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Lola Mk6

Lola Mk6 GT
Lola Mk6 GT front.jpg
"Mecom Racing Team" Lola Mk6 GT (# LGT-2) at Silverstone Classic 2011
Category Experimental Grand Touring
Constructor Lola Cars
Designer(s) Eric Broadley(chassis)
John Frayling (coachwork)
Successor Ford GT40
Lola T70
Technical specifications
Chassis Aluminum monocoque (steel monocoque for prototype car)
Suspension (front) Double wishbones
Suspension (rear) Double wishbones
Length 3,912 mm (154.0 in)
Width 1,600 mm (63.0 in)
Height 1,016 mm (40.0 in)
Wheelbase 2,356 mm (92.8 in)
Engine Ford Motor Company, 289 cu in (4,735.9 cc)
(later Chevy 6,000 cc (366.1 cu in)) pushrod V8 NA mid-mounted
Transmission Colotti Tipo 37 4 speed manual
Weight 950 kg (2,094.4 lb)
Competition history
Notable entrants Lola Racing Cars
Mecom Racing Team
Notable drivers Tony Maggs
Richard Attwood
David Hobbs
Augie Pabst
Roger Penske
Debut Silverstone, 11 May 1963
Races Wins
12 1

The Lola Mk6 GT was a racing car built in only three units between 1962 and 1963 by British car manufacturer Lola Cars. With its 289 cubic inches Ford V8 engine it was the first mid-mounted, high displacement V8 engine powered Grand Touring car, a technical solution that had just been introduced on the racing scene, but used until then only on formula cars and smaller and more affordable GTs.

Mid-engine cars were a revolutionary idea introduced in car racing by Cooper Car Company, a small British firm that managed to beat big players in Formula 1 World Championship twice in a row, but this layout did not make its path into Grand Tourers, which were accepted to race only if a minimum production run had been completed: not a single manufacturer was keen on doing big investments to build cars "at a minimum rate of one hundred identical units as far as mechanical parts and coachwork are concerned in 12 consecutive months", as required by FIA, without having the necessary experience with such applications and the right parts and components.

It is important to say that in those days there was no "off the shelf" transaxle gearbox capable to manage the enormous torque provided by big V8 engines. When Colotti Tipo 37 gearbox was made available to the market after it was specifically built to be mounted on the Lotus 29 single seater, a racing car powered by a 256 cu in (4,195.1 cc) Ford Fairlane V8 and intended to race the 1963 Indianapolis 500, Lola's owner Eric Broadley had the opportunity to solve the problem.

Moreover, FIA's decision to terminate its World Sports Car Championship by replacing it with the new International Championship for GT Manufacturers for 1962 season, in order to focus manufacturer's attention on Grand Tourers, made more difficult for mid-engined GT to make their way into production. 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. Lola Mk6 GT was conceived by Eric Broadley at the end of 1962 to be accepted into Experimental Grand Touring class.

The Mk6 GT featured some of the best technology of the time, first of all an aluminium monocoque (although the prototype car had a steel monocoque in order to save time), while all opponents - apart from Jaguar - still relied on Space frame chassis. Ford-Colotti engine-gearbox assembly was a stressed member and rear suspensions were mounted directly on it, like on best Formula 1 cars of that time: as a result the car was so compact that wheelbase was even shorter than other Lola's formula cars, despite using a big pushrod 400 CV (298 KW) American V8 engine.


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