Eric Broadley
Eric Broadley was indentured to a building company as a young man in the late 1940s,[1] and after completing his studies took a job as a quantity surveyor.
In common with the majority of other competitors – including Colin Chapman, Frank Costin and Brian Hart – he built his own cars around Austin 7 chassis, using home-made and proprietary parts.
On the back of this record Broadley, at the request of a number of drivers seeking something besides a Lotus XI,[4] immediately began to design a chassis to accept a more powerful 1098cc[4] (67ci) Coventry Climax engine and BMC A-series gearbox.
[5] Although, as Broadley freely admits, the Mk1 was too powerful for his level of driving skill [1], in 1958 he became the first man ever to lap the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in under one minute.
Staying largely at Bromley,[4] Broadley set up shop in West Byfleet, Surrey, using £2000 of his own savings, producing thirty-five[4] more Mk1s through 1962,[6] all with the Coventry-Climax.
On the back of his initial success, and despite his inexperience (and the failure of the Mark 2), in 1961 Broadley was approached by Reg Parnell to design and build a Formula One chassis for his Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing Team.
It featured a Ford 4.2-litre (255ci) V8 and Colotti four-speed box under a sleek fiberglass body, showing good handling and "a remarkable turn of speed"[8] for only 250 hp (186 kW), enough to put it in the running for the 1963 Vingt-Quatre Heurs du Mans until the gearbox balked and David Hobbs crashed.
[8] Offered with 5.4 or 6.2-litre (327ci or 377ci) Chevrolet and Hewland four-speed or ZF five-speed, and patterned on the Mark 6 and GT-40, it was nevertheless fresh, and was almost as big a revelation as its older sibling.
To qualify for European prototype racing, Broadley designed a coupé body for the heavy, unreliable Aston Martin twin cam engine.
[10] Finally homologated as a Group 4 coupé with Chevy engine in 1968, and despite poor performance in the World Championship due to lack of works support, it sold over one hundred copies to privateers.
[10] Developed as the Mk3B (officially T76) in 1969, with new bodywork and lighter weight, it went to private buyers such as Frank Gardner, Trevor Taylor, Paul Hawkins, and Mike de Udy, who picked up wins in SCCA events during 1969–70, as well as its first World Championship sports car race, in the hands of Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons at the 24 Hours of Daytona (a one-two Lola finish), plus second by Jo Bonnier and Herbert Muller at the Austrian 1000km, giving Lola third in the championship.
In 1967, he created an all-new monocoque, the F2 T100, only to waste considerable effort and money on the problematic BMW radial-valve engine; after a switch to the Cosworth FVA, it was a competitor, giving Surtees wins at Zolder and Mallory Park and second at Reims.
[10] He also prepared the T160, to replace the outclassed T70, for Can-Am, providing several to American privateers, while Surtees, who planned to run a Chevy-powered Weslake-prepared car, broke with Lola and was uncompetitive.
[10] Partly in response, Frank Gardner was brought on board, perfecting the T190 so it was competitive, scoring wins at Thruxton and Silverstone, and getting Broadley's attention.
Amusingly, the THL1 and THL2 chassis (designed by Neil Oatley and a young Ross Brawn) used by Haas-Lola were referred to as 'Lolas' and sometimes included amongst Lola Grand Prix results even though Lola Cars were not officially involved in the Haas-Lola project due to the fact team ower Carl Haas had a close association with Broadley, who was appointed chief engineer for the team .
A prototype chassis named the T95/30 was first tested in late-1994 and early 1995 by Allan McNish[13] and in late 1996 Broadley announced the team's participation in the near future.
The car which Lola had created to enter the 1997 Formula One World Championship - the T97/30 - designed by Broadley and Chris Saunders was launched on 20 February 1997 at the Hilton Hotel, London,England.
[19] On 26 March 1997, the Wednesday before the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lola announced it was withdrawing from the Brazil race due to "financial and technical problems".
