THE LOLA T642
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
The T642 at the Lola factory.
After three successful Formula Ford 1600 designs, the T440, the T540 and the T640, the latter winning the prestigious Formula Ford Festival driven by Julian Bailey so the new car would need to keep up this successful momentum The new design, the T642 was, as can be seen in the Lola publicity below, just a refinement of the previous year's model taking advantage of a season's worth of development in Europe and the US. The most obvious changes were cast aluminium uprights, beefed-up suspension and bigger front brake calipers and new discs. The springs and anti-roll bars were also altered.
In previous years much of the FFord 1600 production had gone to the US but the Festival win as well as winning the very competitive Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship saw over half the cars racing in the UK and Europe. The new car was a winner from the start taking twenty-five victories in the UK alone and winning the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship for the second year and the RAC British FF1600 Championship, both going to Andrew Gilbert-Scott and Graham de Zille finishing top of the BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship. These results meant that the T642 won the RAC FF 1600 Manufacturers Championship.
One unusual T642 was HU 642E/54 which was fitted with an Opel engine at the factory and sold to the Irmscher Tuning company in Germany who are still operating today.
Year(s) of Construction: 1982/83
Total Built: 29 (17 to E spec)
T642 CHAMPIONSHIP WINS
YEAR |
CHAMPIONSHIP |
WINNER(S) |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | RAC British FF1600 Championship | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Lola T642E-Ford |
| 1983 | Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Lola T642E-Ford |
| 1983 | BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship | Graham de Zille | Lola T642E-Ford |
| 1983 | RAC FF 1600 Manufacturers Championship | - | Lola T642E-Ford |
T642 SIGNIFICANT RACE WINS
1983
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6th March | Brands Hatch | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the P&O Ferries FF1600 Championship |
| 6th March | Brands Hatch | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the Champion of Brands FF1600 Championship |
| 13th March | Thruxton | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship |
| 13th March | Thruxton | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the Esso FF1600 Championship |
| 20th March | Brands Hatch | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship |
| 27th March | Donington | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the P&O Ferries FF1600 Championship |
| 27th March | Donington | Graham de Zille | Round 1 of the BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship |
| 1st April | Oulton Park | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship |
| 4th April | Castle Combe | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship |
| 10th April | Brands Hatch | John Pratt | Round of the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship |
| 17th April | Snetterton | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the P&O Ferries FF1600 Championship |
| 17th April | Snetterton | John Pratt | Round 5 of the RAC FF1600 Championship |
| 2nd May | Snetterton | Graham de Zille | Round 4 of the BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship |
| 22nd May | Snetterton - BRSCC | Graham de Zille | Round of the Champion of Snetterton FF1600 Championship |
| 29th May | Snetterton | Graham de Zille | Round 6 of the BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship |
| 30th May | Thruxton | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the P&O Ferries FF1600 Championship |
| 11th June | Silverstone - BRDC | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the RAC FF1600 Championship |
| 12th June | Brands Hatch - BHRC/HSCC | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship |
| 25th June | Oulton Park | John Pratt | Round of the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship |
| 3rd July | Snetterton | Graham de Zille | Round 8 of the BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship |
| 23rd July | Oulton Park | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the RAC FF1600 Championship |
| 7th August | Snetterton | Graham de Zille | Round 9 of the BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship |
| 7th August | Snetterton | Graham de Zille | Round of the Champion of Snetterton FF1600 Championship |
| 21st August | Snetterton | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Round of the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 Championship |
| 28th August | Snetterton | Graham de Zille | Round 11 of the BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship |
| 18th September | Thruxton | Graham de Zille | Round 13 of the BP "Superfind" Junior FF1600 Championship |
| 16th October | Brands Hatch | Gerrit van Kouwen | Round of the Champion of Brands FF1600 Championship |
1984
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st July | Knockhill - SSCC | Neil Cochrane | FFord 1600 race |
| 30th September | Lydden Hill - BARC | Alexander Arbis | Round of the P&O Ferries Formula Ford 1600 Championship |
| 14th October | Brands Hatch - BRSCC | Alexander Arbis | Formula Ford 1600 Consolation Race |
1985
DATE |
VENUE/MEETING |
DRIVER |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31st March | Lydden Hill - Astra MC | Roy Lewington | Round of the Lydden BARC Formula Ford 1600 Championship |
| 27th May | Lydden Hill - Astra MC | Roy Lewington | Round of the Lydden Formula Ford 1600 Festival Championship |
| 14th July | Lydden Hill - BARC (L&HC) | Roy Lewington | Astra/BARC FF1600 Race |
| 8th September | Lydden Hill - Astra MC | Roy Lewington | Round 7 of the Lydden/BARC FF1600 Championship |
