Greg Wold is the owner of T496 HU02, the T496 was Lola's offering for the 1977 C Sports category, and HU02 has just undergone a beautiful restoration. Below Greg tells us about the history of the car and its return to the track.
"I finished restoring my Lola T-496 HU 2 this year and was able to race it twice... exactly 40 years after it won the SCCA National Championship in CSR.
As history, Fred Schilplin bought the Lola from Carl Haas in 1977 and raced it in SCCA at numerous tracks in the US. His goal was to win the National Championship in CSR which he did the fall of 1980. The car was retired after that race and it sat for over 30 years in his barn essentially untouched. Time took its toll on the car. His barn and the car were flooded twice and the car was used to store things on. Fred died in 2005 and in 2010 his widow called and asked me to purchase the car as he would have wanted somebody that he knew buy the car.
Restoration started slow but gained steam in 2015 when I retired and really accelerated during self quarantine. The old tub and rear sub frame were damaged in the flood and the body was distorted from hanging on a wall or from having things laid on it. The tub was taken apart piece by piece and drawings made of each part. I had the drawings converted to CAD and from the CAD drawings I had new aluminum pieces laser cut and with help from a shop with a large bender, the pieces were bent and I started assembly of a new tub and rear sub frame. I had to learn how to buck rivets and about 1000 rivets later, the tub was rebuilt.
The engine was rebuilt before its last race so was in great shape when the car was retired, so it was in surprisingly great shape after sitting all those years needing just a basic rebuild. The engine was a Cosworth BDH with Lucas fuel injection.
The Hewland Mark8/9 was also in great condition as were the majority of the suspension parts.
The goal of the restoration was to use as much of the original car as possible which I think was done. Even the original spark box and wiring was used!!
Body molds were made from what remained from the original body and we duplicated the paint scheme that was on the car in 1980.
The car paint turned out stunning!"
