Eric Broadley

Eric Harrison Broadley MBE (22 September 1928 – 28 May 2017) was a British entrepreneur, engineer, and founder and chief designer of Lola Cars, the motor racing manufacturer and engineering company. He was arguably one of the most influential automobile designers of the post-war period, and over the years Lola was involved with many high-profile projects in Formula One, Indy car, and sports car racing. Broadley sold Lola to Martin Birrane in 1997.

Biography Early years Eric Broadley was indentured to a building company as a young man in the late 1940s, and after completing his studies took a job as a quantity surveyor. In his spare time Broadley was heavily involved in motor racing with the 750 Motor Club. In common with the majority of other competitors – including Colin Chapman, Frank Costin and Brian Hart – he built his own cars around Austin 7 chassis, using home-made and proprietary parts. His first car, the Broadley Special) was built in 1956 to comply with rules governing the "Ford Ten Special" (or "1172 Special" Although, as Broadley freely admits, the Mk1 was too powerful for his level of driving skill , in 1958 he became the first man ever to lap the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in under one minute. Once it was sorted it beat the Lotus XIs "with monotonous regularity" (notably in the hands of Peter Ashdown, who racked up at least a score of wins, including a class win and sixth overall at the 1959 Tourist Trophy). all with the Coventry-Climax. (91ci) V8 later became available. Though John Surtees and Roy Salvadori proved quick in them, for only 250 hp (186 kW), enough to put it in the running for the 1963 Vingt-Quatre Heurs du Mans until the gearbox balked and David Hobbs crashed. The first cars from the newly independent company were the new Mark 5As for Midland Racing Partnership (as used by Attwood), now redesignated Mark 53. The derivative Mark 54 Formula Two single-seater, also used by Midlands, gave Attwood seconds at Pau, Albi, and the Nürburgring, while Maggs came second at Aintree. The other 1965 debut, the T70, was just the opposite, "destined to become one of the most successful and long lived of sports cars".

Offerings in Formula Two, Formula Three, Formula Ford, Formula Vee, Formula Super Vee, Formula Atlantic, and Can-Am kept Broadley very busy in the '70s. despite Gardner's presence. For all that, and for all the "bewildering variety", few Lolas were real failures. and in late 1996 Broadley announced the team's participation in the near future. The team had originally intended to enter F1 in 1998, but entered a year early in 1997, Broadley saying that this was due to commercial pressures from the team's sponsors, primarily from title sponsor, MasterCard. This was due to MasterCard's ardour to launch its "F1 Club" for card holders to provide funding to Lola. Broadley had also planned for Lola to become both a chassis and engine constructor like Ferrari with this entry. The design of this proposed Lola in-house V10 engine was to be overseen by Al Melling, with the engine intended to be designed specifically to take into account the rear streamlining of the car and the underneath of the car in the area of the diffuser. However, the engine was not developed in time and Lola were compelled to use the Ford ECA Zetec-R V8 engine, the same specification V8 as used by the defunct Forti team in the season. During pre-season in early-February 1997 before Lola had launched even launched their 1997 car Broadley declared that Lola in their first season as a team should be looking to beat another team that was also newly entered into Formula One for 1997-Stewart Grand Prix. Broadley also cited the Arrows team who would also use Bridgestone tyres in 1997 like Lola (along with Prost, Minardi and Stewart) and had signed 1996 champion Damon Hill as another team Lola could benchmark itself against during its debut season. The car which Lola had created to enter the 1997 Formula One World Championship - the T97/30 - designed by Broadley and Chris Saunders was launched on 20 February 1997 at the Hilton Hotel, London, England. At this launch, Broadley stated it was the longer-term aim of him team to win the World Championship within four years.

Vincenzo Sospiri, an International Formula 3000 champion and Formula One test driver, and Ricardo Rosset were signed to drive for Lola. The cars were tested at Silverstone shortly after the Australian Grand Prix but both were again slowest with times in excess of 9 seconds off the front runners. On 26 March 1997, the Wednesday before the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lola announced it was withdrawing from the Brazil race due to "financial and technical problems". Lola's staff, who had already travelled to Interlagos, returned to the team's base in Huntingdon, England. Shortly afterwards, Lola withdrew from the World Championship outright thus ending Broadley's dream of a successful full works Lola F1 team. The disastrous F1 effort caused Lola Cars to enter administration in 1997, with the company sold the same year to businessman Martin Birrane, who owned the company until it closed in 2012. Broadley admitted in a 2008 feature for Motor Sport that the F1 project was a disaster and he only decided to enter the sport as a works team due to Broadley's separate composites business struggling to get off the ground as well as his declining health and heart bypass surgery right before the F1 project which Broadley stated meant he "didn't have the energy" to address the problems of the T97/30.

Death He died on 28 May 2017, at Cambridge, aged 88.