My buddy Matthew tied the knot with his gal last weekend and that event reminded me of researching the ‘66 Las Vegas Can Am where this beauty was part of race history. I have always had a thang for the Lola, which is just one of the beautiful car designs of the time, and the fellas at JSR (John Surtees Racing) did such a beautiful job of painting and marking this particularly one. Plus the Lola shares its chassis with the the same Lotus as the Ford GT40 so there is shared pedigree in its DNA.
Lola Designer Broadley had already established Lola Cars in 1958 and would become rather successful designing and building single-seaters for Formula Junior, Formula 3 and Formula 2. This would lead to the contract to work with Ford on its ambitious GT40 project. However, the staunch, established ways of doing things discouraged Broadley who was willing to push the edges of the envelope in search of an advantage. Therefore, by the mid-1960s, Broadley was free from his efforts with Ford and was on his own again. He again was free to build the cars he desired to build, and his way. Not all from the GT40 project would be lost, however. In fact, it would lead to Broadley developing what would become the fastest sportscar in the world at the time.
Broadley came to see the advantages of the raw American V-8 powerplant offered by Ford and Chevrolet. He then realized that combining that power with a light, mid-engined design could prove to be incredibly successful. Broadley would turn to an expert to help develop his idea. The World Champion, John Surtees, would come on board and would work hand-in-hand with Broadley to develop the idea into one of the most successful sportscars in Lola's history. The result of the work between Broadley and Surtees would be a wonderfully aggressive-looking car weighing just over 1700 pounds and boasting of 500hp. The design and layout of the car would lend itself to being stable and predictable for the driver.
The basis for the project is Tamiya’s slot car kit which was reissued in 2011 as a collector’s series. Scuttlebutt was that Tamiya made way more than sales warranted so now these same body shell kits are being offered from Tamiya for five bucks each. I bought a few body shells a few years ago thinking I wanted to practice painting, which I guess is my modeling thang in a nutshell, this would be the ticket. Finishes or finish fetish work is my metier. Conveniently this allows me to call a “project within a project” a “finished project.”
As an FYI, I am building the shell, which was not sold with any chassis. At a later date when I am flush, I will look for an aftermarket Tamiya chassis.
