Eric Broadley already had a long series of successful racing cars under his belt when he presented his new T70 at the London Motor Show in 1965. His Mk 1 had already been a success, his Formula Junior monoposti had to be beaten, his Mk VI mutated into the Ford GT40, which won several times at Le Mans. The T70 did not succeed in this later, even though it was one of the fastest prototypes of its time. Long-distance races were not its thing, but the T70 was always one of the contenders for victory over shorter distances.
The T70's career came to an end because the sports authorities wanted to slow down the vehicle category assigned to it and reduced the engine capacity to five liters. And lo and behold, the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 racing cars emerged, which were faster than anything before.
With over 100 units produced, the Lola T70 in its three editions is one of the most beautiful and commercially successful prototypes ever, so it goes without saying that there had to be a book about it. But it was not until 1997 that one of the car's biggest fans dedicated his own book to it.
John Starkey was the author and his first book version was published in 1997 (176 pages), followed by a second edition in 2002 (192 pages), a third in 2008 and now the fourth edition is available. Not every book goes through four editions, especially not over such a long period of time.
Author with gasoline in his blood
John Starkey knows what he's talking about when it comes to the fast Lola. After all, he once owned a T70 himself, as well as many other well-known sports cars, such as a Ferrari 250 GT TdF, a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, various road-going 911s including the coveted RS 3.0 and RS 2.7 versions and various Jaguar XK120s. Starkey had to take out a mortgage on his house to buy the T70, that's how important the car was to him.
From the presentation to the final use
Starkey takes a chronological approach to the subject, starting with the predecessor Mk VI and then describing the developments and the results of the race participations year by year, focusing of course on the years 1965 to 1970.
Drivers of the time also have their say, as do the results of track tests.
Chassis overview
Perhaps the most interesting part for fans and prospective buyers is the chassis overview, which lists all known chassis on 33 pages and, as far as known, the owners and racing successes.
Not a picture book
Starkey has collected around 220 photos, showing the Lola T70 in many races, but also documenting the design and construction. However, one should not make too great demands on the print quality, as this book is a 20-year-old work that has been reprinted and is reproduced in small series at comparatively low cost.
If you are primarily interested in the information, the eBook version may even be enough, which is available as a Kindle eBook from just EUR 31.19 (free shipping) instead of EUR 36.68, for example. Nevertheless, we liked the printed book version better, as it allows you to quickly flip back and forth to get the full story of a chassis.
What we missed was a clearly laid out table showing the models and numbers at a glance. The information would be there, perhaps it will be in the next edition.
Bibliographical information
- Title: Lola T70 -The Racing History & Individual Chassis Record
- Author: John Starkey
- Language: English
- Publisher: Veloce Publishing Ltd.
- Edition: 4th edition 2016
- Format: Softcover, 25 x 20.7 cm
- Size: 192 pages, 220 pictures
- ISBN: 978-1-787110-51-9
- Price: £ 35 (UK), USD 60 (USA), EUR 36.68
- Buy/order: Online at veloce.co.uk, at amazon.de or in the relevant bookstores
