Eric Broadley
Eric Broadley MBE ( born September 22, 1928) is a British car designer and founder of the former racing car manufacturer Lola Cars.
Career
Beginnings in motorsport
In the early 1950s, Broadley, a trained architect, his motorsports passion as a member of went to " 750 Motor Club ". In this club is racing enthusiasts as Colin Chapman, Brian Hart and Frank Costin met and there built their own first race car with the limited resources of the post-war period.
Broadleys first self -designed car that powered by a 1172 cc SV - engine based on the Ford Model C Broadley Special arose in 1957. The car was at the national level to win some races. This success prompted Broadley in 1958 to build the MK1 with tube frame and a Climax engine. Broadley achieved with the Mk1 was the first driver at Brands Hatch a lap time of under a minute. This test of talent attracted buyers and Broadley began his racing car for sale. Customers' vehicles were found to be competitive and he founded the company Lola based in Bromley, which he named after the song " Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets ". 1960 supplied Lola Formula Junior with the Mk2 - seater with front engine. However, the drive concept proved to be a little competitive and Broadley built for the 1961 Mk3 with central engine.
Formula 1 and sports car
1962 debuted with the Lola Mk4 in Yeoman Credit team of Reg Parnell with drivers John Surtees and Roy Salvadori in Formula 1 Broadleys innovative suspension concept was used until the 1970s as a model. Surtees took the first race of the season in the Netherlands, the pole position, but the team had to give up the end of the year due to financial problems and Broadley focused on the Formula Junior, Formula 3 and sports car racing.
With David Hobbs The Mk6 sports car ( Lola GT) from 1963 with Ford V8 engine and fiberglass components showed that the 24- hour race at Le Mans a good idea. Ford found out about the performance of Lola sports car on Broadley and hired him as a technical advisor for the GT40 project. However Broadley left Ford after 18 months back because he did not want to renounce the usual working independently.
In the 1960s, Lola became the largest racing car manufacturer with vehicles for almost all racing series. Broadley was in the late 1960s with Honda and the mid-1970s with Graham Hills Embassy team once again represented in Formula 1, and then focused on the U.S. racing, where his car was successful in the Indycar series. 1966 Graham Hill won in a Lola T90 the Indianapolis 500 The following year, Al Unser succeeded in a modified T90 second place. Also, the T100 for the 1967 Formula 2 won with John Surtees racing.
In addition to the single-seater racing car Broadley also continued to develop sports cars. The Lola T70 with Chevrolet engine won in 1969 with drivers Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons in the 24- hour race at Daytona. In the 1970s, built Broadley vehicles for Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula Ford, Formula V and Super-V, Formula Atlantic and the Can- Am series.
From 1987 to 1991 Lola supplied the Formula 1 team Larrousse with vehicles. In 1993, another Formula 1 project with the BMS Scuderia Italia. Both operations went very successful and Broadley tried in 1997 with his own team again in the top class of motorsports. But this under -funded project failed after the first race. Lola went bankrupt and Broadley sold his company to the Irish racing driver and businessman Martin Birrane.