Lola T-90 / 2  History

Lola built three cars for the 1966 Indianapolis 500 race (details at the Lola Heritage site) Chassis #1 was Stewart's car (#43), Chassis #2 was Graham Hill's (#24) and Chassis #3 was  for Rodger Ward (#26).  Stewart and Hill had the Ford 4 Cam Indy motor and Ward had the reliable Offy.  After a disastrous start, Graham Hill threaded his way through the wreckage and went on to win the Indy 500.  All three cars were owned by John Mecom.  Chief Mechanic for the winning car was George Bignotti, also on the team was Jim Dilamarter who went on to win two more Indy 500s as Crew Chief for the Johnny Lightning Specials of Vels/Parnelli in 1970 and 1971 with Al Unser Sr. doing the driving.

After winning the 1966 Indy 500 the #24 Red Ball Special was raced once by Larry Dickson and seven times by Al Unser with second place finishes at Trenton, Indy 150 and Phoenix with a third at Langhorne.  Graham Hill returned to the car to finish fifth at Fuji in Japan.  (results below)  After the 1966 season the car was sold to Interstate Racer Team, an underfunded organization, with Louis "Bif" Caruso as crew chief and Chuck Hulse as driver for the month of May at Indy.  The team did not have enough money to buy a Ford 4 Cam so Caruso had to significantly modify the car to accept an Offy.  After qualifying 27th the team ran out of money and the entry was taken over by Lindsey Hopkins and became known as the Hopkins Special.  Chuck Hulse moved up steadily during the race and was running fifth when involved in a crash on the last lap.  AJ Foyt snaked through the wreckage and went on to win.  Hulse finished 195 laps and was scored in 7th place at the finish, winning $18,000.  After the race Bif Caruso took the wrecked car back to his home in California.  All parties, including John Mecom, Jim Dilamarter, Donald Davidson and Caruso himself acknowledge that the winning car went to this team.

Caruso hoped to make a Formula 5000 car from the Lola, but never found backing.  In 1970 or 1971 he encountered Jim Dilamarter, then crew chief for Vels/Parnelli at a race.  Jim knew that Bif had his 1966 winner and asked about its whereabouts.  Knowing the circumstances of the bankrupt Interstate Racer team and the fact that the check bounced when the car was purchased by them from Mecum, Caruso told Dilamarter the car had been crushed.  For the next 30 years, both Dilamarter and Mecum believed this to be true.  It was still in Caruso's garage at the time.

In 1973 Bif offered Lola T-90/2 (original number plate still in place) for sale through Red LeGrand (Californian and constructor of LeGrand race cars).  LeGrand brokered the sale of the bare chassis to Phil Henny in Van Nuys.  Henny was a Swiss born entrepreneur and racer who was a fabricator on the Carroll Shelby GT-40 team and later drove in IMSA.  Henny also authored the book "Call me Carroll" about his exploits with Carroll Shelby.  Henny at first hoped that the car was the Jackie Stewart car since Jackie had just won his third World Championship.  George Bignotti identified chassis 1 as the Stewart car for Donald Davidson, Indy historian.  Chassis #3 was wrecked at Atlanta and later restored in 2005 by Walter Goodwin for John Darlington.  Chassis #2 was determined by Henny to be the Graham HIll #24 Red Ball Special.  The extensive gold leaf pattern on the tub was discovered as he removed the 1967 Interstate Racer paint.  Henny completed a cosmetic restoration of T-90 / 2 and sold it as a roller through Ron Cameron to noted collector/dealer Leo Gephart of Scottsdale, AZ.  Gephart resold the car to Milwaukee based collector David Uihlein.  David owned the car for 10-14 years before having a Ford 4 Cam Indy motor installed by Paul Freehold in Fort Wayne, IN.  Shortly after that the car was sold to the Prisma Collection in 1994, where it now resides, unrestored since the cosmetic restoration by Phil Henny.

Listen to recordings of Bif Caruso and Phil Henny:  Caruso phone call 1995    Henny phone call

Indy 500 Results '66 and '67 (Click to enlarge)

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