Art.Nr. 23897"
The T-70 series was produced from 1966 to 1970, with a total of 88 vehicles built.
In 1969, the MK III B version shown here was built in response to new motorsport regulations (5-liter displacement and 25 units required for homologation in the sports car class). The Lola T70 MK III B achieved its greatest success by winning the 1969 24 Hours of Daytona.
The Lola T70 MK III B was unable to achieve further major successes, as Porsche entered the fray in early 1969 with the Type 917, leading to Porsche’s subsequent dominance. Only Ferrari was able to offer some resistance, at least occasionally
The yellow base color with the white longitudinal stripe is, of course, very visible on the track. The headlights and the small taillights are designed true to the real thing—aside from the very bright white neon lights. Like its full-size counterpart, the vehicle is built as a right-hand-drive model, as befits a British race car.
Even though hardcore model enthusiasts might not like it, the tire manufacturer’s sticker has once again been replaced with “decent decade.” I think this works very well for this model, and I wouldn’t be willing to bear any additional costs just for that. The tires have the usual
Overall
The printing is clean and flawless; the white-and-red vertical stripe does not extend all the way to the lip below the radiator. This detail is not visible in the original photos either; it is only evident in one photo from 1968. Yellow is always a challenging color for plastic model cars;
At the rear, the model features a faintly suggested tire, and even the buckle of the seat belt is color-contrasted. Even though the tires might seem a bit large in diameter, it’s nice that they weren’t left out… for cars of that era, this was simply in accordance with the regulations.
The headlights (actually two pairs of headlights arranged one above the other) are, as mentioned, quite bright, but they illuminate the road and work well as a result. You can dim the bright neon light a bit, and depending on the lighting board installed, you may be able to make both the upper and lower headlights illuminate. This is where an experienced hobbyist comes in.
The taillight is very visible on the track and poses no problems when it comes to signaling the need to refuel.
The vehicle weighs about 210 grams fully assembled, putting it in the same weight class as the Ford GT40 and the Ferrari 330 P4. The rear section of the body is attached separately to the chassis. The driver’s insert and the black insert in the front hood’s ventilation slot are screwed in place. Three screws, each about 1 cm long, were used for this—screws directly into plastic? Hmmm, I can’t really explain the necessity of this, but I suppose very few vehicles will ever be disassembled to this extent. When you unscrew the driver’s side insert, you’ll see that the window insert is simply snapped into place. You can even replace the windshield wiper, since it’s also just plugged in.
Unfortunately, the threaded inserts for mounting the body to the chassis have slipped slightly below the plastic mounts, so if this is the case with all models: exercise caution when tightening the screws.
Since both the weight class and the vehicle dimensions—such as wheelbase and track width—roughly correspond to those of the well-known and proven Ford GT40 and Ferrari 330 P4, attention now turned to the test drive.
First off, right out of the box—with magnets, the car is eager to sprint and accelerates well out of turns. If you push the cornering speed too far, the rear end has a slight tendency to break away; this felt realistic yet was still easy to control. The car quickly regained its line. So it’s easy to drive and suitable for beginners.
After removing the magnets and lightly sanding the tires, the car becomes significantly more challenging to handle. The axles and rims are okay, but they aren’t 100% straight or centered. A slight imbalance is noticeable. The car already drifts heavily in or after tight turns or right-left combinations—it’s manageable, but time-consuming. To make the Lola competitive against the well-known players in the GT Classics class even without magnets, you’ll have to put some work into the car.
All in all, the Lola is a great addition to the GT Classics starting grids. Many fans have been clamoring for this car for a long time; now the first one is here, and I think we’ll be seeing a few more variants.
CoMod JoergW
