THE LOLA T370
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
Graham Hill and Guy Edwards side-by-side in the Embassy Racing with Graham Hill T370s.
Graham Hill formed his own Formula One team in 1973 when he ran a Shadow-Ford DN1 for himself in the World Championship, sponsored by Embassy cigarettes the season was not a success with no points scored and a best finish of ninth. Limited by having to run a customer car and relying on the works team developments being passed down the line, Hill decided it was better to have a team where he could call the shots and be able to direct the way the team moved forward. Not having the facilities to build a car himself Hill commissioned Eric Broadley and Lola to design and build a car for him.
The T370 was Lola's first F1 design since the 1968 Honda F1 car, the T180 but their recent successes if F5000, notably the T332 gave the Huntingdon company a strong base to work from. As can be seen from the exploded diagrams of the T370 front and rear suspension below the design was so similar that the drawing was originally used for the T332!
The T370 was a totally new Lola design, although influenced by the T332, and indeed uses many F5000 parts. The philosophy behind the design was that it should be simple, reliable and effective, as it was important to the Embassy Team, after the disappointment of the previous year, that they turned in some positive results for their sponsors.
The chassis design was typical Lola, the monocoque was built from NS4 alloy sheeting bonded and riveted together. To comply with 1974 technical regulations the T370 was fitted with a deformable structure designed to protect the fuel tanks in the event of impact. A feature found for the first time on a Lola was the forward mounting of the radiators which are set into the chassis at an angle just behind the front wheels unlike the F500 design where they were fitted on the top surface at the back of the tub. The monocoque was abbreviated at the roll hoop allowing the Ford DFV V8 to be attached as a stressed member, the Hewland gearbox also taking suspension and wing loads.
The suspension design followed standard contemporary FI practice with double wishbones and outboard mounted coil-spring dampers employed at the front. At the rear were lower parallel links (in place of the standard Lola reversed wishbone), a single upper link and twin radius rods were fitted. Unlike several 1974 design trends, the T370 had its front disc brakes mounted outboard with ducts to take cooling air to them as they were hidden within the front wheels. At the rear the discs were mounted inboard on either side of the gearbox, cooled by periscope-like ducts.
Wheels are Lola-designed 13 inch, six spoke made from magnesium alloy, with a 12 inch rim width at the front and 18 inches at the rear. Once again the body bore a strong resemblance to the T332 in profile although increased fuel tankage made it noticeably wider.
Results were mixed with the car tending to struggle in qualifying, at least until Rolf Stommelen arrived, and although there was only one point-scoring finish, it generally finished in the top twelve at a time when twenty-six car fields (plus up to ten non-qualifiers) were the norm. The T370 was used at the beginning of the 1975 season until the T371/GH1 was ready to race.
(With grateful thanks to Marc Fenijn for additional information)
For details of the individual chassis histories please visit OldRacingCars HERE.
Year(s) of Construction: 1974
Total Built: 3
This time Graham Hill leads Guy Edwards at the Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp in the 1974 Swedish Grand Prix.
T370 FORMULA ONE RACE RESULTS 1974
DATE |
GRAND PRIX |
DRIVER |
CHASSIS |
QUALIFYING |
RACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13th January | XI Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina - Autodromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU1 HU2 |
17th 25th |
DNF 11th |
| 27th January | III Grande Prêmio do Brasil - Autódromo do Interlagos, São Paulo | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
21st 25th |
11th DNF |
| 30th March | VIII South African Grand Prix - Kyalami Circuit | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
17th 25th |
DNF 11th |
| 28th April | XX Gran Premio de España - Circuito del Jarama | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
20th DNQ |
DNF - |
| 12th May | XXXII Bang & Olufsen Grote Prijs van Belgie - Nivelles | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
29th 21st |
8th 12th |
| 26th May | XXXII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco - Circuit de Monaco | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
21st 26th |
7th 8th |
| 9th June | X Texaco Grand Prix of Sweden - Scandinavian Raceway, Anderstorp | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
15th 18th |
6th 7th |
| 23rd June | XXI Grote Prijs van Nederland - Circuit Park Zandvoort | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
19th 14th |
DNF DNF |
| 7th July | LX Grand Prix de France - Dijon-Prenois | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
21st 20th |
13th 15th |
| 20th July | XXVII John Player British Grand Prix - Brands Hatch | Graham Hill Peter Gethin |
HU2 HU3 |
22nd 21st |
13th DNF |
| 4th August | XXXVI Großer Preis von Deutschland - Nürburgring | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU1 HU2 |
19th DNQ |
9th - |
| 18th August | XII Grosser Preis von Österreich - Österreichring | Graham Hill Rolf Stommelen |
HU2 HU1 |
21st 13th |
12th DNF |
| 8th September | XLV Gran Premio d'Italia - Autodromo Nazionale Monza | Graham Hill Rolf Stommelen |
HU2 HU1 |
21st 14th |
8th DNF |
| 22nd September | XIV Canadian Grand Prix - Mosport Park | Graham Hill Rolf Stommelen |
HU2 HU1 |
20th 11th |
14th 11th |
| 6th October | XVII Grand Prix of the United States - Watkins Glen | Graham Hill Rolf Stommelen |
HU2 HU1 |
24th 21st |
8th 12th |
NON-CHAMPIONSHIP RACES |
|||||
| 17th March | IX Race of Champions - Brands Hatch | Graham Hill | HU1 | 12th | DNF |
| 7th April | XXVI International Trophy - Silverstone | Graham Hill Guy Edwards |
HU2 HU1 |
15th 7th |
9th DNF |
Guy and Graham together again.
1974 was Graham Hill's last full season in Formula One.
Guy Edwards was a long time Lola driver, notably in F5000 and Sports Cars.
An overhead shot of the T370 in much simpler aerodynamic times.
The appearence of 1974 F1 cars was not improved by the massive airboxes.
Pre-season testing of the T370. Eric Broadley is standing beside the rear wheel on the right.
More testing.
Eric Broadley consults with Guy Edwards.
A pensive Graham Hill sits on the pitwall while Eric Broadley watches the refuelling.
The T370 without its bodywork.
The T370 being prepared...
.. for publicity shots, note the different numbers on the nosecone and the sidepod.
Another unclothed shot of the T370.
Guy Edwards at Monaco where he finished 8th.
Edwards again early in the season with the larger airbox.
The Embassy Racing team with Graham Hill in the pits at Brazil.
Graham leaving the pits.
It seems that Graham and Guy spent a lot of the 1974 season tied together, here they are at Anderstorp.
Mr Monaco finished seventh in 1974.
Monaco again.
Graham never fully recovered physically from his accident at the 1969 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.
The Embassy Racing Team in the paddock.
T370 front suspension.
T370 rear suspension
Cutaway of the T370.
Graham Hill's T370.... (Gerald Swan)
....in the Brands Hatch paddock in the 1974 British GP. (Gerald Swan)
Graham Hill at Brands Hatch in the 1974 Race of Champions.
Graham at the 1974 Brands Hatch British GP. (Gerald Swan)