Lola Heritage

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THE LOLA T150

All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.

Al Unser and George Bignotti standing by the T150. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

After the success of the T90 at the 1967 Indianapolis 500 Lola were keen to return to the USAC scene, so for 1968 the T150 was introduced. Once again it was a monocoque chassis with wishbones and outboard spring/damper at the front while at the rear it was a top link/reversed lower wishbone/twin radius rod/outboard spring/damper system.

Innovation came in the form of the drive train that employed a Hewland four-wheel-drive system which was based on a Ferguson design and was able to employ a number of proprietary Hewland parts. Hedging their bets there was an option to convert back to two-wheel-drive if needed and the plan was, initially, to test the car in two-wheel-drive form to iron out any handling problems before switching to 4WD to ensure that the Hewland system was not masking any problems. The engine was a turbocharged Ford which initially worried Mike Hewland as it would provide some 200 BHP more than he had allowed for but, in any event, the system proved to be man enough for the job.

Two cars were initially built in 1968 and supplied to George Bignotti, Al Unser qualified 6th at Indy in the Retzloff Chemicals-sponsored car but crashed out, he won three races later in the season, two at Langhorne and one at Indianapolis Raceway Park. A third car was built up at the end of the year and sold to US Racers Inc.

The T142s of Mike Walker and Keith Holland on the grid at Round 3 of the 1969 Guards Championship, Brands Hatch on the 11th May 1969. (Picture courtesy of Peter Quinn)

At the end of 1968 Parnelli Jones and Vel Miletich, with the financial assistance of Firestone Tires, formed Vel's Parnelli Jones Ford Racing, and obtained the assets of the Retzloff team, including the Lola T150 as well as the services of George Bignotti, co-chief Jim Dilamarter, and Al Unser. For 1969 changes to the USAC regulations had reduced the turbines power and, by reducing tyre width to ten inches for 4WD cars, they effectively took away any potential advantage to these designs so the Lola was modified by Bignotti and Dilamarter, becoming the Vel's Parnelli Jones Special. Notable changes were the conversion to rear wheel drive, the car gained side mounted fuel tanks, and the distinctive `coal chute' fairings for the external oil coolers.

For 1970 the cars (chassis numbers SL150/1 and SL 150/2) received bodywork modifications as aerodynamics became more and more important in the design of USAC cars, the work was carried out by Vel's Parnelli Jones and the car was now referred to as a Lola-Colt and raced on the short ovals and road courses.

Bignotti and Dilamarter built two new cars for the season using the Lola-Colt as a model and these cars were just known as P. J. Colts. Topper Toys became the primary sponsors of the Vel's Parnelli Jones effort, and the cars were painted in the electric blue and yellow colour scheme representing Topper's Johnny Lightning die-cast miniatures. Al Unser also won his first Indianapolis 500 in one of the P.J. Colts but I think it is fair to claim that they were first-cousins to Lola even if they weren’t built in Slough.

The 1970 results below are, as far as can be ascertained, for the Lola-Colts but do not include the P.J. Colts.

(With grateful acknowledgement to glenmason.com for the history of the Johnny Lightning Specials)

T150 1968 USAC National Championship Trail Results

DATE	RACE/VENUE	ENTRANT	DRIVER	RESULT
30^th May	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	Retired
9^th June	Rex Mays Classic, The Milwaukee Mile	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	3^rd
15^th June	Telegraph Trophy 200 Heat 1, Mosport Park	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	4^th
15^th June	Telegraph Trophy 200 Heat 2, Mosport Park	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	5^th
23^th June	Langhorne 150, Langhorne Speedway	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	12^th
7^th July	Rocky Mountain 150, Continental Divide Raceway	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	4^th
21^st July	Indy 200 Heat 1, Indianapolis Raceway Park	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	1^st
21^st July	Indy 200 Heat 2, Indianapolis Raceway Park	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	1^st
28^th July	Langhorne Twin 100 #1, Langhorne Speedway	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	1^st
28^th July	Langhorne Twin 100 #2, Langhorne Speedway	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	1^st
4^th August	St. Jovite Heat 1, Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	9^th
4^th August	St. Jovite Heat 2, Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	Retired
18^th August	Tony Bettenhausen 200, The Milwaukee Mile	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	3^rd
22^nd September	Trenton 200, Trenton International Speedway	Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser	2^nd
13^th October	Michigan Inaugural 250, Michigan International Speedway	Retzloff Chemical Retzloff Chemical	Art Pollard Al Unser	10^th Retired
3^rd November	Hanford 250, Hanford Motor Speedway	Retzloff Chemical Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser Carl Williams	Retired Retired
17^th November	Bobby Ball Memorial, Phoenix International Raceway	Retzloff Chemical Retzloff Chemical	Al Unser Arnie Knepper	Retired Retired
1^st December	Rex Mays 300, Riverside International Raceway	Retzloff Chemical Retzloff Chemical	Skip Scott Al Unser	4^th Retired

1968 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS

3rd Al Unser 2895 points (Also drove a Dunlop Sprint Car)

Results courtesy of www.champcarstats.com

Year(s) of Construction: 1968

Total Built: 3

The T150 in the pits with a starter motor attached. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

T150 1969 USAC National Championship Trail Results

DATE	RACE/VENUE	ENTRANT	DRIVER	RESULT
30^th March	Jimmy Bryan 150, Phoenix International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	Retired
13^th April	California 200, Hanford Motor Speedway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	Retired
30^th May	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Vel's Parnelli Ford Vel's Parnelli Ford	Bud Tingelstad Al Unser Joe Leonard	15^th Withdrew - injury DNQ
8^th June	Rex Mays Classic, The Milwaukee Mile	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Jim Malloy	2^nd
15^th June	Langhorne 150, Langhorne Speedway	Rislone	Jim Malloy	7^th
6^th July	Rocky Mountain 150, Continental Divide Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	9^th
19^th July	Trenton 200, Trenton International Speedway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Jack Adams	Al Unser Jim Molloy	Retired DNS
27^th July	Indy 200 Heat 1, Indianapolis Raceway Park	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	2^nd
27^th July	Indy 200 Heat 2, Indianapolis Raceway Park	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	Retired
17^th August	Tony Bettenhausen 200, The Milwaukee Mile	Vel's Parnelli Ford Jack Adams Airplane	Al Unser Rick Muther	1^st 12^th
24^th August	Delaware 200, Dover International Speedway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Jack Adams Airplane	Al Unser Rick Muther	12^th 6^th
14^th September	Brainerd Heat 1, Brainerd International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Pacesetter Homes	Al Unser Jerry Hansen	3^rd DNF
14^th September	Brainerd Heat 2, Brainerd International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	9^th
21^st September	Trenton 300, Trenton International Speedway	Jack Adams Airplane Vel's Parnelli Ford	Rick Muther Al Unser	9^th Retired
19^th October	Dan Gurney 200 Heat 1, Seattle International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Pacesetter Homes	Al Unser Jerry Hansen	2^nd 7^th
19^th October	Dan Gurney 200 Heat 2, Seattle International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Pacesetter Homes	Al Unser Jerry Hansen	1^st 8^th
15^th November	Bobby Ball 200, Phoenix International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Jack Adams Airplane	Al Unser Rick Muther	1^st DNF
7^th December	Rex Mays 300, Riverside International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Jack Adams Airplane	Al Unser Rick Muther	2^nd DNF

1969 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS

2nd Al Unser 2630 points (Also drove a King Sprint Car
19th Jim Malloy 720 points (Also drove an Eisert, Vollstedt, Lotus 4WD and Dunlop Sprint Car)
29th Rick Muther 330 points (Also drove a Gerhardt)
44th Jerry Hansen 110 points

Results courtesy of www.champcarstats.com

Al tested no. 5 (as did Carl Williams) but raced no. 24. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

T150 1970 USAC National Championship Trail Results

DATE	RACE/VENUE	ENTRANT	DRIVER	RESULT
28^th March	Jimmy Bryan 150, Phoenix International Raceway	Johnny Lightning 500	Al Unser	1^st
4^th April	Golden Gate 150, Infineon Raceway	Johnny Lightning 500	Al Unser	3^rd
7^th June	Rex Mays Classic, The Milwaukee Mile	Johnny Lightning 500	Al Unser	3^rd
14^th June	Langhorne 150, Langhorne Speedway	Johnny Lightning 500	Al Unser	2^nd
28^th June	Rocky Mountain 150, Continental Divide Raceway	Johnny Lightning 500	Al Unser	5^th
26^th July	Indy 150, Indianapolis Raceway Park	Johnny Lightning 500	Al Unser	1^st
3^rd October	Trenton 300, Trenton International Speedway	Johnny Lightning 500	Al Unser	1^st
21^st November	Bobby Ball 200, Phoenix International Raceway	Johnny Lightning 500	Al Unser	2^nd

1970 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS

1st Al Unser 5130 points (Also drove a P.J. Colt and a King Sprint Car)

Results courtesy of www.champcarstats.com

The T150 in Qualifying with Al at the wheel. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

The accident at Turn 1 in the race that caused Al's retirement. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

Eric Broadley is clearly thinking deep thoughts! (From the Collections of The Henry Ford

The front of T150, the (surprisingly small diameter) shaft for the drive to the front wheels is clearly visible. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

Al and the T150 in the pitlane. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

TThe T150 in the Retzloff Chemical colours. (Copyright unknown)

Al stands beside the T150. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

Bud Tingelstad in the Vel's Parnelli T150 Ford in the 1969 Indy 500. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

Bud Tingelstad with team sponsors, Botany 500 was a menswear company. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

The VPJ T150 in the pits. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

T150 SL150/3, fitted with a Chevrolet V8, at the Lola Slough factory.

Note the differential (behind the oil tank) and the driveshafts for the 4WD system.

Here the power take-off from the rear casing on the Hewland gearbox and the shaft that runs to the differential at the front of the car (see picture above) are clearly visible.