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1969 Lola T70 Mk. IIIB
s/n T76/144
Black Racing Livery

In 1966, the hot setup for the Can-Am was a Lola T70 Chevrolet, which won five of six races during the year. John Surtees was the champion and Dan Gurney drove the only Ford powered car ever to win a Can-Am race. In 1967, no one could compete with the speed of the factory fielded M6 McLarens, yet the T70 remained the popular choice for independent teams. This remained the case for several years, both in North America and in Europe. The T70 was first produced in open-top "Spyder" configuration, but ultimately more than 100 examples were built in 3 versions. The open-roofed Mk II was joined by the Coupe-version Mk III, and finally the Mk IIIB, representing Lola’s most developed version of the T70 platform.

In Europe, when the FIA changed the rules for sports car racing that came into effect for 1968, limiting the engine size of prototypes to 3 liters, if at least 50 were made, sportscars with up to 5000cc engines were allowed to compete. This rule allowed the Ford GT40 and Lola T70s to continue their racing successes. The Fords won Le Mans again in '68 and '69, while the T70's most notable endurance win came at the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona where they finished 1 and 2.

In addition to their competition successes, several T70 also made it to the silver screen. During the filming of Steve McQueen's "Le Mans", Lola chassis' were sacrificed, disguised with bodywork from the 917 and 512 that starred in the film. A T70 coupe also appears as a car of the future in George Lucas' first commercial film, THX-1138.

This particular car, which was sold new to David Preston of Team Elite in England as SL76/144 (fitted with Traco turned 302ci Chevrolet no. 004, and Hewland LG600 transaxle no. 181), saw considerable period competition in its homeland. Predominantly driven by Trevor Taylor, it was victorious straight out of the box at Silverstone where Taylor lapped the entire field, and again at Oulton Park for the 1969 Tourist Trophy. A fortnight later, at the same circuit for the International Trophy, Taylor led the opening five laps until he spun off on the wet. Its next race was the Guards Trophy at Mallory Park, which ended in retirement when the throttle broke after only 10 laps. At Thruxton for the Embassy Trophy, reliability again proved to be an issue when the clutch failed on the first lap. Although classified 17th at Brands Hatch for the BOAC 500, the car had in fact been withdrawn after 178 laps with concerns over hairline cracks discovered in the rear wishbones. In the race Taylor was partnered by Hugh Dibley, who by then had become a veteran at racing T70s. After failing to start the Martini Trophy, Taylor won the race-shortened Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park which was stopped after the fatal accident which befell Paul Hawkins. A broken tappet led to retirement at the Norisring and in the remaining four events of the ’69 season, the car, for various reasons, failed to start in three of them with the only placing being a sixth in the Swedish GP at Karlskoga.

In 1970 the car was bought by Sid Taylor to replace his own car, SL76/138, which he had just sold to John Love. Retaining its original blue racing livery, Trevor Taylor raced the car in the South American Temporarda at the start of the year partnered by Peter Gethin. They failed to finish in both events at Buenos Aires. At Brands Hatch for the BOAC 1000 Kms, Barrie Smith lost it in the wet at the end of the first lap and clouted the barriers. Barrie emerged unhurt, but the car had been badly damaged, which for all intents and purposes, ended SL76/144’s period racing career.

A complete list of SL76/144’s period race results follows:

Team Elite - Chevrolet 302ci 5.0 Litre V8
16/03/69: Silverstone, Nottingham SCC National T.Taylor #124 1st
30/03/69: International Trophy, Silverstone T.Taylor #40 DNF
04/04/69: Guards Trophy, Snetterton T.Taylor DNF
07/04/69: Embassy Trophy, Thruxton T.Taylor #6 DNF
13/04/69: BOAC 500, Brands Hatch T.Taylor/H.Dibley #5 17th
17/05/69: Martini Trophy, Silverstone T.Taylor DNS
26/05/69: Tourist Trophy, Oulton Park T.Taylor #36 1st
29/06/69: Norisring 200 Miles T.Taylor #4 DNF
17/08/69: Swedish GP, Karlskoga T.Taylor 6th
24/08/69: Finnish GP, Keimola T.Taylor DNS
31/09/69: Mantorp Park, Sweden T.Taylor DNS

Sid Taylor Racing - Chevrolet 302ci 5.0 Litre V8
11/01/70: Buenos Aires 1000 Kms, Argentine T.Taylor/P.Gehtin #46 DNF
18/01/70: Buenos Aires 200 Miles, Argentine T.Taylor/P.Gehtin #46 DNF
04/04/70: BOAC 1000 Kms, Brands Hatch B.Smith/H.Ganley/Ormes #6 DNF

Englishman Mick Hill bought parts which were salvaged from the damaged car including the engine, transaxle, suspension, brakes, and steering. He used it all to build a Ford Capri special. In 1980, Ian Webb bought the Capri fitted with certain SL76/144 components and dismantled it. He rebuilt those original parts from SL76/144 onto a new tub made by Brian Angliss. Finished in white and green, Sid Taylor racing livery, the car was tested at Goodwood, and later bought by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. It was later sold to Harald Mergard in Germany and then to Rick Weiland who both raced the car in historic events in Europe.

It was then sold to modern Can-Am figurehead Peter Schleifer, who raced the car in black livery until he sold it to Lola historian John Starkey. John sold the car to its current owner, Kenne Bristol in 2002, who numbered the car “T76/144”, a number issued by Lola Cars Ltd, where “T” stands for Type, followed by 76, which designates a Mk. IIIB. s/n T76/144 is the car built from enough of the mortal remains of SL76/144, originally invoiced and delivered to David Preston on February 24th 1969.

Under its current stewardship, T76/144 has seen considerable historic competition stateside with SVRA and HSR, among other groups. In 2008, the car was issued with a FIA/USA (ACCUS) Historical Technical Passport.

While on American shores professional race preparation has been provided by Wolf Motorsport, and exhaustive invoices for this work are on file. It should be noted that most vulnerable part of the Mk. IIIB, the upper radius rod inboard attachment points, have been reinforced on this example. The power plant has been refreshed by Automotive Machine Service of West Allis, Wisconsin, producing 589.5 horsepower on the dyno in October of 2010. The car has logged just two race weekends since. Even more recently, in early 2012 the transaxle was opened, inspected, and refreshed as necessary.

Nowadays, T70's have a lively home in classic car events like the Classic Endurance Racing series, a myriad of events across North America not the least of which is the Monterey Historic Reunion, as well as premier venues such as Lemans Classic. s/n T76/144 is a truly well outfitted example for aggressive historic competition. A proper suede wrapped bead seat is installed, as is a F.A.S.T helmet cooling setup. An integrated roll hoop and reinforced suspension arms further enhances driver safety. This is an ideal example for the competitive individual looking for a reliable, comparatively easy to maintain, fast, turnkey FIA racecar for use in the USA or in Europe.

Included with the sale of this example is an large historical binder containing many period photos, race results, newspaper clippings, as well as detailed invoices, FIA papers, set up sheets, dyno sheets, and log books. Spare parts which accompany T76/144 (F.O.B. Wisconsin) include:

• Engine mounts, used L&R
• Wiper blade assembly – display only
• Steering rack blocks & tow lings
• Chassis to transmission bolts
• Water pump belts
• Mirrors 2 w/o glass
• Oil filter canister, used
• Coil, used
• Billet distributor shaft MSD PN8582
• Distributor cap 2 new, 1 used
• Coil wire
• Rotor ignition
• Spark plugs NGK 4554 R5671A-8 used, 2 sets
• MSD 6 ignition box, used
• Fuel filter, used
• Fuel pump Holly 12-802-1
• Oil seals
• 550 9” 2.25 ID rear spring
• 450 8” 2.25 ID front spring
• Used brake pads
• New brake pads
• 2 new brake rotors
• 1 exhaust gasket
• 2 new rear trailing arms
• 2 new lower front A-arms
• 2 original fresh rebuilt half shafts
• 48/27 used gear
• 24/31 used gear
• 38/37 used gear
• 2 new dog rings
• 2 used dog rings
• Body work center section, new
• 2 good rear wheels
• 1 good right front wheel
• Tach, used
• Plug wires, used
• Ignition system old style, used
• Master cylinder .7 Girling
• Points and rotor, used
• Head lights, new
• Distributor shaft, used
• Wheel nuts 1 set new, 1 set used
• Wheel nut L&R, new
• Center mirror

As a racing car, this example is sold on a bill of sale.

The above vehicle information is complete and accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time it is posted to this website. Corrections or additional information is always appreciated. All advertised prices exclude government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer document preparation charge, and any emission testing charge. Vehicles are subject to prior sale. All advertised to be true but not guaranteed. We assume no liability for errors or omissions.