1965 Lola T60 Cosworth

Formula 2

The car with which John Surtees won the 1965 Oulton Park International Gold Cup in the year that Surtees was reigning Formula 1 World Champion for Ferrari, the only person ever to be World Champion on both 2 wheels and 4.

Further driven by Attwood, Gardner, Hobbs and Rees for the Midland Racing Partnership team in European Formula 2.

Restored for historic racing with a top specification fuel-injected Cosworth SCA engine. Around 140bhp and 420kg, making it a very competitive car with eligibility for the HGPCA

Front row qualifier in the Glover Trophy at the Goodwood Revival, just 0.3 away from Andy Middlehurst’s Lotus 25.

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Price: £POA

Chassis Number: SL60/3

The car we have the pleasure of offering for sale, SL60/3, was that of John Surtees. Surtees went on to claim the Midland Racing Partnership team’s highlight result of 1965 with this car, winning the Oulton Park International Gold Cup Formula 2 race, especially significant as this was in the year that Surtees was reigning Formula 1 World Champion for Ferrari.

Lola were coming to the forefront of motor racing manufacturers in 1965, with production of the T70 sports prototype gaining momentum. Alongside this, their new challenger for the ultra-competitive 1,000cc Formula 2 series was designed by an up-and-coming Tony Southgate.

The T60 signalled Lola’s first monocoque single seater, with steel construction to house the 1,000cc Cosworth SCA gear-driven, over-head camshaft engine and Hewland gearbox. It proved to be their most successful F2 design to date, with the Midland Racing Partnership team fielding a trio of works backed cars.

John Surtees was dovetailing his Formula 1 commitments for Ferrari with a number of races for Lola in both Can-Am and Formula 2. Surtees was the F1 World Champion of 1964, and with it the only person to have ever become World Champion on both 2 wheels and 4.

Surtees would receive the brand new SL60/3 for his first F2 race of 1965, the British Eagle Trophy at Brands Hatch. SL60/3 proved blisteringly fast, with Surtees putting it on pole position ahead of Jim Clark’s works Lotus 35 and Denny Hulme’s works Brabham BT16 along with the rest of the star-studded field.

It was at the Oulton Park International Gold Cup in September that the standout F2 result of 1965 would come for Surtees, Lola and MRP. Amongst an incredibly strong F2 grid which featured Clark, Hill, Hulme, Brabham, Rindt, Spence and Stewart, Surtees battled in the leading group.

As the Gold Cup drew towards the closing stages, it was Surtees in SL60/3 embroiled in a close battle with Graham Hill’s Lotus and Denny Hulme’s Brabham. Surtees got the lead and retained it to the chequered flag, defeating Hill and Hulme.

SL60/3 was also graced by the hugely talented Frank Gardner in 1965, with Gardner driving the car to 7th at the Grand Prix d’Albi.

MRP would retain its three Lola T60s for the 1966 season, however SL60/3 was returned to Lola over winter where it would receive a number of upgrades. These included wide-track front suspension along with an injected version of Cosworth’s SCA engine, a rare specification only given by Cosworth to favoured entrants.

The Lola would go on to be campaigned through 1966 for MRP by Richard Attwood, David Hobbs and Alan Rees. Often a contender for overall results, it was David Hobbs who claimed the best result of the year for the car with 4th at the Gran Premio de Barcelona around the Montjuich Park circuit.

Thanks to research by Allen Brown of OldRacingCars.com, as detailed in the accompanying dossier, the history of this car is well recorded. Following the conclusion of the F2 season and the winding up of the Midland Racing Partnership, the Lola was sold to Ian Ashley and adapted to Formula 3 specification.

Having been raced by Ashley in 1967, the Lola was sold on through US racing car dealer Fred Opert to Victor Franzese in New York State.

Franzese sold the Lola on in 1970 to Bob Winkler, also of New York State. Tinkler won the regional SCCA Formula B title with the car in 1971 and then is understood to have sold the Lola to Florida.

The Lola remained in Florida and was inherited by William E. Anderson Jnr in the early 1980s. Eventually Anderson sold the Lola to William Schlossnagel who in turn sold it to Rob Shanahan of California in the early 1990s.

Shanahan set about a complete restoration of the Lola with the goal of historic racing. A skilled engineer who previously worked as part of the All American Racers Eagle GTP project and headed Symbolic International’s restoration workshop, Shanahan finished the Lola and later sold it to the current owner in 2012.

Having owned and raced a sister Lola T62 in period, the current owner jumped at the chance to own this ex - Surtees car and has subsequently successfully raced it.

Fitted with the rare fuel injected Cosworth SCA engine, several outings in the Glover Trophy at the Goodwood Revival have been enjoyed, with an appearance on the front row of the grid and near podium results.

Now available for its next custodian to take over at the wheel, the Lola T60 is eligible for the ever-popular HGPCA series where it fits in a specific 1,000cc F2 class and would no doubt be competitive for overall results thanks to the light 420kg minimum weight, advanced chassis and low-drag silhouette paired with the c.140bhp produced by an injected Cosworth SCA engine.

Alongside the HGPCA is the possibility of further outings in the Glover Trophy at the world-renowned Goodwood Revival.

The Glover Trophy is one of the jewels of the Revival, and from first-hand experience I can tell you that sitting on the start line surrounded by wheel spinning 1.5 litre V8 F1 cars, it really feels like you’re living a scene from the film Grand Prix.

SL60/3 stands apart in the arena of 1,000cc F2 with its race winning John Surtees history, especially significant with him being reigning Formula 1 World Champion, and the only person to ever be World Champion on both 2 wheels and 4. That’s a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated and this car was not only there, but driven to victory by the great man himself.