The famous British racing car constructor Lola has ceased trading and has ceased to be after administrators failed to find a new buyer.
The company originally filed for administration back in May this year, citing the recent economic downturn as the primary reason for this move. Debts for the business reportedly totalled more than £20 million.
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Until now the company continued to trade while administrators attempted to find buyers for both Lola Cars International and Lola Composites.
While a deal is still being discussed for the acquisition of the Composites business, Lola Cars itself has closed down, and the remaining staff have been laid off.
The administrators for Lola Cars concluded that haven't not found an "acceptable offer" the business could not be sold, though the existing assets will likely be sold off in the near future.
History of Lola
Lola Cars was originally established back in 1958 and it firmly established itself as one of the most popular and successful racing constructors in the world.
The company partnered with many car manufacturers and racing teams to design and distribute racing cars in many different categories. Lola's history includes chassis designs for Formula One and partnerships in Le Mans racing with manufacturers including Aston Martin and MG.
Together with Aston Martin, a Lola chassis race car (known as the B09/60) was able to win the 2009 Le Mans championship in the LMP1 category.
Track cars for the public
Outside of motorsport championships, Lola cars have also got involved in developing track cars members of the public could buy.
In 2011 Lola Cars partnered with British kit car maker Caterham to create the SP/300.R track day model.
The vehicle itself is not road legal, and production is restricted to just 25 units per year, each selling at £60,000.
Public motorists could get their hands on this example of Lola engineering however, which has a 300bhp 2.0-litre Ford engine. That combined with the low slung, ultra-lightweight chassis allowed the SP/300.R to cover the 0-60mph sprint in just 2.5 seconds, while the top speed is set at 170mph.
For more retrospective views of Lola Cars, you can check out MotorTorque's special Lola Cars image gallery here.
Written by Stephen Goldasz