Most legendary race cars stay dead. Lola just proved that doesn’t have to be true — and built something wilder than anyone expected in the process.
The British company behind some of motorsport’s most storied machinery has announced a run of just 16 continuation cars based on the iconic T70 sports prototype, and the details are extraordinary enough to make serious collectors rethink everything they thought they knew about what a continuation car can be.
A race car that once embarrassed Ford and Porsche returns
I’ll be honest — when I first heard “continuation run,” I braced for a glorified replica with a plaque and a tall price tag. The T70S is something else entirely. In the 1960s, the original T70 didn’t just race; it won the Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca Raceway and went wheel-to-wheel with the Ford GT40 and Porsche 908 at the peak of endurance racing’s golden era. That legacy carries real weight in 2026.
Lola used 3D scans of the original T70 alongside archive drawings to rebuild the car from scratch, reengineering every component with modern materials and precision manufacturing while keeping the silhouette and soul intact. The company says “every component has been re-engineered to meet contemporary standards of precision while remaining faithful to the original design.” That’s not marketing language — that’s a structural rebuild dressed in a period-correct skin.
530 horsepower and a 2.5-second sprint from a car made of sugarcane
Here’s where the real story gets interesting. The T70S uses a 5.0-liter small-block Chevrolet V8 producing 530 horsepower and 425 pound-feet of torque — a direct nod to the original Can-Am racer’s American engine philosophy. That combination punches the car from zero to 62 mph in just 2.5 seconds, which is a genuinely staggering number for a car with that power output.
The secret is the bodywork. Lola developed a patent-pending material called the Lola Natural Composite System, or LNCS, which replaces the original fiberglass panels with something far more interesting. According to Lola, LNCS uses “all-natural plant and basalt fibers with a fully renewable resin system derived from sugar cane processing waste, resulting in a groundbreaking 100% ‘natural’ (petrochemical-free) bodywork system.” A race car chassis built partly from agricultural waste — in 2026, that’s not a gimmick. That’s forward engineering.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Engine (Track) | 5.0L Chevrolet small-block V8 |
| Power Output | 530 hp / 425 lb-ft torque |
| 0–62 mph (Track) | 2.5 seconds |
| Engine (GT Road Version) | 6.2L Chevrolet V8 |
| 0–62 mph (GT Road) | 2.9 seconds |
| Bodywork Material | LNCS — plant, basalt fiber, sugarcane resin |
| Total Production Run | 16 units (track + GT combined) |
| Test Driver | Johnny Herbert, former Formula 1 driver |
The GT version that wants to be driven on a Tuesday
Lola didn’t stop at the track car. Because the company is British at its core, it also developed a road-registered T70 GT variant — a version refined with better ergonomics, climate control, revised dampers, and a smoother transmission setup. The GT uses a larger 6.2-liter Chevrolet V8, though actual horsepower figures come in slightly lower than the track car’s 530. The 0–62 sprint takes a relatively modest 2.9 seconds.
That extra 0.4 seconds sounds like a compromise until you remember this is a road-legal car based on a 1960s endurance racer. Former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert served as the test driver for the program, which tells you everything about the performance bar Lola set for itself. Both variants — track and GT — are folded into that single 16-unit production run, making each example spectacularly rare regardless of which version a buyer secures.
Why 16 units and no published price is actually the right move
Lola hasn’t published an official price for the T70S, and I think that’s deliberate. When you’re building 16 total units of a car with this kind of heritage, historical significance, and technical ambition, you don’t post a number on a website. You invite serious inquiries from serious buyers. The market for these cars operates on a different logic than showroom pricing.
What Lola is effectively offering is a piece of motorsport history that was previously impossible to own — not a restored original, not a replica, but a properly engineered continuation with modern safety standards, sustainable materials, and the blessing of the original manufacturer. The five-speed manual transmission and double-wishbone suspension keep the driving experience period-correct. The LNCS bodywork and precision manufacturing bring it firmly into 2026. That combination doesn’t have a direct comparable in the market right now.
What this signals about where continuation cars are heading
The T70S is proof that continuation programs have graduated past nostalgia. This isn’t a garage-built tribute — Lola used 3D scanning, archive research, modern composites, and F1-level test driving to produce something genuinely credible on a racetrack. The LNCS material alone could influence how niche manufacturers approach lightweight body construction going forward.
For the 16 buyers who land one of these, the T70S represents an intersection that rarely exists: extreme rarity, legitimate provenance, period-correct dynamics, and a technology story that will only become more relevant as materials science evolves. I’d argue Lola just redefined what it means to revive a race car — and the industry would do well to pay attention.
If this is the kind of automotive history and engineering that gets your pulse up, now is the time to reach out to Lola directly. With only 16 units confirmed, the window to secure one is almost certainly already closing — and cars with this pedigree don’t tend to resurface at anything close to their original ask.
