Buying & Restoring a GTP Corvette

So I made a deal to buy the 1st ever Lola Corvette GTP car

Lola built 9 chassis back in the 80s w Corvettish bodies. They used either a V6 Turbo or a V8 and I've heard they were extremely fast but a little fragile & thirsty compared to the dominating Porsche 962s.

Mine is all apart right now so You guys get to see pics of the rebuild

I believe mine is Lola T711-HU02 run by lee racing
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Very Cool!

What motor will you use?

 

A nice big aluminum V8 Can Am style engine is always nice

No idea where I'd find a turbo V6. The V6 made up to 1200 hp & I've heard they were lightning at Daytona & the drivers were very comfortable everywhere on the track but they were very thirsty which allowed 962s to pull ahead

Mine ran at the Glen, Daytona, Sebring, & other tracks

 

William,

as I have said in the past, please reach out to chuck mallet in Cornelius, NC. Chuck was on the original design team for the project and is capable of doing anything you would need for this car. let me know if you need his contact info?

very cool addition by the way!!!

Peter

 

I always thought that the Group 44 Jaguars and the Corvette GTPs were the two most beautiful cars in that series.

 

I think they ran 3.4L V6, although not the Buick design. They were destroked 4.3L Chevy motors.

I'd bet you could find a 3.4L Turbo built to race specs (maybe ex-Indy motor?)...

 

It comes w a V6 block which I'll probably keep in the warehouse for historic purposes & run a V8

 

There was a TransAm that ran one (as did the Buick GNX?) so I'd think it wouldn't be impossible to find, unless the crusher has taken them.

 

TA Performance had aluminum blocks and other items:

TA Performance Products Inc. - Your Leader in Buick Automotive Parts and Accessories

The 3.8L was so popular that I'm sure you can get these relatively easy. I remember Buddy Ingersoll's Pro Stock turbo V6 that was immediately outlawed.

That was a STOCK displacement (231ci), twin turbo Buick against 700ci+ custom V8 motors. The little Buick was a kick ass engine.

 

Might ask Ryan Falconer who was involved with the program.

reference
Inside IMSA's Legendary GTP Race Cars: The Prototype Experience - James A. Martin, Michael J. Fuller - Google Books

read the article from page 108 in the link.

Link to Falconer's shop in Chino Valley, AZ. I went to HS with his son in Carmel california when his shop was in Salinas for a long time and he lived in Carmel.

Welcome to Ryan Falconer Racing Engines! - Home

As an aside he built the motor in Jim's "Boot" if I remember correctly.

Great project and good luck with it, looking forward to following the thread. Ryan has been building turbo motors for a long time for everything from snow mobiles to indy cars.

 

Since the V6 was a destroked 4.3ltr production GM block will there be an issue with numbers not matching or is it one of those "Skunk Works" blocks pulled off the line with no stamp ID and chassis specific with documentation? Does this specific chassis allow you to switch between the V6 and V8 blocks?

 

Yes I can run V6 or V8 which is great

Will likely use an aluminum V8

would be fun to add a sequential box & Active wing

 

Easy on the active wing William. They had a habit of activating at the wrong time. Keep the wing set and you will have more than enough car. Big power gets at you in a great big hurry.

 

Nice buy. By the time Rick Hendrick ran his Corvette GTP car it was a lot different than the original one you have. They chose to go with the turbo V6, and quite the compact unit it was as I saw it out of the car.
They were almost always the fastest in qually, had reliability issues in the races, but when it ran well, it was a superb car!
GV27TIFOSI

 

Subscribed!
Pete

 

Actually, WilliamH's car is the Hendrick car that won at Road Atlanta (chassis number T710-HU01):

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QRwYgpnpUc]1986 IMSA Road Atlanta - Corvette GTP 1st Win - YouTube[/ame]