are any of the lolas new?

[rosawendel]

curious: i know there was a chassis development freeze put in place a couple of years ago, and there's supposedly been talk of a new chassis for 2005 (before more urgent needs for attention presented themselves).

i'm wondering with all the team and driver shuffling going on, and the (apparent) retirement of the reynard, does anyone know if any of the lolas being run this year are brand new, or are there enough of the existing ones (from recent years past) to supply the teams?

my guess is, with finances the way they are these days, that all the lolas are recycled from previous years...

[MAXAR RE]

The aero development freeze doesn't stop Lola from making new cars for customers; it simply prevents their engineers from continuing to re-engineer the chassis on a weekly basis. Teams can buy Lolas as fast as Lola can make them, and Lola would be exstatic if all the teams switched to Lolas (which it looks like they all have, unless Hemelgarn happens).

[Audi_A4]

would a 2004 lola have a different model designation than say a 2002 lola with an update kit?

[Insomniac]

would a 2004 lola have a different model designation than say a 2002 lola with an update kit?

I don't think there is a "2004" Lola. The aero freeze has been in place since the middle of the 2002 season as teams were switching to the Lola.

[JoeBob]

There is a Lola shortage at the moment. It seems that Honda acquired the Fernandez and Rahal cars (along with all the spares) for their museum in Japan. (Eric Bachelart alluded to this shortage here: http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=7596 )

Since teams want to win, and a Lola chassis seems to be the way to do it, Lola is building some more.

[Wally]

Yeah right the friggin museum. :shakehead

Bastages

[FRANKY]

Is Lola building any?

[Ankf00]

liked rahal ever ran a honda with the new lolas :rolleyes:

[Winston Wolfe]

Last time Rahole \ Baldi-Locks ran a Honda\ Lola combo was back in 1994 or 1995, and I dont think that was a "recent" chassis.... :shakehead

What an absolutely classless move by both Rahal & Honda.... but Rahole has been re-defining classless for the last two or three years now.

Those chassis' will NEVER leave US soil, and the Honda museum certainly isnt going to add a couple of cars that never won anything, and never even had a honda powerplant in 'em..... Bastages is right. Fargin Snaky Iceholes is more like it ( Johnny Dangerously was a great flick!)

[Madmaxfan2]

The Rahal and Fernadez Lolas join Penske Reynards and Team Green Lolas in that Jap Honda musuem! :shakehead More like the scorched earth policy to kill the IRL competition (read ChampCar ).

[nrc]

That's something to keep in mind when people like Clarke deny that they are writing big checks to lure these owners away from ChampCar. These deals probably don't take the form of one big check. It's more likely a big pot of money that gets paid to the traitors through a variety of channels. Buying used equipment, probably at a premium price serves the dual purpose of putting more money in their pocket and making life difficult for any potential new ChampCar entries.

[Steve99]

The bright side of this is that Lola gets to build/sell new cars, instead of CCWS teams paying money to the traitors for theirs.

Maybe Lola should keep cranking them out and see how many Honda wants to buy? :rofl:

[Madmaxfan2]

What is ironic is this, the Rahal and Fernadez Lola's used Ford's as the powerplants and the Penske Reynards came from Penske which now uses Toyota Powerplants in the IRL now and that Penske in his initial IRL effort used the Chevy engine. Yeah, Honda really values those purchased items for it's Motegi Musuem for the sentimental value to the brand. :shakehead

[JT265]

Which supports the reason why Clarke & Co. can walk thru a pit of dangerous vipers and have no worries about being bitten.

Professional courtesy in full bloom. :thumdown:

[Insomniac]

There is a Lola shortage at the moment. It seems that Honda acquired the Fernandez and Rahal cars (along with all the spares) for their museum in Japan. (Eric Bachelart alluded to this shortage here: http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=7596 )

Since teams want to win, and a Lola chassis seems to be the way to do it, Lola is building some more.

Where did you see that Honda took the Fernandez and Rahal Lolas? I didn't see it in the article.

[Insomniac]

What is ironic is this, the Rahal and Fernadez Lola's used Ford's as the powerplants and the Penske Reynards came from Penske which now uses Toyota Powerplants in the IRL now and that Penske in his initial IRL effort used the Chevy engine. Yeah, Honda really values those purchased items for it's Motegi Musuem for the sentimental value to the brand. :shakehead

Fernandez did run with Honda power until 2003 and I think Honda did buy his team the Lola when they saw Reynard was going out of business. Also, the Penske Reynards you refer to one back-to-back CART championships with Honda power before he left for the IRL.

But why they'd want AF's car for a museum I have no idea (and I mean for some reason like a legitimate racing milestone, what do you put on the sign besides AF's car? Maybe he got punted and showed his ass on TV?).

[Spicoli]

A pretty good source at IRL tells me that Honda did NOT buy anyone's lolas.

[bigdcart]

A pretty good source at IRL tells me that Honda did NOT buy anyone's lolas.
So is this honda/lola story bogus?

[Insomniac]

So is this honda/lola story bogus?

I've seen no comfirmation/proof it is true. But if you still want to be mad, they did take back some Lolas they bought in 2002 when they left. ;)

[JoeBob]

My post was speculation that I've heard. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Also, it was mentioned on SPEED News Last night that Lola is working on a new batch of chassis.