News Lola T70 from Steve McQueen’s ‘Le Mans’ up for auction

A vintage Lola race car – and one of the starring cars in Steve McQueen's cult-classic blockbuster 'Le Mans' – is set to go under the hammer at the Silverstone Auctions later this month.

Though currently in it's original 'Volvoline' livery, most who saw the 1970's film perhaps remember this T70 (a T70 Mk III B, to be precise) as the yellow No. 11 car that spun out after being nudged by a Porsche 911.

This particular Lola was also disquised as a Gulf Oil Porsche 917 and retrofitted with a remote control system, in preparation for a crash sequence.

However, the throttle jammed wide open as the car was being remotely guided towards Maison Blanche, and ended up burying itself deep into the Armco crash barrier.

Once shooting was finished, the T70 Mk III B – along with the two T70 Mk III's that had been trashed – were disposed of. However, since 1971, the car has miraculously survived, having been bought by a multitude of different owners, including Lola T70 historian John Starkey.

Indeed, it was Mr. Starkey who restored the car to it's former glory upon acquiring it in 1994. However, the Lola would have to wait ten more years and two more owners for the Valvoline livery to be re-applied.

Since then, this particular T70 has gone on to achieve much success in classic car racing, having won the Le Mans Classic race outright in 2004 and 2006, along with many more first-place finishes at other highly acclaimed vintage racing events.

And now, it's going up for auction, being accompanied with a nearly-new engine, a rebuilt transmission and differential, full FIA documents and a set of spares.

All for what the experts in this area of automotive auctions for somewhere in the region of £570,000 to £650,000.

Given the car's pretty interesting and unique history, it's worth every penny to us here at Team VVV!

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