GPWizard F1 Forum
Everything Else => General Automotive => Topic started by: cosworth151 on May 31, 2017, 06:32:24 PM
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Eric Broadley, the founder of Lola, has died at the age of 88. His designs were successful in sports car and various formulae of open wheel racing, including Indy and F1 (Yes, I said F1).
He started Lola much the same way that Colin Chapman started Lotus, designing & selling kit cars. The Lola T-70 dominated sports prototype racing when it was introduced. The Lola Mk 6 GT was the basis for the first generation Ford GT. Graham Hill won The Indianapolis 500 in a Lola. There is a picture of the two of them below.
Now, about F1. True, his attempts to field a Lola F1 team failed. However, back in 1967, he did very well in F1. Honda had gotten off to a good start in F1 under the 1600 cc rules. It was a different story when the sport went back to 3 liter cars. Their RA273 was far, far too heavy. That was when Honda F1 driver John Surtees talked to his friend Eric Broadley. That resulted in the Honda RA300, which was really a Honda engine in a Lola car. It was a winner. The racing press called it a "Hondola."
Lola also designed and build the Corvette GTP cars of the 80's. MG's last sports racing cars of the early 2000's were Lola products, too.
R.I.P., Mr. Broadley. Your car will be admired for years to come.