Lola MK1
The Lola Mk1 was a sports car prototype developed by Lola Cars in 1958 . After Eric Broadley's first design attempts in sports car construction also meant first racing successes, the British designer ventured into the development of a new racing car in 1958. The result was the Mk1, a vehicle with an extremely lightweight construction. Overall, the car weighed just under 200 kg, with the heaviest part of the vehicle being the 1.1-liter Climax engine at 90 kg. In its final stage in the Mk1, the engine developed 83 hp.
Broadley adopted technology from all kinds of vehicles. The brakes came from the Triumph TR2 and the transmission was taken from the Austin A30 . The extreme light weight was achieved by an aluminum body that was mounted on a tubular space frame.
In the second race, a sports car race in Snetterton , Broadley achieved second place in its racing class with the Mk1. Broadley produced three more copies that he could sell to private drivers.
In 1960 and 1961 an Mk1 won its racing class in the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring , in 1961 with Chris Kerrison and Peter Sargent at the wheel. In 1960, Peter Ashdown won the overall standings in the British Autosport sports car championship ahead of Alan Rees , who also drove an MK1. Who could repeat the success a year later Ashdown drove the factory Mk1 1960 and the 24-hour race at Le Mans . His partner was the Swiss entrepreneur Charles Vögele . After 148 laps, the duo was stopped by an engine failure.
By the end of 1961, Brodley built 26 Mk1s and thus laid the basis for Lola's business success.
