1965 Lola T70 Spyder MkI

Dutch historic racer Michiel Smits was clear what he wanted as Complete Motorsport Solutions set out to restore the Lola T70 Spyder MkI in which he was seriously injured at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting in March 2016. He wanted as much as the original car retained as possible.

Smits had crashed SL70/12, which was raced in period by Walt Hansgen and Parnelli Jones, at Woodcote when he was hit on the head by an errant piece of bodywork from another car and knocked unconscious. The subsequent crash resulted in significant damage to the front of the 1965 car.

“Michiel’s request made the restoration much harder because we had to unpick the monocoque, work out what we could re-use and then build it back up again,” says CMS boss Philip Cheek. “The rear bulkhead and rear chassis cross member is original, but pretty much everything forward of that had to be replaced. It makes for an interesting project when the owner wants to retain the history. Michiel has all the bits we took off the car in his garage at home, which is nice.”

The rebuild included a complete front-left corner and most of the right, while the wiring loom is also new; the tub had cut into the electrical system in the impact.

The target set for CMS was to get the Lola ready in time for the Revival in 2016, although it didn’t end up racing. “The car was ready but Michiel wasn’t. He ended up going back for the following Members’ Meeting.”

Complete Motorsport Solutions, Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire
Tel: 01480 861676, completemotorsportsolutions.co.uk