Lola T70 Spyder | PH Auction Block

You've pored over it at Goodwood - now bidding is open...

By Matt Bird / Tuesday, 15 July 2025 / Loading comments

A car has to be pretty special to stand out at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. But we’ll go out on a limb here and say PH achieved that this year; on our first ever stand at the Festival was this Lola T70 Spyder. Not many walked past without giving the lovely Lola at least a quick glance; plenty had a good gawp, read about it and wanted to talk at the stand about a spectacular old sports car.

It’s easy to understand why. The T70 was the ultimate evolution of the formula that underpinned so many classic British roadsters: add ruddy great US V8 to a very pretty, very small body, stand well back and hold on tight. Except the Lola was more sophisticated than most, with an aluminium monocoque chassis, the engine in the middle and disc brakes; after the GT40’s dominance and before the arrival of cars like the Porsche 917, Lola T70s finished first and second at the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona. So not just another old British sports car.

There were never very many, however, which makes this Lola T70 all the more significant. It isn’t a continuation or recreation, instead a proper factory T70 MkII Spyder from 1965. It has race history from British F5000, Formula Libre and something called the HSCC Atlantic Computers Series in the 20th century. Which you certainly don’t get with anything more modern.

As proper old Lola, too (chassis SL 142/22, in fact), there’s a whole host of contemporary competitions it could race in. It has its FIA Historic Technical Passport, which should open up plenty of classic events - pre-’66 should make it eligible for Revival racing, for example. It also promises to make hillclimbs and track days absolutely unforgettable.

The Lola shouldn’t take very much prep to get into a race-ready state, either, as the T70 is fresh from a ground-up rebuild. Sufficiently so, in fact, that the freshly restored 5.7-litre Chevy V8 will need some final testing before being used in anger. Safe to say that something like 440hp in a racer weighing less than 1,000kg will be a moment to cherish. The paint has been redone, the transmission overhauled to accompany the new engine, and the suspension parts nickel-plated to help them last.

There’s everything you’d want to see and more, basically, from a classic racer project. Sadly, the previous owner is no longer with us, but they spent their quarter century with the car striving to make it the best it can be. The results speak for themselves. And if it stood out at Festival of Speed, just imagine what the Lola might do anywhere else…

See the full listing here