Lola Cars was one of the established chassis suppliers to the CART series through the early and mid-1990s, regularly producing designs that competed at the front of the field depending on the team and engine combination fitted. The T95/00 was developed as the company's CART contender for 1995, a season in which the field featured fierce competition among the leading chassis suppliers and engine manufacturers.
The name follows Lola's standard convention for the period, with "T95" identifying the 1995 model year and "/00" denoting the open-wheel racing specification as distinct from other vehicle types the company designed.
The primary power unit fitted to the T95/00 was the Ford/Cosworth XB turbocharged engine, which produced between 800 and 850 hp (600 to 630 kW). This unit was the standard Cosworth product supplied to Ford-badged CART entries and represented one of the most competitive engine packages available in the series at the time.
Some T95/00 cars ran alternative power plants: the Mercedes-Benz IC108 engine, which was campaigned by Penske Racing and represented the highest-profile works effort in the series, and the Buick/Menard V6 Indy engine, which was used by a smaller number of independent entrants. The availability of multiple engine options reflected the T95/00's appeal across different team budgets and partnerships.
In the 1995 CART season the T95/00 showed improved form compared to previous Lola designs, achieving four race victories. This placed it among the competitive chassis options of the season, though the field remained closely contested among multiple manufacturers and engine suppliers throughout the year.
Following its CART campaign, the T95/00 was adopted by numerous teams for the inaugural 1996 Indy Racing League season. The IRL had been established as a rival series to CART, aimed at reducing costs and returning to an oval-racing focus, and many smaller teams carried over existing CART hardware into the new championship's first year. The T95/00 continued in use during the first two races of the 1996-97 IRL season before the series mandated a transition to entirely new chassis and engine specifications, ending the competitive life of the design.
The Lola T95/00 represents a transitional point in the history of both Lola Cars and American open-wheel racing. Its four victories in CART kept Lola competitive in a challenging period, while its subsequent adoption by IRL teams demonstrated the chassis' durability and cost-effectiveness as a piece of racing equipment. The T95/00's use across two different series — one the established pinnacle of North American open-wheel racing and the other the newly founded rival — reflects the turbulent era in which it competed, a period defined by the split between CART and the IRL that reshaped American motorsport for years afterward.
Gallery · 1 related image
