THE LOLA T90
Lola mechanics prepare the Ford V8 T90 prior to flying it to America. Note the fuel cells and fillers have not yet been fitted. (Lola Heritage)
The rear view of the T90, the wide angled lower wishbone that replaced the T80 design is evident here. To the side of the car with his hand in his pocket is team owner and Lola's North American agent John Mecom and, to his left (partially obscured) is Eric Broadley. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
The T90 consisted of a aluminium monocoque constructed from the 16-guage aluminium that the Indy regulations stipulated. Sheet steel diaphragms were fitted at the front and the rear of the tub with additional internal stiffness coming from four braces housed within the pontoons that would take the Firestone-designed fuel cells whilst externally a sloping scuttle in front of the instrument panel gave additional rigidity.
Tubular steel subframes were attached to both the front and rear of the chassis, the front subframe carrying the oil tank, radiator and the forward mountings for the lower wishbone. At the rear there were two subframes above and below the two-speed Hewland gearbox, the upper one carrying the attachment point for the single top link and the top spring/damper mounting. The lower subframe had the mounting points for the lower wishbones.
The T90 was designed to accept either the 2.8-litre, 4-cylinder Offenhauser engine or the 4.2-litre 4-cam Ford V8. The Offy, built by Meyer-Drake in California was fitted with Hilborn fuel injection and a Paxton Roots-type supercharger and gave some 520 bhp, the Ford, whilst slightly less powerful, was a more known quantity having won the 1965 race in Jim Clark's Lotus 38.
Graham Hill proudly sits in his winning T90 on the Indianapolis main straight. Hill's car was fitted with the 4.2 litre Ford 4-cam V8. (Lola Heritage)
Front suspension was inboard with fabricated rocker arms at the top operating the coil and damper units and wide-based lower wishbones.
The front anti-roll bar was unusual employing a single bar that linked to the inner ends of the rocker arms via rod ends but was clamped at it's extremities, this allowed for a 60% longer bar than would have otherwise been possible if it had just run between the ends of the two rocker arms.
A smiling Rodger Ward poses alongside the Indianapolis grandstands. Ward's car is powered by the 2.8 litre supercharged Offenhauser engine. (Lola Heritage)
Rear suspension was fairly conventional with one departure from the norm. At the top of the upright was a single adjustable top link attaching to the top chassis subframe whilst at the bottom a wide-based wishbone (reinforced on the left), mounting to the rear of the upright, was mounted to the lower chassis subframe. There was a single adjustable lateral link running from the lower front of the upright to the subframe that allowed for toe-in alterations. The unusual feature to the design was the single top radius rod, a lower rod was not used to to the difficulty of a suitable chassis attachment point due to the fuel tank design. As was the norm at this time front and rear suspension was offset to the left by three inches, the theory being that this helped the car through the left-hand turns at Indianapolis.
A cutaway of the Lola T90 with the Ford V8 engine. (Lola Heritage)
Learning the lesson from 1965 Lola made sure the T90 was ready in plenty of time for the 1966 Indy 500 and the John Mecom Racing Team-entered car made it's debut at the March season opener, held at the Phoenix International Raceway. Success was immediate with Roger Ward finishing second in his Offenhauser-powered T90 and a month later Ward took the winner's laurels at Trenton's 1-mile paved oval when he won a rain-shortened race ahead of Gordon Johncock.
Come the month of May and there were three T90s, all entered by John Mecom's Houston-based team, ready to run at Indy qualifying, Roger Ward in his successful Offenhauser-engined car and Rookies Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill who were both Ford-powered. There was nothing much between the cars at the end of qualifying, Stewart was 11th fastest at a speed of 159.972 mph, Ward 13th at 159.46 mph and Hill 15th at 159.243 mph. Graham Hill replaced the original driver Walt Hansgen who was tragically killed driving a 7-litre Ford GT during the Le Mans Test Days.
The complex anti-surge fuel system of the T90. (Lola Heritage)
The race saw a chaotic opening lap following a collision between two cars at Turn 1 setting off a chain reaction that resulted in eleven cars retiring and the race being stopped for over an hour. The race restarted under a yellow flag and when the green was shown at lap 17 Mario Andretti took the lead but fell away immediately with a damaged engine. Jim Clark then led the field in his Lotus but his car wasn't handling well as a couple of spins, fortunately without damage showed. The race was now between Lloyd Ruby's Eagle and Jackie Stewart's Lola until fuel stops put Clark temporarily back in front. Ruby was soon back in the lead but his car was black-flagged on lap 152 for leaking oil. Ruby's retirement left Stewart's T90 comfortably leading from Clark's Lotus and Graham Hill's T90. Hill had been quietly progressing up the field both by taking advantage of other people's misfortunes as well as driving quickly and avoiding making mistakes, by lap 175 he had passed Clark for second.
Stewart continued to lead until 25 miles from the finish when a sudden lack of oil pressure saw the Scot retire and Hill assume the lead. The T90 didn't miss a beat and at just short of three and a half hours from taking the start Graham Hill and Lola won the 1966 Indianapolis 500.
Jackie Stewart in the Indianapolis pitlane. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
Rodger Ward leaves the pits.. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
1966 Indianapolis 500 Results
| Pos | Driver | Car # | Sponsor/Name | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Status |
| 1 | Graham Hill | 24 | American Red Ball | Lola | Ford | 200 | 3:27:52.53 - 144.317 mph |
| 2 | Jim Clark | 19 | STP Gas Treatment | Lotus | Ford | 200 | 3:28:33.66 - 143.843 mph |
| 3 | Jim McElreath | 3 | Zink-Urschel-Slick | Brabham | Ford | 200 | 3:28:42.42 - 143.742 mph |
| 4 | Gordon Johncock | 72 | Weinberger Homes | Gerhardt | Ford | 200 | 3:29:40.00 - 143.084mph |
| 5 | Mel Kenyon | 94 | Gerhardt | Gerhardt | Offy | 198 | Flagged |
| 6 | Jackie Stewart | 43 | Bowes Seal Fast | Lola | Ford | 190 | Lost oil pressure |
| 7 | Eddie Johnson | 54 | Valvoline | Huffaker | Offy | 175 | Stalled |
| 8 | Bobby Unser | 11 | Vita Fresh Orange Juice | Huffaker | Offy SC | 171 | Flagged |
| 9 | Joe Leonard | 6 | Yamaha | Eagle | Ford | 170 | Engine trouble |
| 10 | Jerry Grant | 88 | Bardahl-Pacesetter Homes | Eagle | Ford | 167 | Flagged |
| 11 | Lloyd Ruby | 14 | Bardahl Eagle | Eagle | Ford | 166 | Broken cam stud |
| 12 | Al Unser | 18 | STP Oil Treatment | Lotus | Ford | 161 | Wrecked |
| 13 | Roger McCluskey | 8 | G. C. Murphy | Eagle | Ford | 129 | Broken oil line |
| 14 | Parnelli Jones | 98 | Agajanian REV 500 | Shrike | Offy SC | 87 | Wheel bearing |
| 15 | Rodger Ward | 26 | Bryant Heating & Cooling | Lola | Offy SC | 74 | Poor handling |
| 16 | Carl Williams | 77 | Dayton Steel Wheel | Gerhardt | Ford | 38 | Broken oil line |
| 17 | Jim Hurtubise | 56 | Gerhardt | Gerhardt | Offy TC | 29 | Broken oil line |
| 18 | Mario Andretti | 1 | Dean Van Lines | Brawner | Ford | 27 | Broken valve |
| 19 | George Snider | 82 | Sheraton-Thompson | Lotus | Ford | 22 | Wrecked turn 1 |
| 20 | Chuck Hulse | 12 | Wynn's | Watson | Ford | 22 | Wrecked turn 1 |
| 21 | Bud Tingelstad | 22 | Federal Engineering | Gerhardt | Offy SC | 16 | Radiator |
| 22 | Johnny Boyd | 28 | Prestone | BRP | Ford | 5 | Wrecked turn 1 |
| 23 | Don Branson | 4 | Leader Card | Gerhardt | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
| 24 | Billy Foster | 27 | Jim Robbins | Vollstedt | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
| 25 | Gary Congdon | 53 | Valvoline | Huffaker | Offy | 0 | Wrecked |
| 26 | A. J. Foyt | 2 | Sheraton-Thompson | Lotus | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
| 27 | Dan Gurney | 31 | All American Racers | Eagle | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
| 28 | Cale Yarborough | 66 | Jim Robbins | Vollstedt | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
| 29 | Arnie Knepper | 37 | Sam Liosi | Cecil | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
| 30 | Al Miller (Krulac) | 75 | Jerry Alderman Ford | Lotus | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
| 31 | Bobby Grim | 39 | Racing Associates | Watson FE | Offy TC | 0 | Wrecked |
| 32 | Larry Dickson | 34 | Michner Petroleum | Lola | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
| 33 | Ronnie Duman | 96 | Harrison | Eisert | Ford | 0 | Wrecked |
John Mecom, George Bignotti and Eric Broadley pose with Graham Hill and the T90. (Ford Motor Company)
T90 1966 USAC National Championship Trail Results
| DATE | RACE/VENUE | ENTRANT | DRIVER | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20th March | Jimmy Bryan Memorial, Phoenix International Raceway | American Red Ball | Rodger Ward | 2nd |
| 24th April | Trenton 150, Trenton International Speedway | American Red Ball | Rodger Ward | 1st |
| 30th May | International 500 Mile Sweepstakes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway | American Red Ball Bowes Seal Fast Bryant Heating & Cooling | Graham Hill Jackie Stewart Rodger Ward |
1st 6th Retired |
| 5th June | Rex Mays Classic, The Milwaukee Mile | Bryant Heating & Cooling American Red Ball | Al Unser Larry Dickson | 6th 13th |
| 12th June | Langhorne 100, Langhorne Speedway | American Red Ball | Al Unser | 9th |
| 26th June | Atlanta 300, Atlanta Motor Speedway | American Red Ball | Al Unser | 16th |
| 24th July | Hoosier Grand Prix, Indianapolis Raceway Park | American Red Ball | Al Unser | 2nd |
| 7th August | Langhorne 150, Langhorne Speedway | American Red Ball | Al Unser | 3rd |
| 27th August | Tony Bettenhausen 200, The Milwaukee Mile | Bowes Seal Fast American Red Ball | George Snider Al Unser | 10th Retired |
| 25th September | Trenton 200, Trenton International Speedway | American Red Ball | Al Unser | 2nd |
| 20th November | Bobby Ball Memorial, Phoenix International Raceway | American Red Ball | Al Unser | 2nd |
1966 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS
5th Al Unser 1260 points (Also drove a Lotus, Eisert and Lesovsky Sprint Car)9th Graham Hill 1000 points
17th Rodger Ward 540 points
19th Jackie Stewart 400 points
22nd George Snider 320 points (Also drove a Lotus, Coyote and Meskowski and Silnes Sprint Cars)
24th Larry Dickson 340 points (Also drove a Gerhardt, Huffaker and Meskowski Sprint Cars)
Results courtesy of www.champcarstats.com
Eric Broadley keeps a close eye on Graham Hill. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
T90 1967 USAC National Championship Trail Results
| DATE | RACE/VENUE | ENTRANT | DRIVER | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9th April | Jimmy Bryan Memorial, Phoenix International Raceway | Dayton Disk Brake | Peter Revson | 13th |
| 23rd April | Trenton 150, Trenton International Speedway | Dayton Disk Brake | Peter Revson | DNQ |
| 30th May | International 500 Mile Sweepstakes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Hopkins Dayton Disk Brake Dayton Disk Brake Dayton Disk Brake | Chuck Hulse Ronnie Duman Bruce Jacobi Bob Bondurant | 7th DNQ DNQ DNQ |
| 1st July | Mosport Heat 1, Mosport Park | Dayton Disk Brake | Rick Muther | 11th |
| 1st July | Mosport Heat 2, Mosport Park | Dayton Disk Brake | Rick Muther | 10th |
| 23rd July | Indianapolis 150, Indianapolis Raceway Park | Dayton Disk Brake | Rick Muther | 10th |
| 30th July | Langhorne 150, Langhorne Speedway | Dayton Disk Brake | Rick Muther | DNQ |
| 6th August | Labatt Indy Heat 1, Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant | Dayton Disk Brake | Rick Muther | 11th |
| 6th August | Labatt Indy Heat 2, Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant | Dayton Disk Brake | Rick Muther | 10th |
| 20th August | Tony Bettenhausen 200, The Milwaukee Mile | Dayton Disk Brake | Rick Muther | DNS |
| 24th September | Trenton 200, Trenton International Speedway | Dayton Disk Brake | Sonny Ates | DNS |
1967 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS
18th Chuck Hulse 460 points (Also drove a Watson and a Gerhardt)41st Rick Muther 120 points
Results courtesy of www.champcarstats.com
Graham Hill and the T90. (Ford Motor Company)
Graham Hill celebrates his win. (Ford Motor Company)
Jackie Stewart retired with low oil pressure 10 laps from the end but was classified 6th. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
Rodger Ward retired after 74 laps with poor handling. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
The 4.2-litre 4-cam Ford V8... (Ford Motor Company)
... a great racing engine. (Ford Motor Company)
Jackie Stewart chats to Graham Hill. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
Jim Clark tells Eric Broadley, John Mecom and Jackie Stewart what it's like to win the 500. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)
Chuck Hulse at the 1967 Indy 500. (Indycar.com)
Rick Muther in the Dayton Disk Brake T90 at Mosport Park.