Lola T55 car-by-car histories
Two new cars were built by Lola for the new 1964 Formula 2 but the Lola T55 design was still based on the 1962 Formula Junior Mark 5. It could not compete with the Brabham BT10 and Lotus 32 but Dickie Attwood took second at Albi in John Willment's car.
Several older Lola Mk 5As were updated to F2 specification in 1964 for Midland Racing Partnership (MRP) and given the model number T54, this being the fourth variant of the Mk 5 design following the Mk 5A and the T53 Formula 3 car, but Lola also produced two new cars which were called T55s. The first of these was numbered either SL64/1 or SL1/64, the 'SL' indicating the new Slough factory instead of the 'BR' numbering of the earlier cars which had signified Bromley. This chassis went to MRP, and was followed by a second car which ended up with John Willment’s team. Both cars were retained by their respective teams as backup cars in 1965 and then they found their way into libre racing, one eventually becoming a Formula Ford and the other spending its later life as a regular runner in Scottish hillclimbs.
The whereabouts of the Scottish car remain unknown but the ex-Willment car has been a regular in historic racing since the 1990s.
New to Midland Racing Partnership for Bill Bradley to drive in F2 in 1964. Driven later in the season for MRP by Richie Ginther, Tony Maggs and Dickie Attwood, the latter finishing second at Albi in September. Retained by MRP for 1965 and raced by, amongst others, Chris Amon and Paul Hawkins. Sold to Bill Jones for Phillip Robinson to drive in F2 and in libre in 1966. Then to Tony Charnell (Dumfries, Scotland) for 1967 and fitted with a 1.6-litre Ford twin-cam for libre racing, mainly at Ingliston but sometimes venturing south to Croft and even Silverstone. Retained for 1968 and 1969 and then sold to Iain McLaren (Broxburn, Scotland) for Scottish sprints and hillclimbs. Then to Ted Dzierzek (Edinburgh, Scotland) for Scottish hill climbs in 1971, still with its twin cam engine. Subsequent history unknown but possibly the T55 twin cam hillclimbed by Peter Stahl (Ascot, Berkshire) in 1972.
Driven by: Bill Bradley, Richie Ginther, Tony Maggs, Richard Attwood, David Hobbs, José Rosinski, Paul Hawkins, Chris Amon, Roy Pike, Philip Robinson, Tony Charnell, Iain McLaren, Ted Dzierzek and W Borrowman. First race: Aspern, 12 Apr 1964. Total of 49 recorded races.
New to John Willment Racing for Paul Hawkins to drive in F2 in 1964, also appearing in a non-championship F1 race but still with its F2 Cosworth SCA engine. It was retained by Willment for 1965 and driven in F2 by Alan Rees, Jo Schlesser and Tony Hegbourne. Sold to Paul Tomlin for 1966 and fitted with a 1600cc Ford engine for libre racing but not often seen. To Geddes Yeates for libre in 1967 until an accident at Mallory Park in July which left Yeates hospitalised. Converted to Formula Ford specification for Yeates in 1968 and raced again in that category by Chris Alford in 1969. Glyn Jones remembers buying this car from someone in the Basingstoke area who had been racing it in hillclimbs with an 1100cc engine and a Renault gearbox. Jones fitted a Ford twin cam and used it in libre racing for a few years from 1973 onwards. Then unknown until bought from David McLaughlin by Murray Smith in the 1990s, at which point it had a Ford twin cam engine. Sold to Douglas Jamieson who sold it to Geoffrey Williams in 2001 who used it in the HGPCA Pre '66 with a 1500cc twin cam as a F1 car. Then to Roger Murray (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria) in 2006 who had it rebuilt from F1 spec to Mk5A Formula Junior spec. Raced by Roger's son James Murray from 2008 onwards. Bought from James Murray by Tony Lees in early 2024.
Driven by: Graham Hill, Paul Hawkins, Alan Rees, Jo Schlesser, Tony Hegbourne, Paul Tomlin, Geddes Yeates and Chris Alford. First race: Brands Hatch, 3 Aug 1964. Total of 24 recorded races.
In addition to the above, an unknown Lola T55 was driven by Peter Stahl.
These histories last updated on .