THE LOLA T592
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
The T592 at the Lola factory.
Following the success of the T590 in winning the European, Scandinavian and Benelux Championships it is perhaps surprising that, of the eighteen T592s built, only four went to Europe two each to the UK and Switzerland the remaining fourteen going to the US. With only two cars for the John Kirkpatrick team in the UK Championship for the first time Lola failed to win a single race but things were better in the US with Larry Campbell taking the SCCA Sports 2000 Championship. At this time Lola seemed to be focusing more on the American market with its potentially much larger customer base.
The 1982 car's tub was stiffened significantly to eliminate chassis flexing, a problem of which several drivers complained of with the T590.
The car is based around a three-quarter length aluminium monocoque, riveted and bonded with steel reinforcement at high stress points. A tubular engine frame supports the 2-litre Ford Pinto unit. Front suspension is by unequal length wishbones with aluminium uprights and gas-filled Bilstein spring/damper units. Lower wishbone, cast magnesium uprights and single top-links suspend the rear, again with the German dampers. A cockpit-adjustable front anti-roll bar is fitted as standard.
Driver safety was of paramount importance in the design of the T592, the forward-braced roll hoop and dash hoop forming an extremely rigid cell around the cockpit. An electrically operated fire extinguisher, six-point harness and rubber fuel cell are all standard equipment within the rolling chassis price of £9500 (£31,250 in 2020) plus VAT. These revisions showed that Lola were still determined to be a major player in the Sports 2000 market.
Although the final three cars (HU592S/67, 68 and 69) in the run were built as the T592S, the Lola Chassis Log shows nine of the cars with an "S" (chassis HU53 onwards) after the chassis number (e.g. HU592/53S) possibly suggesting (and this is entirely my supposition) that Lola updated these after they had received their chassis plates, just adding a "S" whereas the last three were built later allowing the "S" to be added to the type number.
Year(s) of Construction: 1981-1982
Total Built: 7 (The remaining cars were built as the T592S and are not included in the "Total Built" figure.)
Total Built: 45
T592 CHAMPIONSHIP WINS
YEAR |
CHAMPIONSHIP |
WINNER(S) |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | SCCA Sports 2000 Championship | Larry Campbell | Lola T592-Ford |
| 1986 | B&Q British Sports 2000 Championship Pre '82 Class | Dave Karaskas | Lola T592-Ford |
T592 SIGNIFICANT RACE WINS
2018
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16th September | HSCC Spa 6 Hours | Bruce Chambers | Race 2 - Winner Class S20 |
