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It gave credibility to the CanAm that the first champion was the only man that had ever been a world champion racer on both two and four wheels. In 1966, John Surtees drove his small-block Chevy-powered Lola T-70 to wins at St. Jovite, Riverside, and Las Vegas in the short first season of this amazing series. No one else scored more than one win. The 1967 season brought on the beginning of the McLaren dominance and Surtees was lucky to just win the final race at Las Vegas.
GMP sells the Amelia Island Concours car as the car Surtees used in the 1967 series, but the reality is that the cars he drove in 1966 and 1967 were liveried as #7 for all but the first race of the 1966 season. For the 1967 season Surtees put the 1966 winner, a MkII, up for sale with Carl Haas to buy a MkIII but brought the MkII car back for the last race of the 1967 season in Las Vegas when he couldn't make the MkIII competitive. He won when Mark Donohue blew his engine on the last lap and Surtees was able to pass him for the win. Therefore, this is the car that won both the 1966 season and the last race of the 1967 season.
GMP has created a very nice model. The rear clip tips-up to reveal the engine with side-draft Webers and Hewland LG500 four-speed transaxle. The paint is flawless and graphics are well done with all the sponsor decals accurately positioned. GMP takes a few short cuts (the rearview mirror and the chin spoiler are different than the ones on the real car). Other than that, the car seems to, pretty accurately, represent the 1:1. If you're going to get a T-70, this is definitely the one to have. Additionally, at only 1500 produced, this car will be more rare than the #3 car that GMP questionably markets as the 1966 champion.
(09/18/2001)
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