VIN: the Mecom Racing Team Lola Mk6 GT chassis LGT-2
History of chassis LGT-2
Chassis LGT-2 was one of the two Mk6 GTs fitted with an aluminium monocoque after the prototype (LGT-P) had been completed with a steel monocoque.
LGT-1 was retained by Lola as a works car and LGT-2 was sold to millionaire Texan industrialist, John Mecom Jr.
The son of John Mecom Sr. (one of America’s top independent oilmen), John Mecom Jr. was only 23 when he acquired the Lola. Nevertheless, his privateer Mecom Racing Team already boasted an enviable stable of machinery and a fine roster of drivers.
Perhaps most famously, it was Mecom’s Lola T90 that won the 1966 Indianapolis 500 with Graham Hill at the wheel.
John Mecom Jr. took delivery of LGT-2 in time for the Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch on August 6th 1963.
Like most of Mecom’s sports cars, the Lola was painted metallic blue with a white centre stripe. However, it arrived late and Augie Pabst started from the back of the grid after he missed practice.
Pabst’s race only lasted four laps before the Ford engine lost oil pressure and expired.
Mecom took the car back to the US where it was fitted with a six-litre Traco-tuned Chevrolet V8. In this configuration, Pabst won the end-of-season Nassau Tourist Trophy at the Bahamas Speed Week.
Thereafter, success was limited.
In 1964, LGT-2 failed to finish at Sebring, did not start the Player’s 200 at Mosport, took seventh in an SCCA National race at Road America and then placed eleventh overall at the Brands Hatch Guards Trophy.
After Brands, it was returned to Lola for some modifications. By this time, Eric Broadley had quit his two-year contract with Ford to develop the GT40 and was back at Lola full-time.
LGT-2 was uprated with new wide track suspension, bigger brakes with better cooling, improved driver ventilation, Cobra-style FIA wheels and GT40 hubs. The wider wheels also required all four wheelarches to be dramatically flared.
Back in America, LGT-2 was entered for the US Road Racing Championship finale; a 500 mile contest at Road America on September 14th. Once again, Pabst was forced to retire, this time after 30 laps with a radiator issue.
The car’s next outing should have been the 200-mile Los Angeles Time Grand Prix at Riverside on October 11th. However, a sticking throttle in practice saw the Lola crash heavily into a guard rail. Pabst was lucky to escape with his life as the top of the aluminium canopy was nearly shorn off.
Rather than have LGT-2 repaired, John Mecom Jr. decided to cut his losses and put the damaged Lola into storage.
He eventually sold the partially repaired car in 1986.
Notable History
John Mecom Jr. (Mecom Racing Team), Texas
Metallic Blue with White centre stripe
Temporarily registered on British trade plate 0142 KE
06/08/1963 IND Brands Hatch Guards Trophy (A. Pabst) DNF (#3)
4.7-litre Ford V8 replaced with a 6-litre Traco Chevrolet V8
01/12/1963 BSW Nassau Tourist Trophy Preliminary (A. Pabst) 1st oa, 1st GTP class (#00)
01/12/1963 BSW Nassau Tourist Trophy (A. Pabst) 1st oa, 1st GTP class (#00)
21/03/1964 WSC Sebring 12 Hours (A. Pabst / W. Hansgen) DNF (#20)
06/06/1964 CSC Mosport Player's 200 (A. Pabst) DNS (#9)
21/06/1964 SCA National Road America (A. Pabst) 7th oa, 2nd CM class (#2)
03/08/1964 IND Brands Hatch Guards Trophy (A. Pabst) 11th oa, 7th SP2.0+ class (#8)
Returned to Lola and modified with wide track suspension, bigger brakes with better cooling, improved driver ventilation, Cobra-style FIA wheels, GT40 hubs and flared wheelarches
13/09/1964 USR Road America 500 mile (A. Pabst) DNF (#1)
11/10/1964 IND Riverside 200 mile (A. Pabst) DNS (#24)
Damaged in Pabst’s practice crash at Riverside
1986 sold partially repaired to Gordon Gemball, Seattle
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: The Henry Ford Museum - https://www.thehenryford.org/
