Eric Harrison Broadley MBE was a British entrepreneur, engineer, and founder and chief designer of Lola Cars, the motor racing manufacturer and engineering company.
16 Facts About Eric Broadley
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Eric Broadley 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.
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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.
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The Eric Broadley Special was an instant success, winning a number of local and national events in the UK.
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Although, as Eric Broadley freely admits, the Mk1 was too powerful for his level of driving skill [1], in 1958 he became the first man ever to lap the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in under one minute.
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The Lola Mk4 featured the usual tubular spaceframe, with an innovative front suspension using lower wishbones and upper transverse links with radius arms, while the rear had upper and lower transverse links and radius arm; Eric Broadley's idea continued to be used into the 1970s.
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Eric Broadley, used to being his own boss, quit after 12 months, and as the FAV factory was in the name of Lola Cars, retained the plant forcing Ford to move to a different factory on the estate.
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In 1968, Eric Broadley returned to Indianapolis with the T150, suitable for either two- or four-wheel-drive; four-wheel-drive proved preferable, but even the greater traction could not prevent Unser from crashing.
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Eric Broadley prepared the T160, to replace the outclassed T70, for Can-Am, providing several to American privateers, while Surtees, who planned to run a Chevy-powered Weslake-prepared car, broke with Lola and was uncompetitive.
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Eric Broadley stretched it further, into the T192, and asked Gardner to oversee development testing from then on.
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Eric Broadley had very minor involvement in the Haas-Lola Formula One project which spanned the 1985 and 1986 Formula One seasons being named as chief engineer in 1985.
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Amusingly, the THL1 and THL2 chassis used by Haas-Lola were referred to as 'Lolas' and sometimes included amongst Lola Grand Prix results even though Lola Cars were not officially involved in the Haas-Lola project due to the fact team ower Carl Haas had a close association with Eric Broadley, who was appointed chief engineer for the team.
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Eric Broadley had planned for Lola to become both a chassis and engine constructor like Ferrari with this entry.
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Eric Broadley cited the Arrows team who would use Bridgestone tyres in 1997 like Lola and had signed 1996 champion Damon Hill as another team Lola could benchmark itself against during its debut season.
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At this launch, Eric Broadley stated it was the longer-term aim of him team to win the World Championship within four years.
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Eric Broadley died on 28 May 2017, at Cambridge, aged 88.