Stepping out of the past

Back in 1970, Jackie Oliver tried a privateer Lola T70 for size down in Buenos Aires. Fifty-five years later we reunite him with the car and its starry history, as Damien Smith reports

- Damien Smith

Just another race, just another distant memory. Jackie Oliver reckons he doesn't remember much about the 1970 Buenos Aires 1000Kms and his drive in the Lola T70 MKIIIB you see here, which he shared with rising local hero Carlos Reutemann. It was, after all, 55 years ago. But at 82, Oliver is still as sharp as he ever was, still at heart the chippy Essex racer who evolved into a world-weary but fiercely independent Formula 1 team owner. Press him gently and the memories begin to flood back.

Ulf Norinder: the larger-than-life privateerThe hirsute, flamboyant Swede was the kind of eccentric who was drawn to motor racing

Born into wealth, Ulf Norinder, right, raced a Maserati 200S and Porsche 718 in his twenties when he befriended compatriot Jo Bonnier. In the 1960s, despite his size, he campaigned a Lotus 22 Formula Junior, then acquired Ferrari 250 GTO chassis 3445GT, which he painted in Sweden's blue and yellow for a 1964 campaign that included a remarkable ninth at the Targa Florio.

By 1969, Norinder had the taste for Lolas. He bought and raced a T142 Formula 5000 – a single-seater big enough to suit him – and T70 SL76/141. Norinder shared the T70 with Bonnier at the Daytona 24 Hours. But while it marked the T70's finest day thanks to Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons in Roger Penske's version, SL76/141 was part of the race's infamous high rate of attrition, retiring with accident damage after the promise of qualifying fifth.

Undeterred, Norinder pressed on to the Sebring 12 Hours where the T70 carried its Valvoline livery, only for a radius arm mounting to fail. Further outings in Europe included world championship rounds at Brands Hatch and Monza, but by the latter Norinder had painted over the blue stripe following a split with Valvoline.

Norinder contracted cancer and died in Monaco in 1978, aged just 44.