THE LOLA T550
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
Roberto Marazzi in the T550 at the Silverstone International Trophy. (Picture courtesy of Steve Wilkinson)
The T550, Lola's 1977 Formula Two design, is arguably the company's least successful model with regard to what it was designed for, the record: 'One Did Not Start' and three 'Did Not Arrives'. It followed on from the, almost as unsuccessful previous Formula Two model, the 1976 T450.
There are no details of the T550 design in Lola Heritages but photographs indicate the tub was the same as the T450 with some changes to the suspension. It is likely that these changes were the same as those between the T460 and the T560 Formula Atlantic models, (more details can be found on the T560 page). Additionally the chassis was significantly lighter by some 130lbs (59kgs).
The T550's one and only Formula Two race appearance was at the 1977 Silverstone International Trophy where it qualified nineteenth out of twenty-six cars but did not start as it blew both of its Holbay-tuned Abarth engines in the two days of practice. Comparing the picture of Marazzi above and the display car below (which shows the same tub design as the T450) it appears the car at Silverstone was trying some new sidepods while David Render's car (see the text below) has a different design again with brushes on the bottom to give an element of ground effect.
The T550 did salvage its reputation somewhat when the car was sold to Allan Humphries who took a class win at the Brighton Speed Tials in 1979 and then to David Render who used it for several years in the British Sprint Championship. Initially, it continued to use the Abarth engine taking two victories and two class win until, in 1983, David fitted a 2.8 litre Hart engine and he took two more class wins as well as numerous second and thirds until he retired HU2 at the end of 1985.
The reason for the one and only T550 having the chassis number HU2 is that it appears that the car was originally constructed as one of the two T560 Formula Atlantic cars built and then converted to Formula Two specification and renamed as a T550 by Lola. It was then fitted with a 2.8 litre Hart engine by David Render and entered in competitions as a T560.
For details of the individual chassis histories please visit OldRacingCars HERE.
Year(s) of Construction: 1977
Total Built: 1
The T550 in the scrutineering bay at Silverstone. (Picture courtesy of Steve Wilkinson)
T550 FORMULA TWO RESULTS
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6th March 1977 | XXIX Daily Express International Trophy - Silverstone | Roberto Marazzi | European Championship for F2 Drivers, Round 1 - DNS |
| 11th April 1977 | XXXI B.A.R.C. "200", VI Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy - Thruxton | Roberto Marazzi | European Championship for F2 Drivers, Round 2 - DNA |
| 9th April 1978 | XII Deutschland Trophäe, X Jim Clark Gedächtnisrennen - Hockenheim | Bruce Allison | European Championship for F2 Drivers, Round 2 - DNA |
| 25th June 1978 | I Donington "50,000" - Donington Park | Alo Lawler | European Championship for F2 Drivers, Round 8 - DNA |
T550 SIGNIFICANT RACE WINS
1980
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st June | Curborough | David Render | Round 5 of the British Sprint Championship |
1982
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20th June | Gurston Down | David Render | Wadham-Stringer (Southampton) Ltd Speed Hillclimb |
David Render at Prescott in 1984 with his T560 Hart [See Introduction at the start]. (Picture courtesy of Peter Collins)