1963 Lola Mk6 GT - Jay Leno's Garage

well another episode of Jay Leno's Garage you know it's not very often we got automotive royalty on this show and this vehicle certainly qualifies this is a 1963 Lola GT Mark 6 this is one of the prototype vehicles this is the vehicle that led to the legendary Ford GT this is the vehicle that started it all it's been owned by the same gentleman for the last 50 years and he's got a pretty fascinating history too we worked with Carroll Shelby race with Carol and and he's still young enough to talk about it and tell us about it come on in here Alan how you doing my friend very impressive resume you're the guy I wanted to be when I was in high school yeah get to you roll you the tone of coupe and you raced it moms are you raced all over the world didn't you yes I did so tell me about that you work for Shelby what when you were in college high school right after college actually I quit college yeah to go to work for Carroll oh well parents must have been thrilled they were absolutely thrilled it was a long ride home trying to tell him how I'm gonna explain I'm going to work for a race car manufacturer you know I said and dropped me out of college so yeah but it worked out pretty good didn't it worked out awesome yeah that's pretty much so you were there with all the legendary guys still Remington and ten miles and all those guys huh that's correct Wow so how what were you 22 23 I was actually 23 years old Wow okay and January 63 I was one of Carol's first employees yeah in fact Phil Remy can actually hired me Wow now wasn't it you know as we look back it all looks very exciting because we all know it wouldn't want on to become but at the time did it just seem like I'm gonna work in this race car shop or did could you feel the the sense of history could you feel that something exciting was happened or it did just seem like a cool place to work no I had a sense that history is being made yeah and I'd race an AC Bristol the year before when I turned 21 and I went 12 out of 14 races and so I went down there during semester break to offer my services to show me he kind of looked at me and he says you ever raced before that was the wrong question to ask me I told him about every race everyone anyhow long story short he says well Allen I've got Phil Hill and Dan Gurney says don't need racecar drivers right now but we're looking for welders can you well yeah and so fortunately I'd worked in a welding shop and I was hired as a welder initially yes and we should explain those don't know the AC Bristol is really the car the Cobra was based on isn't it that's great okay but had the was the BMW motor yes yes it was the Bristol engine BMW design and a beautiful car in its own right and a lot of people now actually like those better than the Cobras just a sense of balance wasn't it right exactly wonderful design car yes so that's okay so you go to work for him and we obviously you were there for the development of the Ford GT and and the Mustang and the 350 are and all of that huh yes Wow so you're in Venice and see that's it seems like you should be a thousand years old because it's because you know as you read all the history and the pictures are all black and white it looks like you know it's like it's from Lincoln's inauguration it seems that long ago but you know but it's it seems like such an exciting period because when you grow up in Massachusetts and you sit in a math class and you got the hot rod magazine under the math book and you're reading about Carroll Shelby and all you and I realize I probably saw your picture and a bunch of those magazines back in the day didn't I that's not cool which brings us to this legendary vehicle here one of the most beautiful cars and how small it is to it so if you can't get a sense of proportions of being in the garage about the size of a 904 Porsche isn't it correct approximately okay but with way more horsepower yes okay 289 engines correct and about what 350 horse I guess exactly so tell us how you came to be involved with this guy because you were in on the original Ford GT project correct well not the original Ford GT right because this car here led to the Fort Wright being manufactured right once that in Europe the Ford GT they raced it in 64 didn't finish a race right and then Ford decided to send the two cars out to Shelby and then we basically modify him immensely okay and then we ended up at Daytona Sebring in the 65 season who actually won the first race at Daytona and then that also at Sebring so you did all that before you ever saw this car is that correct or had you seen this car first no I had not I had not seen that car okay I said that wasn't the end of 64 okay okay so this was still so the fruit so you saw the Ford GT first and then you saw this right well it's or in person correct right that's what I mean person yes in person okay was this car ever in America at that point it was it always in Europe I was always in Europe okay okay all right so so tell us about you acquired this what in 1965 and 65 yeah okay all right and I need to correct that last statement the sister car the third car that was built was bought by Texas oilman John Meachem jr. okay and he had it originally he bought it with a ford inch and then he put a Chevrolet engine at a tricot engine ooh oh yeah poor didn't like them and Augie Pabst robic yeah all right so it seems almost inconceivable nowadays that you could buy a famous racecar just a private suit at least for a reason what did you pay for this in 65 can I ask you I paid $3,000 that was a lot of money though it was a lot of money it's all I had that would be equivalent to what 40 or 50 thousand now maybe every yeah okay all right so again your parents thought you were crazy yes and I had no engine transmission that's crow our son is real brightly paid $3,000 for an old race car was no engine of no transmission but now it's this has got to be worth millions it's an invaluable piece of history oh my god so tell us some more about Eric broadly designed it correct that's correct okay Eric broadly FIA changed all the regulations for the 1965 scuse me for the 1963 right and so Eric on a clean piece of paper designed this car and he designed it around because he had heard about this new small-block Ford v8 right the too thick 0 to 60 and so he talked pass/no into jack pisano into sending him a 260 v8 and so he designed a car and all the articles are written about the car I mean he met the epitome of the FIA regulations so now was this designed I assume this is pre Windtunnel oh yes so this is just a guy sketching what he likes and what happens to be aerodynamic that's great or how does that you know I'm saying how do you I guess the only way to just actually test it right that's correct yeah at the time obviously the whole thinking was is to make it as slippery as possible right now Eric broadly designed the car you know the monocot you know the suspension everything like that the actual design of the car was designed by in conjunction with Eric by John Fraley okay John Ferling was a designer of the day in fact he designed us Lotus Elite okay so okay so I again this is again no wind tunnel here just what we think teardrop shape what we think here and you know to me it's always much more beautiful what people think is aerodynamic for what is actually Erin because what's really aerodynamic is a Prius yeah but but somehow a Ferrari GTO looks better yes somehow yeah because I remember the controversy and this predates Peter Brock with the Daytona with the cam tail on it right that's correct okay so did and and this has the cam tail on it sort of sort of yes yes so Eric brought that must have known something that we didn't know apparently must have known something at the time and as you go around the back of the car you'll see the Cortina tail light sort of take them right off a mass-produced Ford Cortina in England correct and what is it way with the 260 engineer they weight about 1700 pounds seventeen eighteen hundred reports Wow okay and it's fiberglass yes okay and now the wheels magnesium or steel or what are they are specially made magnesium okay quickly for this car never used on another car and you have the original tires yes these are the tires that were on it when I bought it that was 51 years ago and the original Dunlop green spots and they still hold there now when you bought it what was your intention well your intention to go racing did you see it wow this is a piece of automotive history I'm just going to preserve it I mean what was your thinking when you bought it well I knew that John Meachem and Augie Pabst had done quite well with their Lola mmm and this is an identical car and so at the time you know I thought well I want to do that in fact I got correspondence I still have with John Wyer because this car has a colotti type 37 trans axle which again the early Ford GTS had those also and that was one of the major problems with a fork GT for reliability because it wasn't a strong transaction I think so I had correspondence I was going to buy a ZF trans axle and then later on I went in to bid I went through did go back to college got my degree okay so and after I got out of college of course I got into business and you know I didn't have any money right and so I kind of just put it on hold for a while and it's been on hold for close to 50 years so you waited 50 years through a story right okay and how rough was it uh this is I assume not the original paint no it's not for the original color yes okay and the material on the seats that sort of sparkly fabric I haven't seen that before I mean it seemed like most people use leather or something today what was the thinking there actually I had those seats remade or recovered I still have all the original yeah I'm very careful the way I took it apart but this is a closest we can come to the color and of course this was a Chrysler product back in the 60s they actually had that that gold Fleck in there yeah I remember you have the 61 yeah yeah yeah and so anyhow I've been meaning you know to haven't redone which I am I'm having the fabric redone so if ever entered into a concours in earnest you know obviously I would need to go back to the original upholstery but frankly everybody just loves it because it kind of just adds a little sparkle oh I think it looks great I love the fact that I mean an unmolested race car is almost unheard of I mean it racecar is just a tool you use it and when it becomes obsolete you update it you dude you have to do keep it competitive so consequently all the history tends to disappear as people just want to go faster and faster whereas this one and you saw the original tire yes Wow and this is sort of the to use an old-time term redheaded stepchild therefore Ford kind of no no we did the Ford Jesus to put that the pay no attention to the man behind the curtain I mean but now they've embraced it haven't they because they sort of ignored it back in the day because they didn't it was for Dan it was Detroit right you know they were broadly coming out of England so when did that when did you see that turn happen when did that change actually really it was actually just last fall up at Pebble Beach week and Ford Motor Company people saw the car and they were just so amazed and that they actually requested that I bring it over to their display at Laguna Seca and they had a big two-car garage there with lots of pictures and a brand new 2017 Ford GT right and so they wanted me to park it right next door to it so well I I have a 2017 Ford GT coming I would love to practice right actually itself I will give you double what you paid in six I'm fine I will give you six grand right now this car can we open it up let's let sure let's let's see the door goes back let's open the hood for the front probably not much to see in there but well that radiator is massive in it it's it is massive and it's also cooler at the same time okay yeah yeah I mean I first saw this car it's a quail and it really knocked me out you know if I am obviously not a designer and I can't design anything but when I see something that's right you just know it's right yeah no that's and I looked at this and I went oh my god that's and it turned out obviously to be the prototype car that's where we first met and discuss this and but to me it was the most impressive car at the quail just because it's just so simple you know it's just a couple of lines of flow and come together and it's just you know plus I I have a thing for vehicles where all four tires are basically the same size I just like the way they sit you know when I see these big giant wheel I mean this looks like it would be fun to drift and all that kind of stuff alright let's see we have here we have a hydraulic clutch and hydraulic brake is that a single line or those those both brake or the one no once clutch of ones break so just a single line man yes you're just like right that's it he did back in 63 and the rack and pinion is off a Saab what was that running back in the day you know all the race car manufacturers they tried to use as many know parts as they could off right readily available and relatively cheap and just look at that hand welded chassis disc brakes what are they Girling turnings yes type B calibers okay let's show slowly open up the whole car let's open the driver's door you want the other driver's door you want this door oh that's right this is the passenger door that's right again yeah yeah and of course the famous Ford GT cut your Lola Jeep I know love you too I mean look how wide it opens Wow okay and it looks like there's plenty of legroom isn't there because there's no obviously no engine in the front right and of course the the sparkly seats which is interesting choice of interior color this sort of aquamarine yes can we open up let's open up the back and there it is the famous Ford 260 based on the 221 of course and there right then it went to 289 see if this had been in use this 260 wasn't thrown away a 289 would have been put in then in the seventies the 302 would have died in there and the whole thing would be you know sort of change to see it as it originally was with the gold valve covers boy that's a big gearbox that Columbia isn't it yes it is and it's it's strange it's not more robust considering how big you know it's a little tiny thing I understand why break but interesting in the headers and a single four-barrel no need to over carburetor right see this car is exactly the way it was in the London racing car show in January of 63 Wow later on obviously them they raced it they did put Weber's on it yeah but this is the way it was shown at the London racing car show let's go around the back show me I always love these taillights I don't know why they just maybe I know whether it goes back to Jim Clark and the Cortina you know the Lotus genius but I always thought they're pretty sexy taillights you look great on this and of course the famous Lola a badge and license plate there I'm surprised that there's not venting here to get the air out yeah I think later on you know when they actually raced him they did drill some holes in there alright but again this is again this is the original rear plexiglass and that's the original I forget yes yeah Wow that's a well this is as it was in 1964 I mean how did you actually find it was it listed in Road & Track magazine an old race car for sale or how did you actually come about acquiring it actually it and 65 Shelby wanted me to race the Daytona coupes and because our goal was to win the world championship because Ferrari at the last minute and 64 kind of pulled a fast one and so I remember that were you and Bondurant one that didn't you who actually was later on this spring so okay but so anyhow I said well I want actually be and eek as well as drive and he says well that's what I had in mind and that what he really had in mind he get a driver in the mechanic you know for the same prices as a mechanic right right and so you know she'll yeah yeah anyhow bottom line you know I prepared my Daytona Coupe for Daytona and Sebring and then we went over to Europe and my job as a mechanic was actually to be a mechanic on the Ford GT cars chassis 103 and 104 and we were actually working out of Slough for the event where Ford advanced the vehicles was located where they actually built the Ford GTS but they had a warehouse a long warehouse that was actually cutting two on one side was Lola cars and the other side was where we were working on the Ford GTS and so consequently I got to know the managing director there Rob rush Brook and he was a very gracious man and we'd borrow pop rivets or whatever we need you know he had loaned it to us one day I was at the shop and I saw over in the corner you know I saw a car with a cover on it and I thought man that looks like the Lola GT I couldn't tell for sure so I asked Rob I says could I look at it as is that the GT and he's yeah it is he says so I looked at it and man I spent several almost an hour there probably looking at it and I went back and I said Rob you think Eric would consider selling that car and Rob says well if he ever would it be now he says I need the room because he were just selling the T 70s I'm crazy and we could use the money make me an offer and that's when I went back and kind of every penny I could beg borrow or steal and came up with $3,000 did you have to negotiate from down from 5 or with you nope he basically you know what he said was it's ok Eric's gonna be calling in because he was over at Indy he was just getting into Indianapolis and so he says Eric's gonna call in tonight and I'll have an answer for you in the morning of course I didn't sleep all night and I got there bright and early and no Rob says well Allan he says you buy yourself a current or one condition and I thought what the world could that be he says Eric would like to have it out of here before he gets back from the states because he really wanted to keep that car himself right and make a road car out of it so Wow I said not a problem Wow pretty exciting Wow well let's go around to the business end here let's show the driver's compartment here open it right here okay now that's damn well looks like the early Miura wheel - it looks like one of those sort of grants steering wheels we buy out of JC Whitley or something now this is feel how wide it is man that thing is how do you like what it is how you like be doing 180 down the Mulsanne straight with holding on that little guy and it's funny to see a Ford with a straight up-and-down European dish you know I'm so used to the very sexy Ford the the bent shifter with the lockout on it right right to me that was always yeah look like business when you're a kid yeah you know that always look like something from a Volkswagen just sticking up right move it this way in this way that's right pretty amazing it's kind of interesting because Eric broadly you know he won him actually make a street car out of the same chassis right and so instead of having your shift linkage on the same side is the linkages on the transaxle like on a Ford GT right he put it in the middle so he could either do right or left hand right but in order to do that you'll notice there's cables that go back here oh it went back around here around over to here yeah and that's the reason why David Hobbs he doesn't like to talk about it but he crashed it LeMond middle of a night because of the cable shifting was not the best in the world and so he missed it missed a shift and so let's open this from this side again one I want to just point out some things under the engine compartment so this here is our it's amazing how neat and clean it is compared to modern cars so this your overflow few radiator you notice it's all made by hand I see that look at the welder yeah just so clean and look at the old-school solenoid and just a ford breather cap and this looks like again the JC Whitney 990 right right yeah I mean it's just it's fascinating you notice there's no breathers they're hard to come by now because the early early to sixties did not have the breather cap okay that's either breather with back here it's so funny you think being a racecar they would have they probably would have changed that and yeah and yes yes it's Wow to see it exactly as it is can we fire it up and see what it sounds absolutely say when all right ready clear let's fire it up why it sounds a lot bigger than a 2:16 you know so funny you get so used to these high-revving modern engines you know it's almost sounds like a truck engine yeah all kinds of torque and to think it's only 260 cubic inches which is pretty small please buy American Standard right okay and what is the capacity of tank it'll hold 35 gallon Oh what that big yes yes yes and boy this is literally a bomb wasn't it I mean no driver protection it's fiberglass you got 35 gallons of gas right under your feet actually just right here on the tank Oh on the monocot on both sides yes yeah so you got 35 gallons again I mean yeah this is when racing was this is when they were losing guys at the rate of one a week almost well yeah up in the day I mean racing is obviously still dangerous but it's so much safer compared to I mean there's there were no seatbelts no nothing yeah no we had seatbelt oh you did run seat down 65 okay because you see the guys with the cigars ever on the show right yeah pretty crazy oh I like this is here like a plenum chamber there see there's a knock a duct up top here yeah yeah I see and air goes in here yes okay and actually this was designed for the standard air cleaner on a toy 260 and 280 nine high-performance I put this on just temporarily because of the fact that this when they built the engine they put an extra spacer in there and so therefore it wouldn't fit so oh god I do have the original okay for air cleaner you know I remember seeing this car in the cover of I think it was sports car graphic I wonder if modern car magazine covers affect kids the way they did when we were young because we were kids you only saw our car like this in the car magazine didn't appear on TV it wasn't in Life Magazine it wasn't so you waited every month you know so when I was looking through your scrapbook kind of look I have that issue I remember buying that yes you you know it's funny and it with modern stuff modern magazine I can look right out and go they buy this six months ago yeah but the ones from the 50s and the 60s I remember like it was yesterday it's it's just funny how that is yeah well it is adjusted beautiful and also the fact I noticed the knockoffs don't have any retaining pin to keep it from sort of undoing right yeah yeah that's we didn't do that back in the day yeah yeah well this is a race car plus it's raining plus we can't take it out but at some point are you you'll be running this car somewhere oh absolutely yeah yeah well it's really exciting and I think you had at fifty years the only two payments left that's unbelievable but Alan thank you so much for preserving this piece of history inland to see exactly what it was like I mean it really is if you're not a motive archaeologist this is like the pyramids you know I mean it's it's like to see like you just the little things that no breather no this no that of a sparkly interior and just to see a race car kept exactly as it was back in the day is really a treat because things changed so quickly and you just forget and you wind up with a modern version of something old and it's neither fish nor fowl you know what I mean right whereas this way this is exactly what it was in 1964 and it's really sort of the halfway point of the racing car you think of racing started about you know nineteen seven 1910 mm-hmm and this car is exactly just about half way to where we are now absolutely this was the the peak of technology back in the day and it seems so primitive now compared to modern cars but in some ways sexier and more fun and more desirable yeah you know this seems like a car this is when race cars were almost streetcars you know the last car I think you could ride drive to Lamar and win was probably the McLaren f1 yeah whereas this is a car you could literally almost drive to the racetrack mm-hmm do some modification and drive home you know it's when the car you bought on Monday really was similar to the car you saw win right right yeah now it's also different but this is it's just the golden era and thank you Alan so much for reserving this thank you really you have a website can people go and check this out yes actually if you're on Facebook you can go on search Lola GT space mk6 okay and there's lots of pictures there and well thank you so much for bringing it by here what a treat what an exciting automobile just just unbelievable see you guys next week [Music]

Channel: Jay Leno's Garage

Views: 1,133,227

Rating: 4.9212489 out of 5

Keywords: Ford, GT, LOLA, MK6, Jay, Leno, Allen, Grant, Garage, Race, Car, Legendary

Id: DUBmDu3HXaU

Length: 27min 26sec (1646 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 05 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/SgtMustang]

50 year old tires is a recipe for disaster, unless he never intends on driving it.

Even if they hold air, the tires will probably have lost a ton of strength as well as their ability to grip.

[u/[deleted]]

Back when cars could be oh so small

[u/dissaver]

A simply amazing car, so much history, thanks Jay for bringing us stuff that no one else does and thank you Mr Grant for preserving it!