Eric Broadley Of Lola Becomes "Billy The Kid" At LeMans...

When UK-based Lola's founder, Eric Broadley, decided that he wanted to build a sports car to compete in CIA's nearly-limitless "Group 6" class, he originally decided to build a Ford-powered racer. In fact, the original Mk. VI GT that he introduced in 1963 featured a monocoque chassis and was powered by a Fairlane V8. Previously, Lola had specialized exclusively in single-seat and small-displacement sports cars, but by the time that the Fairlane-powered, Mk. VI had been conceived, Ford took notice from Detroit, and soon Broadley would become involved in the original GT40 project.

Broadley didn't work with Ford on the GT40 for very long, however, as Broadley himself had concluded, based on the Detroit briefings, that too many compromises had been made to the GT40 in its development process to allow it to be fully successful at the race track. Following his work on the GT40, Broadley and Lola resumed concentrating on and building small cars, platforms with which the automaker was more familiar. Ford and Shelby's GT40 would go on to win its own motorsport acclaims, but Eric Broadley still refused to give up on his vision of building a large-displacement sports car.

The second time that Broadley had attempted to build a large-V8 endurance car, he concentrated on the American racing scene, trying desperately to penetrate CIA's limitless "Group 7" category. This time around, however, Broadley capitalized on the fact that CIA's Group 7 regulations were ever-tightening, suffocating drivers' ability to build race cars in their own backyards. As this increasingly became the case, there was also an increasing demand for customer-ordered sports cars. One of the first of these was McLaren, as Bruce McLaren himself had commissioned Elva to produce his M1, Group 7 car. Foreseeing that customer-ordered sports cars would be on the rise, Eric Broadley followed the motoring trend with the Lola T70, which was introduced in 1965.

The T70's monocoque chassis was an engineering landmark, as it contained a mixture of steel and aluminum for maximum strength. Also, the monocoque chassis was designed to accept any American V8, and the suspension, a rather conventional setup, consisted of double-wishbones with coil springs over dampers. The front brakes were also placed strategically, in order to allow sufficient amounts of cool air to reach the discs, and the car was topped-off with a fiberglass body that fulfilled the Group 7 racing class' only requirement, that each car have an open-top (Spyder) body.


John Surtees, a 1964 F1 World Champion, was one of the first drivers to try the Spyder version of Lola's T70. Surtees was also the first to show that Chevy's small block V8 was the most successful powerplant to ever reside within the T70's "walls," as the small block V8 itself evolved from 5 to 5.9 liters, and produced an astounding 550bhp, enough to carry F1 World Champion, Surtees to immediate success. For the 1966 season, several chassis mods were made to the T70 to form the "Mk. II" version of Lola's Chev-powered bobsled, and the Mk. II T70 would take Surtees to endurance-racing fame, winning three out of six rounds of the newly-formed, Can-Am challenge, Surtees himself being crowned champion by the end of the season.

The biggest challenge for Broadley and his Chev-powered, Lola T70 Spyder, which at this point had become a road-racing hit, was entering the "Group 4" category. The racing class required that each car have a roof and windscreen installed, which meant that the Lola T70 Spyder would now need an all-new body design. With the help of Tony Southgate and an available wind tunnel, Broadley was able to develop the highly-effective, coupe body that would come to form the Mk. 3 T70. Drag and lift had always been of primary concern with the T70, but thanks to the Mk. 3's new rear tail, the T70 coupe actually produced a considerable amount of downforce.


Chevy's small block V8 had, at this point, became the powerplant of choice in the Lola T70, though Aston Martin, who at the time was developing a twin-cam V8, was apparently interested in using their engine in the T70. An Aston Martin V8-powered T70 had been built and was even driven, but the engine was still under development. Consequently, the Aston Martin, twin-cam V8 was as underpowered at it was unreliable, and unlike the Chevy-powered T70 Spyder that had brought John Surtees to endurance racing prominence, the Aston Martin version actually caused the Lola T70 coupe to retire early from LeMans, a race track defeat that stood in brilliant contrast to Surtees' stunning victory in the Can-Am circuit.

The Lola T70 is not a race car whose name is thrown around as much as the legendary road-racers of the Ford-Shelby union, but it's equally-important, especially in light of the fact that it opened the doors for Chev performance in the professional world of grueling, endurance motor racing.

Lambo Murcielago Kit on Fiero Chassis For Sale...

Kit car-building is always a fascinating world to delve into; kit cars in themselves are all-too-often executed either very cheesily, or else in a way that is not only true to the original, but even goes as far as being better than the original. We don't know if this V6-powered, Murcielago replica has stumped the world of Italian exotics, but it is pretty close to scale.

Actually, the builder of the Murcielago kit car, who is currently looking to sell the car, originally built it with the intention of driving it for "a year or two" before selling it to start a family. Apparently, those plans came sooner than later, and so the owner must give-up this unique, exotic automotive work of art.






This yellow-and-black, Murcielago "mock-up" is built with all of the correct, functional Lamborghini implements, including full-functional power windows (something not typically seen on Lambo kits since fabrication is usually too difficult), gull-winged doors and functioning mechanical side vents.






Pontiac Fieros are a frequent choice for kits this unique, and this Murcielago is built on an extended Fiero chassis that's been reinforced for both strength and stability. The motor is a rebuilt V6 chasing a 5-speed manual, a trans that's mated to a real Lamborghini chrome shifter with a shift gate plate. The Murcielago also features real Gallardo wheels, and the owner has custom-built an instrument/gauge panel to resemble that of a true Lamborghini.






If ever a backyard-built kit car was built to Maranello's standards of perfection, this Fiero-based, Murcielago kit car is definitely it!

Ferrari Unveils The 458 Italia Spyder

Ferrari has unveiled the Spyder version of their current, F430-successor, the 458 Italia, three weeks before the supercar is to be unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.

The automaker from Maranello describes the 458 Spyder as the first mid-engined supercar to feature a retractable hardtop, and the 458 Italia Spyder abandons the traditional fabric top used by generations of drop-top Ferraris for an aluminum piece that shaves about 55 pounds off-of the retractable top used by the previous F430 Spyder. The retractable aluminum top folds itself into a stowage area directly behind the seats and in front of the engine bay, a process that Ferrari claims only takes about 14 seconds.


Several other enhancements have been made to ensure maximum comfort and usability at relatively high speeds, such as an electronically-controlled wind stop within the car's interior, allowing driver and passenger to be able to hold a normal conversation within the cab at up to 124mph. The stow-away area for the retractable top has also allowed for a small amount of extra space between the passenger cab and the engine bay, allowing for what Ferraristis and other "Maranello insiders" have described as a "generous rear bench for luggage."

As Edmunds so delicately points-out, most Ferraristis may not want to abandon Ferrari's traditional, Spyder fabric top for an aluminum one, but Edmunds also makes the smart observation that the engineering involved behind this new feature will probably have those same critics becoming none-other than converts!

The legend of the “baby” Ferrari and how it created a subculture
Maranello’s legendary 328 GTB and GTS raise a renewed perspective on the exotic world

A funny thing happens to many car enthusiasts as those enthusiasts begin to delve into the world of exotics; we often lose sight of those qualities that make a sports car a “sports car.” As a high-performance enthusiast, I am more guilty than anybody of overlooking a car’s subtle features, but all-too-often it’s those features that make all the difference.
And so this very important issue in the world of all things automotive came, at least for me, to the surface all over again as I studied and observed the San Fernando Valley’s most beautiful collection of custom and exotic cars, right here in the Warner Center. It was one car in particular that made me feel that maybe I really had lost something in my appreciation of fine auto, something that enables the true enthusiast to enjoy the “fine” qualities of an expensive sports car, or even an inexpensive one, for that matter. The car in question was a tremendous example of a 1988 Ferrari 328 GTB.
Within the context of the Warner Center backdrop, the 328 GTB seemed a rather mild specimen of the exotic sports car “jungle,” overlooked by several enthusiasts while others took notice of the Italian “redhead.” But still, there are some “factoids” about Ferrari and Maserati history that must never be taken for-granted. First, it should not be overlooked that the 328 series of Ferrari is more than just an entry-level model, in fact, the 328, both Berlinetta and Targa, was the Ferrari model that was a direct derivative of the previous 308 GTB and GTS, proving that Ferrari was and still is perfectly capable of building a user-friendly, entry-level exotic that would not bust nearly as much of a dent in wallet as the higher-end 12-cylinder cars from Italy, like the Enzo and the 512 TR. And Ferrari incorporated a lot of the previous 308 car’s functional and aesthetic features, such as the nose and tail sections, the nose section of the 328 being further rounded-off from the previous “wedge” profile of the 308 model. Other functional cues, including the transverse, V8 drivetrain layout, suspension geometry and tail valence panel were borrowed from the original 308, and though the overall body shape was maintained, Ferrari’s small-displacement V8 was punched-out to a 3.2 liter displacement.1
The V8 used in both 328 models was derived from the engine used in the Quattrovalvole variant of the 308. From its predecessor, the V8 borrowed a Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection system, though it utilized a Marelli, 806A ignition. The small V8 was rumored to put out 270 BHP at 7000 RPM, and like the 308, the 328 cars were built with the entire drivetrain dropped as a single unit into the car itself, an all-synchro 5-speed manual mounted just behind and below the engine sump.2
Ferrari’s 328 GTB and GTS were built from 1985-89, until they were replaced by the 348 model in the fall of 1989. By that time, production of the GTS had outnumbered that of the GTB five-to-one.3 The 348 would therefore become Ferrari’s first in a whole new series of what have famously become known as the “baby Testarossas” of the Maranello sports car family.
But that very term, “baby Testarossa,” seems to imply a sort of inferiority along the edges of the Ferrari pyramid, if such a “pyramid” even exists. Ask any Ferrari owner and/or enthusiast and they will tell you that Maranello’s introductory sports cars, including the 308/328 series and the Dino GT, are exactly that: introductory. But again, something gets lost in translation, terribly lost, as a matter of fact. Something is lost and they we are reminded again, as the 328 GTB’s interior gives off an almost effeminate aura, and indeed the smell of the interior and curvaceous body style add to the whole “Ferrari experience.” In other words, I didn’t choose, even as a performance specialist, the 328 GTB as a study subject because it’s fast; the 328 GTB represents the true art/science of sports car construction, and it’s reflected in every nook-and-cranny of the car’s very being.

- Sal Alaimo Jr., B. A. (2/14/11)

S. J. A.