The Ex-Brian Redman Red Rose Racing/Robin Darlington
1966 LOLA-CHEVROLET T70 MkII Spyder

• The 12th 'Lightweight' Lola T70 Mark II built
• Three time winner with Robin Darlington in 1966
• 1968 SCCA Central Division Championship winner with Harry Heuer
• Present UK ownership for 16 years

Widely rated as one of the most beautifully proportioned sports-racing cars of all time, the shapely Lola T70 was perhaps British constructor Eric Broadley's most enduring masterwork. Apart from its contemporarily trend-setting monocoque chassis, its enduringly beautiful glass-fibre bodywork, moulded by Specialised Mouldings Ltd, also set new standards of elegant beauty for such an otherwise uncompromisingly functional racing weapon of war.

Eric Broadley had founded his Lola Cars company in Bromley, south London, in 1958, initially building an 1100cc front-engined sports car which toppled previous Lotus domination of that particular class. Into 1961 he began building rear-engined racing cars and in 1963 produced his American Ford V8-engined Lola Mark 4 GT aimed at the Le Mans 24-Hour race. Ford Detroit had been attracted to winning the French endurance classic to promote a virile new youth-market image. After attempting to buy Ferrari – and having been rejected - the giant American corporation was attracted instead by the Lola-Ford GT, which offered a potential short-cut to that competitive aim. Eric Broadley was hired to join the programme, under expatriate British engineer Roy Lunn. But where Broadley conceived a Ford GT based upon a lightweight competition-dedicated aluminium monocoque chassis, Ford's marketing department and Lunn would only accept a steel structure.

Broadley and Lunn's relationship rapidly deteriorated, and Eric soon opted-out of Ford to regain independence for himself and Lola Cars. Recognising newfound demand from a predominantly American West Coast racing market for large-capacity US V8-engined sports-racing car, his Lola T70 was tailor-made to suit. Its 40-per cent aluminium-skinned monocoque chassis could accept American 'stock-block' V8 engines from Ford or GM, driving through a tailor-designed Hewland LG500 five-speed transaxle. Wheelbase was 95-inches and track 54-inches. The prototype was launched with a 4.5-litre Oldsmobile V8 installed, and first customer was none other than Ferrari's 1964 Formula 1 World Champion Driver John Surtees.

In first testing at Oulton Park in 1965, he clipped fully 1.2 seconds off the existing Formula 1 single-seater lap record. The following season saw his Team Surtees Lola T70 progress through 5-litre to 5.9-litre Chevrolet V8 power. This new generation of international Group 7 unlimited-capacity sports-racing cars simply set new performance standards wherever they raced. Some 15 such Lola T70 Mark I cars were produced but Broadley knew the design could be further improved. His T70 Mark II as now offered here, then used a monocoque tub comprising 85 per cent aluminium-alloy with only 15 per cent sheet steel in contrast to the Mark Is' 60 per cent, saving some 70lbs weight. A further 35lbs was shaved off by specifying "as little paint as possible" on the GRP bodywork instead of colour impregnation. John Surtees beat none other than Bruce McLaren's latest rival Group 7 car in the season's important Guards Trophy race at Brands Hatch.

Chassis 'SL71/27', now offered here, began life as the 12th 'Lightweight' Lola T70 Mark II built. Its original owner was Charles Bridges who acquired it for his Red Rose Racing Team to be driven in 1966 by an exceptional new Lancastrian driver named Brian Redman. The car was powered by Chevrolet engine 'TS51', tuned for Team Surtees. While Redman would go on to become a works Formula 1 driver for Cooper, Williams, Surtees, Shadow, BRM and McLaren, he would achieve greater fame with the Gulf-JW Ford and Porsche teams, and for Ferrari, while also becoming multiple Formula 5000 Champion in the USA. In sports car endurance racing he would also win no fewer than four Spa 1,000Kms races, three Daytona 24-Hours, and the Brands Hatch 6-Hours, Kyalami 9-Hours, Sebring 12-Hours and the hugely prestigious Le Mans 24-Hours twice each.

In this Lola T70 – as entered by Red Rose Racing through 1966 – Brian contested eight races, taking four 4th places – before Charles Bridges sold the car to another talented newcomer, farmer/club racer Robin Darlington, who promptly won his first three races in this powerful beauty.

Robin Darlington continued to race 'SL71/27' through early-1967 before passing it back to Bridges, who then sold it for 1968 to one Frank Kloski of Chicago, USA. It was fitted with a 350 cubic-inch (5.7-litre) Chevrolet V8 engine and driven by prominent SCCA exponent Harry Heuer through 1968-69, earning him the initial year's SCCA Central Division Championship title.

Later in 1969 it was driven by Tom Terrell, before being crashed by Kloski at Road Atlanta. It was repaired with updated bodywork, liveried in yellow and black, and by 1971 was being rented from Kloski to contest two CanAm rounds that year in the hands of another familiar road racing personality, Don Devine. Kloski then sold the car in 1973 to John Bunch who stripped it for intended restoration. However, into the 1980s, Mr Bunch passed away, leaving the car still in component form to his widow Marcia.

In 2008, British enthusiast John Starkey – then resident in St Petersburg, Florida – purchased 'SL71/27', passing it on to California-based Lilo BEN ZICRON who had the car restored by Toluca Lake Historics. This handsome Lola-Chevrolet T70 subsequently passed some 16 years ago into its present British ownership. We understand that it has hardly run since and it is offered here as seen. It is a most attractive 'big banger' sports-racing car whose provenance includes some wonderfully high-profile connections.

Supplied with a history file containing ownership details, race programmes and restoration history. One minor consideration should be that its related FIA Historic Racing papers recently expired and presently need to be renewed if a return to international racing should be considered. In every other respect – what a truly wonderful sports-racing projectile...