You all know that the Ford GT40 is an amazing and iconic racing machine. Do you know about the car that came before it and paved the way for its lovely looks? That honor sits with the Lola Mk6, or Lola GT as it's also called. Just three examples were ever built and one of them just made a stop at Jay Leno's Garage.
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Lola was contracted by Ford to help turn one of its own designs into something the Blue Oval could take racing. The Lola Mk6 was created and it came bearing mid-engine fruit in the form of a Ford V-8. The first concept version of the Lola GT is the one you see in the video above. Two others were built and taken to racing circuits all over the world, with one of those two eventually seeing its Ford powerplant swapped in favor of Chevy running bits.
The Lola GT design led to the creation of the Ford GT40, which remains on the list of all-time motorsports greats.
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This particular car is owned by Allen Grant. He was a racing driver and mechanic for Carroll Shelby. The 1963 Lola Mk6 GT that he owns is the first one produced, and it was purchased in the mid 1960s for just $3,000, which Jay says equates to $40,000 or $50,000 today. That was a ton of money back then, especially for a vehicle with no engine or transmission. There's a Ford 260-cubic-inch V-8 under the rear Plexiglas, and the rest of the car is in absolutely pristine shape, having been recently restored after sitting unmolested for many years.
This is a true piece of motoring history, and it's worth quite a bit more than $3,000 now. It's probably a seven-figure car, making that investment so many years ago a very wise one.
