Lola Mk6

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Lola Mk6 GT
manual
Weight950 kg (2,094.4 lb)
Competition history
Notable entrantsLola Racing Cars
Mecom Racing Team
Notable driversTony Maggs
Richard Attwood
David Hobbs
Augie Pabst
Roger Penske
DebutSilverstone, 11 May 1963[1]
RacesWins
121

The Lola Mk6 GT was a racing car with a production run of only three units, built between 1962 and 1963 by British car manufacturer Lola Cars. With its 289 cu in (4.74 L) Ford V8 engine, the Mk6 GT was the first mid-mounted, high displacement V8-powered Grand Touring car,[2] a chassis arrangement that had been used, up until that time, only on formula cars and smaller, more affordable GTs.[2]

Development

Mid-engined cars were an idea introduced in

FIA
, without having the necessary experience with such applications and the right components.

In those days there was no commonly available transaxle gearbox capable of managing the enormous torque provided by big V8 engines.[2] When the Colotti Tipo 37 gearbox was made available to the market after being specifically built to be mounted on the Lotus 29 single seater,[4] a racing car powered by a 256 cu in (4.20 L) Ford Fairlane V8 and intended to race in the 1963 Indianapolis 500,[5] Lola's owner Eric Broadley had the opportunity to solve the problem.

Moreover, the FIA's decision to terminate its World Sports Car Championship and replace it with the new International Championship for GT Manufacturers for the 1962 season, in order to focus manufacturers' attention on Grand Tourers, made it more difficult for mid-engined GT cars to make their way into production.[2][6] But the Federation left an open door to research and development, admitting to races Experimental Grand Touring cars (later known as Prototypes), with no minimum production requirement, but requiring roadworthiness.[6] The Lola Mk6 GT was conceived by Eric Broadley at the end of 1962 to be accepted into the Experimental Grand Touring class.[6]

Technical description

The Mk6 GT featured some of the best technology of the time: first of all an aluminium

Formula 1 cars until the Lotus 49 in 1967. As a result the car was so compact that the wheelbase was even shorter than Lola's other formula cars, despite using a large 400 hp (300 kW) pushrod V8 engine.[6]

The coachwork, designed by John Frayling and made by FRP, had its own features such as reduced overhangs,

Kamm-tail, roof-integrated engine air intake and special doors which extended into the roof to give the drivers greater access to the cockpit once they were open, an idea that was kept on the car's successor, the Ford GT40.[6]

Racing history

The prototype car (chassis LGT-P, steel monocoque) was shown to the public in January 1963 at the UK Olympia Racing Car Show, making a big success and provoking great expectations,

Nürburgring 1000 km (retiring for technical reasons).[1]
After Nürburgring, LGT-P was retired. In 1965, it was sold to Allen Grant for $3,000 and 57 years later, the recently restored LGT-P is still owned by Mr Grant.

While LGT-P was being raced, a second car (chassis LGT-1, aluminium monocoque) was being completed and prepared for the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans.[6] Short of preparation time, Broadley himself brought LGT-1 to Le Mans at the very last moment for technical verification, which required some modifications to the car.[6] After their completion the car was allowed to race, but the time spent couldn't be used for proper testing. The car raced with the wrong gear ratios and so was not able to show all of its potential: drivers didn't use full throttle on the long Mulsanne Straight to avoid overrevving, giving a top speed 30 mph (48 km/h) lower than predicted, and was forced to retire after 15 hours following an accident due to a gear selector failure.[6] Understanding the potential performance of the Mk6, the Ford Motor Company bought it so as to further test its capabilities,[7] laying the foundation for its GT40 project and involving Broadley himself, although he later left the program.[6]

Meanwhile, a third car was completed, the second aluminium monocoque (chassis LGT-2). It was not raced at Le Mans that year because it was not ready, but was sold to the American Mecom Racing Team[8] who raced it at Brands Hatch, where the Ford engine broke after only four laps. Replaced by a Traco-tuned 6 L (370 cu in) Chevrolet V8 delivering 530 hp (395 kW) at 6500 rpm, the car was extensively raced in North America and won the 1963 Bahamas Speed Week[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Lola Mk6 GT results". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e Thorson, Thor (31 December 2006). "1963-64 Lola-Chevrolet Mk 6 GT". www.sportscarmarket.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  3. ^ "Appendix J 1961 - Art. 264 - Group 3: Grand Touring Cars: Definition" (PDF). www.fia.com. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Colotti Trasmissioni - History". www.colotti.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  5. ^ Melissen, Wouter (23 November 2012). "1963 Lotus 29 Ford". www.ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Melissen, Wouter (20 December 2004). "1963 Lola Mk6 GT Ford". www.ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  7. ^ Martin Krejci, cited web page
  8. ^ "Lola Mk6 GT results, chassis LGT-2". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  9. ^ Melissen, Wouter (16 March 2011). "1963 Lola Mk6 GT Chevrolet". www.ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 19 August 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lola Mk6 GT.
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