Hold on and pay attention, because this story moves fast, and I only have 500 words to get it right.
Paul Wilson (also featured elsewhere in this book) met Tom Pollock while in grad school at the University of Virginia, and a long friendship ensued.
As a kid growing up in Washington, D.C., Pollock fell in love with an odd-looking sports car that had languished in the streets for years. Finally, the neighborhood had had enough, and they sent the police to tell the owner to either move it or it would be junked.
Pollock heard of the ordeal and without really knowing what the car was, agreed to pay $1 and take it away. He was just 14 years old at the time.
This is the car that started a series of great trades: a Peugeot Darl’Mat LeMans racer for which Paul Wilson’s friend Tom Pollock paid only $1 to become owner. Wilson later bought the car from his friend for $1,200. PAUL WILSON
Pollock dragged the car to his parent’s house, where it sat in the driveway for years. He found out the car was actually a Peugeot Darl’Mat, one of six aluminum-bodied cars built to race at Le Mans in 1937 and 1938.
Pollock had partially disassembled the car, but was meticulous about identifying the parts. In 1977, when he graduated from the University of Virginia and accepted a job at Texas A&M, Pollock sold the car to Wilson for $1,200.
Not convinced the historic Peugeot was one he needed to own long-term, he traded it for this 1964 Ferrari Lusso. After several years of ownership and tired of only driving it on the street, Wilson traded the Lusso…PAUL WILSON
Wilson fiddled with the car, but realized over time that the car was becoming increasingly valuable. “I was convinced by people to not restore the car,” Wilson says. “But I decided that it was not a car I really wanted to own. So in 1996, I traded it for a 1964 Ferrari Lusso.”
…for this 1966 Lola T-70 MKII. Now don’t get excited; the Lola arrived in baskets and required much restoration before it looked this good. PAUL WILSON
Today, the Peugeot resides in Fred Simeone’s incredible sports car museum in Philadelphia.
After seven years of Lusso ownership, Wilson decided he wanted a car he could race on the track rather than a Ferrari he could only drive on the street, so in 2003 he traded it for—get this—a 1965 Lola T-70 MK II. Granted, the car was disassembled and in need of total restoration, but Wilson was thrilled with his new acquisition.
“This Lola has a small-block Chevy engine,” he says. “And it’s one of the few vintage Can Am cars that retains its original chassis, wheels, suspension uprights, and transaxle.”
Wilson’s Lola was serial number #SL71/18, originally sold to South Carolina gentleman racer named Buck Fulp. Fulp raced the car in the USRRC when it was new in 1966. He won the Riverside and Watkins Glen races that year, and finished third at Mid-Ohio, but was eliminated from the championship after a freak eye injury and a broken shifter.
Wilson has owned the car for nine years, and took one year to complete its restoration.
Seeing Wilson pull the powerful Can Am Lola out of the small, enclosed trailer hitched to his Toyota pickup is a sight to behold. He now races the car a couple of times each year, alternating between it, his Elva, and his Jabro.
He said there is something special about driving this car, when compared to his four-cylinder racers. “It goes 165 down VIR’s backstretch,” he says. “And it’s a sweetheart. Lola built an amazingly customer-friendly car.”
So, get it? The $1 Peugeot begot a swap for a 1963 Ferrari Lusso, which begot a Lola Can Am car. Pretty amazing series of deals!