin Healey 100M of Robert Rawe, and Mark Hoble's 1954 Triumph TR2.

Classic Car Sports Car Race - Silverstone 1994

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Leading is Valentine Lindsay in his 1955 Aston Martin DB3S (DB3S/110) followed by Stirling Moss in his Lola Mk1 and Wessel von Loringhoven in his 1959 Porsche 718 RSK. On the right-hand side is Katharina Schmidt in her 1955 Cooper T40 Bobtail, the car with which Jack Brabham made his Grand Prix debut in the 1955 British Grand Prix.

1961 Cooper T53 and 1958 Lola Mk I Prototype

These cars took part in two of the races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

On the left is the 1961 Cooper T53 of Chris Bullimore with a Coventry Climax FPF 1,500cc engine which competed in the HGPCA Pre-66 Grand Prix Cars race. Jack Brabham had won the Drivers' World Championship in 1960 with a Cooper T53 in the last year of the 2½ litre Formula, and in 1961 the Cooper works team fielded the similar, but lighter T55. The T53 continued to be used in 1961, with a 1½ litre engine, by private entrants and this car, chassis #F1-15-61 went to Hap Sharp in the USA who drove it in the USA Grand Prix in 1961 and 1962. The car on the right is the 1958 Lola Mk1 Prototype of Richard Wills that had recently been restored by Hall & Hall and which competed in the 1950s Drum-Braked Sports Racing Cars race. It was the first Lola to be built, originally powered by a Coventry Climax 4-cylinder 1,098cc FWA engine to compete in the 1,100cc sports car category, and finished in second place in its second race driven by its builder Eric Broadley. It had great success in the hands of Eric Broadley and Peter Gammon, and as orders for the car increased Eric Broadley retired from racing in 1959 to handle the production of the car. Early models, like this prototype, had an aluminium body with the later ones being fashioned in fibre glass, and around forty examples of the Mk1 were built. Richard Wills' car now has the 1,216cc version of the Coventry Climax FWA engine, rounded to 1,220cc in the programme of this meeting. 

1960 Lola Mk1

I photographed this car in the paddock at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It's a Lola Mk1 but has no racing number, and although there was a race for 1950s Sports Cars this car is not listed in the programme of the event as taking part. The Lola Mk1 was designed by Eric Broadley in 1958 and was powered by a 1,098cc Coventry Climax FWA engine, and the car pictured here is a 1960 model that belonged in 2007 to John Monson. It had been rebuilt in 1966 and given an FWA engine bored out to 1,149cc, and a new chassis number BR27B in place of the original BR27.

1950s Drum-Braked Sports Racing Cars

This is a photograph I took at McLeans Corner during the 1950s Drum-Braked Sports Racing Cars race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

Leading is Marshall Bailey in his 1956 Cooper T39 Bobtail followed by the 1955 Maserati 300S of Rodney Smith (#3060) being driven by Mark Gillies. Closely behind Mark Gillies is the 1954 HWM Jaguar of Michael Steele and the car at the rear is the 1958 Lola Mk1 prototype of Richard Wills.

Jaguar D-Type

This photograph was taken at McLeans Corner on the first lap of the BRDC Historic Sportscar Championship race at the HGPCA's Donington International Historic Grand Prix meeting in May 2004.

Leading is the Ben Eastick in his 1955 Jaguar D-Type with another Jaguar, the 1950 XK120 of Nigel Webb, in second place. Bringing up the rear is John Clark in his Lola Mk1.

Jaguar C-Type

This car is competing in the BRDC Historic Sportscar Championship race at the Historic Grand Prix Car Association's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

Photographed at McLeans Corner, it's not shown in the programme of the event but it's a 1952 Jaguar C-Type and may have been owned at the time by Dave Lomas. Partly hidden behind the C-Type is the 1952 RGS Atalanta of Barry Wood with the Lola Mk1 of Anthony Galliers-Pratt bringing up the rear.

Lola Mk1 Prototype

This car took part in the 2¼ hour long Historic Motor Racing News Gentlemen Drivers race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's the 1958 Lola Mk1 Prototype, driven in the race by Robert Hall and Richard Wills. Around 40 examples of the Mk1 were built between 1958 and 1962, originally with a 1,098cc Coventry Climax FWA engine, though this car has a 1,220cc unit according to the programme of the event. In the mid 1990s the car underwent an extensive overhaul by Hall & Hall, and on 18 September 2017 I showed a photograph taken in 2005 which shows how it looked afterwards.

Lola Mk1 Prototype

This car took part in the 1950s Drum-Braked Sports Racing Cars race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's the 1958 Lola Mk1 Prototype of Richard Wills which had recently been restored by Hall & Hall. Originally powered by a Coventry Climax 4-cylinder 1,098cc FWA engine, the programme at this Donington Park event showed its engine then to have a capacity of 1,220cc.

Lola Mk1

I took this photograph at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003 where this car was entered in the BRDC Historic Sports Car Championship race.

It's Peter Austin's 1960 Lola Mk1. These cars were produced by Lola Cars from 1958 to 1962, initially with a 1100cc Coventry Climax FWA engine. The programme of the event shows that this one has an engine of 1490cc and it appears to be chassis #BR-19. On 7 July 2015 I showed a couple of photographs of the Lola Mk1 of Brian Ashby at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in September 1986.

Lola Mk1

The Historic Car Races organised by the Aston Martin Owners Club at Oulton Park in September 1986 included a round of the Historic Car Championship, and the car pictured below was one of the participants.

It's a 1960 Lola Mk1, entered in the race by the Viking Property Group and was driven by Brian Ashby.

Here's Brian Ashby at Lodge Corner during the race.