Lola T280

[Jeremy Jackson]

Thanks Nordic! To help anyone interested, Mahé was no. 57.

[driftwood]

damn i wish i had this thread before i went to old timer i took pics of Maher car but didnt se ethe plate
partly cos i didnt go out iof my way to see it and body was not removed
will add pics later

[Michael Oliver]

Originally posted by Nordic
ACO Photos

If you know the number of the car you are looking for the ACO has all the pictures in order.

Oh yeah, just peachy: no photos of car 30!!!! (the Skidmore T286). However, there are plenty of pics of the Mahe car, including a 'body off' shot of it in one of the 'Ambiance' sections, looking very shiny and NEW :-)

[Alain HACHE]

hello
about Y Mahé car I did'nt see chassis plate but Y van show me FIA agrement to race with all technicals infos , so I confirm chassis number T280 / 4 HU02 .This car was not by LOLA factory builded but in H Mader factory for H Schultess .I own pictures of LM 1974 the car was #28 ,the roll over hoop bar seem to bee exactly the same than Y Mahé car ....
About C Fox car maybe its a replica ? chassis T280 HU02 was destroyed after Jo Bonnier accident ....
IMPOSSIBLE TO ME TO ATTACH PICTURES !!!

[allenbrown]

Alain

Do we know for sure that it was HU02 that was destroyed in Bonnier's accident. I thought that was probable but that it was still possible that it was HU01 that was destroyed?

Allen

[Alain HACHE]

Hello Allen
since a long time I heard and read that Jo Bonnier's car #8 was HU02 but its not so old that I am sure about . Please look the roll over-hoop bars of the 2 Le Mans cars .
Car #7 is differnet than #8 . The junction of the 2 diagonals reinforcements are not the sames because ( dixit Yvan Mahé) Hu 01 got an additionnal bar just up the "passager" place and Hu 02 after a complete work on the chassis got a new roll over-hoop bar.
Pictures are on the way to your web site
bye bye

[allenbrown]

Hi Alain

I agree completely with the observable differences between HU01 and HU02 and I have a pair of matching pictures of the two cars from the BOAC race that I will scan shortly. However, do we know for certain which car was HU01 and which was HU02?

Allen

[Alain HACHE]

hello Allen
At BOAC race car #3 was HU01 and #4 was HU02 . It will be very usefull for me to see your pictures . I readed but I dont remeber where that Fia ,just before this race,change some regulations and the teams must have a part of bonnet after rear wheels (maybe in Sport Auto magasine).I will send to you others pictures.
best regards
Alain

[allenbrown]

Thanks Alain

How do you know that #3 was HU01 and #4 was HU02. Were the respective chassis numbers reported anywhere at any point in 1972?

Allen

[Alain HACHE]

Allen
I own a picture of the start of the race and the difference on roll over-hoop bat is evident .
You will get it soon .

[Alain HACHE]

hello
I visited yesterday in Le Mans the Sarthe archives and look on local newspapers Le Maine Libre and Ouest France of June 1972 .
In these two newspapers I readed that Guy Edwards entered 2 cars : a Lola T290 # 23 and a T280 # 66 !
These cars was not only on the entry list because ACO invited G Edwards to the scrutennings the 7 of June at 10H50 for the T290 and 11 H for T280 .For practice the T280 was in substitute list .
G Edwards did'nt came ....
Sure that he owned a T290 but a T280 ???
does somebody know anything about ?
bests regards

[Nordic]

LM entry lists

This site seems very well researched and often has photo's

The 72 entry list also shows the 2 Bonnier/Von Wendt 280's and one from Zinto Racing. None raced

[Jeremy Jackson]

Alain,

Neither of Edwards' cars turned up at LM72, so they were in the entry list only. I would guess that ACO's scrutineering schedule is done at some point before the start of the LM "week", hence they would be unaware if the cars would be present or not. Edwards 2-litre entry was "taken over" by Brian Robinson according to Autosport. He never had a T280, wishful thinking perhaps.

Not wanting to be a killjoy , but I would also be slightly wary of the site's data that Nordic referenced - it seems to be a direct copy of Martin Krejci's old site, which now appears on wspr-racing.com. Some of the other years on that site have the same question marks & notation that Martin used some years ago.

In terms of the being sure of which chassis Bonnier raced, the only definite references I have (from Autosport), are:
BA 1000:Bonnier raced HU1, larrousse/Craft raced HU2
Sebring: one car only, HU2 (which given the timing of the events, means that Bonnier used HU1 at the LM test day, and won the 4 hours with it)
Spa: Larrousse/de Fierlant in HU2

So any photo comparisons of the LM chassis with these known chassis may be the thing...

[allenbrown]

Originally posted by Jeremy Jackson
...In terms of the being sure of which chassis Bonnier raced, the only definite references I have (from Autosport), are:
BA 1000:Bonnier raced HU1, larrousse/Craft raced HU2
Sebring: one car only, HU2 (which given the timing of the events, means that Bonnier used HU1 at the LM test day, and won the 4 hours with it)
Spa: Larrousse/de Fierlant in HU2

So any photo comparisons of the LM chassis with these known chassis may be the thing...

THanks for this. Up to Le Mans, the cars were very easy to tell apart as the cockpit surround was black on one car and not on the other (as well as the roll-hoop differences that I can't always see on the pictures I have so far). I'm at work at the moment but when I get home I'll see if the pictures Alain has sent me include BA, Spa or Sebring.

Allen

[Alain HACHE]

Allen ,
thats Brands Hatch pictures I sended to you in the last e-mail .
For the 2 colours of roll-over hoop bar I think that was only to make a difference between the 2 cars at Mulsanne for the signals crew .