History:

After years of domination in Indy car racing by rival English manufacturer March Cars, Lola Cars, Ltd. from Huntingdon, UK, entered the market in 1987 with the T-8700. Eric Broadley and his team came up with a clean and simple design and aerodynamically it was superior to the March 87C. Teams like Newman-Haas and Rahal Racing effectively used the car to win 3 races in 1987, adding a very effective competitor to March’s long string of successes. This chassis - #010 – was originally purchased by Raynor Racing for driver Derek Daly and used during the 1987 CART season. In 1988, Dominic Dobson was in his Rookie year at Indy and leased this car from Raynor racing for the Indy 500, where he set a new 4-lap speed record for a Rookie driver in qualifying of 210.096 MPH. This was the fastest any rookie had ever gone at Indy and put Dobson as the 11th fastest car in the 33 car field, faster than veterans Bobby Rahal and A.J. Foyt. In the race, Dobson moved as high as 5th position, but blew a head gasket after 145 laps and failed to finish. It was sad end to a spectacular run by Dobson. The car was purchased by Armstrong Motorsport soon thereafter and fielded in three more CART races in 1998 with Dobson driving. It was restored in 1990 and has been properly stored and maintained since.

Condition:

Restored from the ground up. Engine rebuilt by Gerald Davis in 1988. Chassis stripped, magnafluxed and reassembled using many new parts. Gearbox, halfshafts and brakes all completely rebuilt. Engine recently started and passed a leakdown test. This is a mostly complete Champ car in road racing configuration that could be used in vintage exhibitions by a qualified driver. Comes complete with some spares and records.