Vintage Motorsports Magazine skrev:
Lola Cars International Closes Doors
The iconic Lola T70 MkIIIB coupe
Huntingdon, U.K. — Lola Cars International, which built many of the most iconic racing cars over the past 54 years, is defunct. The race car manufacturer founded by Eric Broadley in 1958 has closed its doors, a victim of the world economic slowdown. Bankruptcy administrators took over the company in May, and began seeking a buyer for the firm. At the end of September it was determined that there was no buyer for the financially-strapped company and its more than $30 million in debts.
Beginning with the Mk I in 1958, Lola developed a plethora of race cars now stalwarts in vintage racing, such as the Lola T70 spyders and coupes, the underpinnings of the Ford GT40, IMSA and Group C prototypes, Formula Fords and FB, F5000, Indy cars and F1 chassis.
In an Oct. 9 statement, the company said, "At the end of September, having not received an acceptable offer for the business as a going concern, we considered whether or not we should continue trading. During the first week of October, we concluded that a going concern sale of he business was not going to be possible, and the company ceased to trade on Friday, Oct. 5, which unfortunately led to the redundancy of the remaining staff working in the business." A total of 114 jobs have been eliminated.
Lola Composites, which fabricates parts for military and commercial applications, is also under bankruptcy protection but remains open as administrators seek a buyer for that division. A total of 62 staffers remain at the Composites facility. The Lola name, trademarks and intellectual property rights to the firm's designs are held by Lola Group Holdings, which is still trading.
Lola Cars supplies chassis to a number of racing series, including the American Le Mans Series' LMP1 and LMP2 classes, run by Dyson Racing, Patrick Dempsey and Rebellion Racing.