LOLA GT: THE DNA OF THE FORD GT40

John Starkey. Published 2022 by Veloce, which provided the review copy ISBN 978-1-787117-83-9

There have been plenty of books written about the development and racing history of the Ford GT40, but its illustrious predecessor, the Lola Mk 6 GT, has been rather overlooked. This new book by John Starkey sets out to correct that situation and to give the Lola founder, Eric Broadley, credit for that and other achievements. Only three of the dramatic-looking Lola coupés were made, and when did you ever see Cortina Mk 1 tail-light assemblies put to better use? The first Lola was launched at the Racing Car Show in London in January 1963. Its first race, with the 4.2-litre Ford V8, was in the hands of Tony Maggs at Silverstone in May ’63. Lola’s racing career in this period was pretty short but it included Nassau Speed Week, the Nürburgring 1000km, and the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring. The lengths the team and organisers went to get a car on the starting line-up for Le Mans in ’63 makes fascinating reading. The Lola had shown plenty of early promise, although drivers constantly criticised the gearbox, for instance. But look at what it led to when Ford became involved!

The book includes copies of various Ford documents prepared at the time by the likes of Lee Iacocca, showing their intentions for what became the GT40 — although there was a serious falling-out with Broadley, who did not support the idea of developing a road car as well. Other delights are full-page photos of the very first bodyshell of what would become the GT40, and a three-page report by Bruce Mclaren giving his views on the Mk 6 after a winter time test at Snetterton. A key element of the book is the Lola GT prototype that Allen Grant has owned since 1965: how many top-flight competition cars could claim that sort of provenance? The final 20 pages are a detailed photographic record of the superb nut and bolt renovation Grant’s car underwent, leading to some well-deserved concours trophies. The other two cars live in private collections in France and Japan.

This is quite a slender book, at 144 pages, but it’s a very readable account of a fabulous-looking car that probably only needed some more development time to be a real success. The Lola GT certainly deserves to have a book to itself.