# Lola T90/00 (IndyCar)

- Source: https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/lola-t90-00/
- Publisher: Racing Car Network (racingcarnetwork.com), the race car marketplace
- Type: car · Brand: Lola
- Discipline: formula
- Series: indycar
- Era: 1990s
- Last updated: 2026-07-06

The Lola T90/00 owned the 1990 CART season: 12 wins from the year including Arie Luyendyk's record-speed Indianapolis 500, and Al Unser Jr's first championship — the high-water mark of Lola's American open-wheel empire.

## Specifications

| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Engine | 2.65 L Ilmor-Chevrolet 265-A turbo V8 |
| Power | 735–800 hp |
| Weight | ~703 kg (CART minimum era) |
| Gearbox | Lola/Hewland 6-speed manual |
| Chassis | Honeycomb composite monocoque, carbon top |
| Aero | Road/street + superspeedway configurations |
| Years | 1990–1992 (front-line 1990) |
| Class | CART IndyCar |

## History

By 1990 Lola had displaced March as CART's dominant customer constructor, and the T90/00 was the dynasty's peak expression: a honeycomb-composite monocoque with carbon upper structure, double-wishbone pushrod suspension, and configuration flexibility — high-downforce kit for streets and road courses, low-drag superspeedway trim with revised geometry — that let one chassis fight everywhere from Long Beach to Indianapolis.

Most front-line teams ran it with the Ilmor-Chevrolet 265-A turbo V8 (735–800 hp): Galles-Kraco carried Al Unser Jr to his first CART title with six wins, Doug Shierson Racing's Luyendyk won the Indianapolis 500 at a 185.981 mph average that stood as the race record for over two decades, and customer T90/00s filled grids deep into the midfield — 12 wins from the 16-race season.

Surviving chassis are now premier vintage-Indycar property: documented by Lola Heritage's records, campaigned in historic CART/Indy demonstrations and US vintage open-wheel events, with Indy-connected cars (the Shierson winner is museum property) at the collector summit and 'ordinary' race chassis offering genuine 800 hp ground-effect-era IndyCar ownership at a fraction of F1-equivalent money.

## Palmarès

1990 CART champion (Al Unser Jr, Galles-Kraco, six wins); Indianapolis 500 winner 1990 (Luyendyk, Shierson) at a record 185.981 mph average; 12 CART race wins from the 1990 season across works-supported and customer teams; continued customer wins into 1991 as updated T91/00s took over the front.

## What to check before you buy

Lola Heritage's type records authenticate chassis numbers and histories — start there, because period teams swapped tubs and identities across seasons. Verify which engine the car carries now: period Ilmor-Chevys are lease-legacy rarities, and most vintage runners use Cosworth DFS or later rebuilds — legitimate, but priced differently from an original-spec package. Check honeycomb tub condition (delamination and crash repairs need specialist inspection), turbo-era fuel-system health for methanol use, and running-support realities: a T90/00 needs Indy-literate crew, and cars sold with spares and data from the US vintage scene are worth their premium.

## Did you know

- Luyendyk's 185.981 mph average at Indy 1990 stood as the 500's race record until 2013 — set in a customer chassis anyone could buy.
- The T90/00's superspeedway kit changed suspension geometry to lengthen the effective wheelbase — one tub, two aerodynamic personalities.
- 1990 was the summit of Lola's customer model in America: within six years Reynard's arrival and works politics ended the Huntingdon marque's CART dominance.

## Related entries

- Dallara IR18 (IndyCar) — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/dallara-ir18/
- Lola T70 Mk3B — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/lola-t70-mk3b/
- McLaren MP4/4 — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/mclaren-mp4-4/
- Swift 014.a (Formula Atlantic) — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/swift-014/