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Sbarro Lola T70 - an English road racing car from Switzerland

Name: Lola T70 1969
Brand: Lola

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Created on January 28, 2014

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Simon Clay - Courtesy RM Auctions

Balz Schreier

Bruno von Rotz

Louis Galanos

Dave Friedman

Archivbild

James Boone

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Simon Clay - Courtesy RM Auctions

Balz Schreier

Bruno von Rotz

Louis Galanos

Dave Friedman

Archivbild

James Boone

Archiv

Lola T70 Mk IIIb by Sbarro (1969) - offered as lot 26 at the RM Auction Paris on February 5, 2014

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Lola Type 70 Mark III (1967) - the T70 was a commercially successful product, seen here at the 1967 London Racing Car Show

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Lola T70 Mk3B GT (1969) at the 1969 Daytona 24 Hours - overall winner with #6 in the Sunoco Roger Penske Lola with Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons together with 2nd place #8 AIR Lola T70 Mk 3B

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Lola T70 MkIIIB GT (1969) at the 24 Hours of Daytona 1969 - Winning car of the Roger Penske team before the race

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Lola T70 MkIIIB GT (1969) at the 24 Hours of Daytona 1969 - winning car of the Roger Penske team

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Lola T70 Mk3 GT (1969) at the 24 Hours of Daytona 1969 - James Garner (with open door and beard) congratulates Lothar Motschenbacher on 2nd place

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Lola T70 Mk3 GT (1969) at the 24 Hours of Daytona 1969 - Driven by Lothar Motschenbacher and Ed Leslie

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Lola T70 MkIII GT (1969) at the 24 Hours of Daytona 1969 - The Lola T 70 from the American International Racing Team

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Sbarro Lola T70 (1978) - shown at the 1978 Geneva Motor Show

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Sbarro Lola T70 Porsche (1978) - the "HH" stands for the customer

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Sbarro Lola T70 Porsche (1978) - with slightly adapted bodywork to accommodate the mechanics

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Sbarro Lola T70 Porsche (1978) - the Porsche turbo engine with 300 hp rages here

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Lola T70 Mk 3B GT (1969) - The fast Lola T70 from Penske Racing with Mark Donohue and Ronnie Bucknum (12 Hours of Sebring 1969)

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Lola T70 Mk.3B GT (1969) - Pit stop of the Lola T70 from the Roger Penske Team with Mark Donohue (12 Hours of Sebring 1969)

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Three Lola T70s race through "Les Combes" - Spa Six Hours 2013 "FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship"

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Lola T70 Mk3B (1969) - "FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship" at the Spa Six Hours 2013

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Lola T70 MKIII (1969) - Spa Six Hours 2013 "CanAm Interserie Challenge"

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Lola T70 Mk3b (1969) - Spa Six Hours 2013 "FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship"

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Lola T70 MK3B (1969) - Spa Six Hours 2013 "CanAm Interserie Challenge"

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Lola T70 Mk I Spyder (1965) - in race R6 of the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship at the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2013

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Lola T70 (1969) - participant in the "Total Oil International Sports Car Challenge" in the supporting program of the 2013 Australian GP

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Lola-Chevrolet T70 Spyder (1966) - competed in the Whitsun Trophy at the Goodwood Revival 2012

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Lola T70 MkIIIB (1969) - at the start of the World Sportscar Masters on the occasion of the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2012

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Lola T70 MKIII (1966) at the SVRA Endurance Classic in Sebring 2011 - Driver Jake Jacobs

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Lola T70 MkII Spyder (1966) - at the start of the World Sportscar Masters on the occasion of the AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix 2012

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Lola T70 MKIII (1967) of Bernard Thuner (CH) at the last bend before the Dunlop arch - overall winner in Plateau 5 (1966-1971) at the Le Mans Classic 2012

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First lap of the "FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship" race, with the winning Lola T70 MK3B (1968) already at the front - Spa Six Hours 2013

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Lola T70 Mk IIIB (1969) - in the Plateau 5 (1966-1971) at the Le Mans Classic 2012

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Summary

Between 1965 and 1969, Lola built around 100 T70 sports cars for racing. Because there was also an interest in road-going super sports cars, Eric Broadley of Lola worked with Franco Sbarro, who created a total of around a dozen T70 variants for use on public roads. This report describes the history of the Lola T70 and the Sbarro models and shows one of the Sbarro variants in many pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona
The English sports car manufacturer Lola
The racing car for the road
The road racing cars from Switzerland
Back on the racetrack
Further information

Estimated reading time: 4min

Preview (beginning of the article)

We know the Lola T70 from historic racing events and, of course, from books and films documenting endurance racing. But only very few people know that part of the Lola T70 population comes from Switzerland. In 1969, something happened that no one expected, putting a racing prototype that had previously won few laurels in the hands of amateur racers at the center of public attention. Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons emerged as the winners of the 24 Hours of Daytona. In second place was actor James Garner (known from the TV series "Detective Rockford") and his team in another Lola T70. All the competition from Porsche, Ford and Alfa Romeo was beaten.

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