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About the Lola sale

Lola is one of the world’s iconic motorsport brands, and probably the most successful manufacturer of customer race-cars of all-time. From 1958 to 2012, Lola’s engineers 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 5000, Formula 3000, A1GP and Touring Cars.

From Monaco to Indianapolis, and from Le Mans to Daytona, Lola’s single seaters and sports cars, driven by many of the world’s most famous drivers carved out a unique position in motorsport history.

Lola’s two owners, Eric Broadley and then Martin Birrane, were the entrepreneurial and highly competitive driving forces behind Lola’s success story. Eric Broadley, a brilliant engineer, founded the company in 1958. Martin Birrane, a life-long Lola enthusiast and customer, purchased the company in 1997. Martin invested heavily in facilities and people and achieved success by taking the company back to the top of Sportscar Racing in Europe and the USA as well as dominance in Champ Car. Lola also became the byword for one make racing series with A1GP, F3000, Formula Nippon.

In 2012 the Lola factory closed its doors on racecar production, but the Lola name has since continued to be part of modern motorsport successes through the ongoing services of the Lola Technical Centre, which has continued to provide wind tunnel testing and associated services to a select group of race-teams and auto manufacturers.

Martin Birrane fully recognised that high-quality wind tunnel testing was the key to gaining a competitive advantage on track and so he retained Lola’s world-class wind tunnel to facilitate a reentry into the sport he so loved. Martin passed away in 2018 before he could execute his plan, and his family have now decided that it is time to sell Lola and its’ remaining assets, including the wind tunnel. Martin Birrane cherished ‘everything Lola’ and his family’s goal is to now find a buyer with the ambition, tenacity and drive to write the next chapter in Lola’s illustrious 62-year history.

As well as the 10,500 sq. ft. Lola Technical Centre & Wind Tunnel Facility, the sale includes the Lola Brand, it’s registered trademarks, an enormous technical drawing library and various items of tooling, equipment, wind tunnel spares and a 7-post chassis development rig. Included in the inventory is also the specialist tooling used to manufacture a small batch of T70 Mk.3B continuation cars 15 years ago.

It is anticipated that this opportunity could be of interest to someone looking to restore the Lola brand’s position in modern motorsport, providing third-party engineering services, supplying genuine Lola spares, manufacturing continuation cars such as the iconic Lola Mk.1 and T70, and producing Lola race-cars and road-going supercars.

Of particular note to potential overseas buyers, the wind tunnel is of modular construction and could be dismantled and reconstructed anywhere in the world.

For further information contact David McRobert at lola@flyfive.co.uk