Lola Cars, one of the world’s iconic motorsport brands, is back with the company and its assets acquired by US-based English businessman and racer, Till Bechtolsheimer.
Lola Cars Ltd. now controls all of the assets of the iconic British brand that has designed and produced nearly 5000 race cars spanning 400 different model types, gaining unparalleled success in motorsport championships around the world including IndyCar, Le Mans, Formula 1, Formula 3000, Formula 5000, A1GP and Touring Cars.
And current IMSA GTD racer Till Bechtolsheimer becomes the third ‘B’ to own the company after founder Eric Broadley and more recently Martin Birrane.
For the new owner the opportunity to acquire and steer one of motorsport’s most iconic marques was one too good to waste. “I have had a lifelong passion for motorsport and, like most motorsport fans, have always loved the Lola brand. What both Eric Broadley and Martin Birrane achieved with Lola is awe inspiring. It is a daunting but exciting prospect to try and rebuild Lola in their footsteps and do justice to their legacy.”
Amanda Birrane, Chairman of Peer Group plc, the Birrane family Property Company based in London, said “My family is very pleased that the Lola brand is in the ownership of a businessman and racer who will write the next chapter for this long-established British motor racing icon. My father would be delighted to see Lola back in competitive motorsport and especially back at Le Mans. We wish Till every success.”
Bechtolsheimer outlined what is ahead for Lola Cars Ltd:
“Our plan is to re-establish Lola as a leading design and engineering force in modern motorsport. I have built a career investing in energy efficiency and see motorsport playing a significant role in the innovation and testing of new solutions. Through Lola, we hope to develop and provide investment for some of these solutions. I have a huge amount of respect for the industry and understand that this will be a long process. We have immediate plans for substantial upgrades to the Lola Technical Centre, in particular the wind tunnel, and are actively working towards our first project to put new Lolas back on track.
“I firmly believe that our biggest asset is the Lola name and what it means to so many in the motorsport industry, it will help us to attract great talent and form lasting partnerships.”
More details of Lola Cars Ltd’s initial projects will be announced in the near future.
Till Bechtolsheimer – Profile
Aged 40 from Ampney St. Peter, Gloucestershire is the founder of New York based Investment Firm, Arosa Capital, specialising in energy, energy efficiency and renewables, including emerging technologies in the transport and automotive space. Arosa has approximately $1bn of regulatory assets under management across various products investing in public markets, private equity and venture capital.
Racing Career: Till is an accomplished historic racer with class wins at Monaco and Silverstone to his name. He has competed in the highest level of North American sportscar and endurance racing since 2016 with multiple podium finishes. Since 2020, he has competed in IMSA WeatherTech Competition. Bechtolsheimer’s best result to date is a 3rd place at the 2021 Detroit Grand Prix. This year, his focus is the IMSA WeatherTech Endurance Championship. Till’s passion for motorsport has also seen him compete at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and off-road in the 2021 Baja 1000.
Lola Cars:
Lola was founded in 1958 by designer and entrepreneur, Eric Broadley, and was initially based in West Byfleet, then Slough before moving to Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, UK in 1970.
The marque had a swift ascent in motorsport and by 1962 entered Formula One as a constructor with the Bowmaker Yeoman Team.
The 1960s saw Lola established as one of the era defining British based customer race car manufacturers along with Lotus, BRM, Cooper and McLaren.
Success came in a variety of racing disciplines but most famously of all Lola became only the second British company to build an Indy 500 winner, when Graham Hill took ‘the milk’ in 1966 with the Lola T90 Red Ball Special entry. Two more Brickyard wins came in 1978 with Al Unser Snr and in 1990 with Arie Luyendyk.
Lola’s most famous car – the iconic T70 in both Spyder and Coupe versions raced throughout the latter 1960s and into the 1970s, where it became one of the most evocative racing sportscars ever to hit the track.
Drivers such as John Surtees, Sir Jackie Stewart, Chris Amon, Mario Andretti, Emmerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell, Bobby Rahal, Dario Franchitti and Fernando Alonso have all won titles or races in Lola designed cars.
F1 saw several Lola-supplied cars ranging from the first ever race win for Honda in 1967 and the Larousse and Scuderia Italia programmes from 1987 to 1993.
Lola also has a proud history of working with major auto OEM’s, including Ford (with the Mk6 in 1963), GM (with IMSA cars in the 1980s), Nissan (Group C cars in the 80s and 90s) and latterly with Aston Martin (LMP cars from 2008-10).
A second epoch for the company came in 1997 when businessman and racer, Martin Birrane, acquired the company and returned some of its glory days in CART, ChampCar, F3, A1 GP, GrandAm, ALMS and at Le Mans, where it took five LMP2 class victories between 2000 and 2007.
Lola also diversified into other industries such as defence, aerospace, marine and extreme sports at the start of the 21st century, before the company ceased operations in 2012.
