In Australia, a Lola by Steve McQueen went under the hammer. Racing cars had a prominent previous owner in Stirling Moss. Nevertheless, the car did not find a buyer in the end. The highest bid was probably too low for the owner.
Acting legend Steve McQueen planned to shoot the motorsport film "Day Of The Champion" in the mid-1960s. For that he needed the Lola T70 Spyder MK1. But it never came to that. Now a seller from Australia tried to sell the car from 1965. But in the end without success. The highest bid of 250,000 Australian dollars (approx. 165,000 euros) was probably too low for the owner.
The Lola can count big names among its owners. Not only Steve McQueens is immortalized in the list of owners, but also Formula 1 legend Stirling Moss. The Englishman owned the racing car from May 1966 to July 1966. However, he did not drive the Lola during this time. To this day, the four-time vice world champion is considered one of the best drivers who never celebrated the world title.
V8 engine and 4.7 liter displacement
The Lola is powered by a V8 engine from Ford. In this version, the vehicle was one of the few with this engine specification. That writes the auction house Collecting Cars. There the Lola should find a new owner. The engine received a general overhaul in 2015, and the 4-speed gearbox is said to have only run for six hours.
In 1965 the Lola made its racing debut at Silverstone. After participations such as in the Brands Hatch Guards International Trophy, the T70 started in the Sunset Series. There the vehicle drove at the 9 Hours of Kyalami in South Africa. The car has returned to this race time and time again over the years.
In 1966, the Lola no longer drove for victories: The car served as a camera car for the shooting of the Formula 1 film "Day Of The Chamipon". Sir Stirling Moss, Sir John Whitmore and McQueen drove the Lola at the Nürburgring. Ultimately, Steve McQueen and the film crew never finished the film. From 1967 the T70 served as a racing car again.
Restored Lola
After the racing career, the Lola was considered lost for a few years. In New Zealand, a collector gave the Lola many MK2 specifications. The current owner has had the car for 13 years and had the Lola restored to the original MK1 specification.
In February 2022 the restoration of the vehicle was completely completed. The Lola in the pictures not only makes a fresh impression technically, the seat and the steering wheel are also hardly worn. Now the only question that remains is whether the owner thinks a reasonable price can still be achieved.
