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THE LOLA T152

All pictures copyright Collections of The Henry Ford unless otherwise stated.

The T152 with Bobby Unser. (Indycar.com)

The 1968 T150 had been a race winner but ultimately it wasn't enough to win the USAC Championship so, for 1969 Lola produced the T152. The heritage of the T152 was obvious looking very much like the T150 but there were a number of differences. The T150 had employed detachable fuel panniers on the side of the tub for longer races but these were no longer employed. Contemporary photographs indicate that the T150 four-wheel-drive train to the front wheels passed down the right of the chassis and on the T152 it was on the left. Other changes included the front anti-roll bar being a blade rather than tubular and the bottom rear wishbones were now bushed at the outer ends instead of using rod-ends. At the rear the inboard end of the driveshafts used constant velocity joints in place of universal joints.



Al Unser leaving the pits, on the right the Eagle of Jerry Grant. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

For once Lola completed their new design early and the new cars were shipped to the US at the end of January 1969 allowing for sufficient preparation and testing time and, it paid off, with Al Unser taking pole position at the Jimmy Bryan 150, the first round of the 1969 USAC Championship, although he retired in the race.

During the practise days for the Indianapolis 500 Al Unser, after setting some quick times, broke his ankle in a motor-bike accident and his brother Bobby substituted for the next two rounds with the older sibling taking third at the 500.

Following his return to competition Al was competitive on all tracks taking three wins, three seconds and a third to finish the year in second in the Championship and, if he hadn't missed three races (especially the Indy 500), perhaps he could have beaten the Champion, Mario Andretti, to the title.



The helmet says it all. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)

T152 1969 USAC National Championship Trail Results

DATE	RACE/VENUE	ENTRANT	DRIVER	RESULT
30th May	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes, Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Bardahl Sunoco DX	Bobby Unser Mark Donohue	3rd 7th
8th June	Rex Mays Classic, The Milwaukee Mile	Vel's Parnelli Ford Bardahl	Jim Malloy Bobby Unser	2nd Retired
6th July	Rocky Mountain 150, Continental Divide Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	9th
19th July	Trenton 200, Trenton International Speedway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	Retired
27th July	Indy 200 Heat 1, Indianapolis Raceway Park	Vel's Parnelli Ford Sunoco-Simoniz	Al Unser Mark Donohue	2nd DNS
27th July	Indy 200 Heat 2, Indianapolis Raceway Park	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	Retired
17th August	Tony Bettenhausen 200, The Milwaukee Mile	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	1st
24th August	Delaware 200, Dover International Speedway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	12th
14th September	Brainerd Heat 1, Brainerd International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Sunoco-Simoniz	Al Unser Mark Donohue	3rd 7th
14th September	Brainerd Heat 2, Brainerd International Raceway	Sunoco-Simoniz Vel's Parnelli Ford	Mark Donohue Al Unser	4th 9th
21st September	Trenton 300, Trenton International Speedway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	Retired
19th October	Dan Gurney 200 Heat 1, Seattle International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Sunoco-Simoniz	Al Unser Mark Donohue	2nd Retired
19th October	Dan Gurney 200 Heat 2, Seattle International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	1st
15th November	Bobby Ball 200, Phoenix International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford	Al Unser	1st
7th December	Rex Mays 300, Riverside International Raceway	Vel's Parnelli Ford Sunoco-Simoniz	Al Unser Mark Donohue	2nd Retired

1969 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS

2nd Al Unser 2630 points (Also drove a King Sprint Car)
3rd Bobby Unser 2585 points (Also drove an Eagle and a Watson Sprint Car)
23rd Mark Donohue 480 points

Results courtesy of www.champcarstats.com

For details of the individual chassis histories please visit OldRacingCars HERE.

Year(s) of Construction: 1969

Total Built: 2



Bobby prepares to leave the pits. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Bobby in the pitlane entrance. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Bobby practising the T152.. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



The grid lines up, next to Bobby on the front row are A.J. Foyt (on pole) and Mario Andretti. Mark Donohue is 4th. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Bobby passing Mike Mosley's Watson-Offy.... (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



...and Arnie Knepper's Cecil-Ford (which looks to have the aerodynamic properties of a brick. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Mark Donohue in the Penske-run T152. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Mark in the car with Roger Penske standing to his right. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Roger Penske helping to push the T152. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Eric Broadley talking to the Penske team. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Mark leaves the pits. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Mark practising the T152. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Mark at speed. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Mark leading Ronnie Bucknum's Eagle-Offy. (From the Collections of The Henry Ford)



Mark standing in the T152 prepared to the usual immaculte Penske standards. (Indycar.com)

For enquiries regarding the availability of original Lola drawings, setting-up data, Information Packs and any other copies of the original information supplied with this model please contact archives@lola-cars.co.uk.