Greg LaManna is the owner of T290 HU08 purchasing it from Rod Smith who sent us the history below:
"HU08 was delivered to Jo Bonnier on 1/03/72. He sold the car to the first owner Antonio Zadra. HU08 raced in the 1972 European 2 litre championship, driven by Zadra. An Italian, he was entered by the famous Scuderia Brescia Corse team and also won his class and was 4th overall in the Targa Florio in 1972. We believe that the car also raced at Monza in 1972 driven by Mario Casoni. The car has spent it’s entire ‘life’ in Italy and owners included Mr.Violati, who owns the famous Rosso Corsa museum of San Marino. Latterly it was hill climbed with a 1600cc BDA. Unusually the car came with a crated Cosworth Chevy Vega engine as used by the works Lola teams in 1972/73 and we also decided to install this engine as opposed to the more common FVC. This particular engine was taken out of a Lola 292 racing in the US."
"I bought the car from Italy in late 2007 and for the whole of 2008 was completely restored by Vin Malkie Racing with some parts supplied by Chris Fox. The car has had a complete ground up restoration including: Engine was rebuilt by Swindon Race Engines (they worked on these engines in 70’s). Hewland FG gearbox totally rebuilt with mainly new parts. New body. New tanks, fire extinguisher, seat belts, wiring, suspension and so on.
Apart from the costs, it has been a labour of love as I believe the 290 to be not only the first of a long line of successful chassis variations but also the prettiest car on the grid.
It is unique in Europe as it has the Cosworth Vega engine. It is eligible for World Sportscar Masters, but can also race in Proto 70 and Classic Endurance.
HU08 with 2 litre Chevy Vega engine, was invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year (2010). I shared the driving with Anthony Reid. As usual Anthony drove the Lola impeccably – until last day. In fact the car was outright fastest up the hill on day 1. 2nd fastest by one 100th of a second, to a F1 car on day 2 and spun in the shoot out day 3, but an incredible performance from a 2 litre car!"
