A significant regulatory restructuring came into force for the 1972 season. The FIA merged Group 6, which had previously covered prototype cars with engines limited to three litres, with Group 5, which had included sportscars produced in quantities of at least twenty-five units. The merged category, officially designated Prototype-Sports Cars, set an engine displacement ceiling of 3,000 cc, a minimum weight of 650 kg, and removed the minimum production number requirement. The change was partly motivated by the extraordinary performance levels reached by the dominant Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512S and 512M in the preceding two seasons; regulators sought to rein in outright speeds.
The new framework allowed private teams to compete using engines derived from contemporary Formula One machinery, most notably the Ford Cosworth DFV V8, which was widely available for purchase. Lola boss Eric Broadley identified this as an opportunity to offer customers a competitive package for the new World Makes Championship, and initiated the design of two complementary cars: the T280 for the three-litre category and the T290 for a separate two-litre class.
Broadley designed the T280 alongside chief designer Bob Marston, with contributions from Patrick Head and John Barnard, both then in their twenties. The car used an aluminium alloy monocoque frame with fibreglass bodywork. A key structural distinction from the T290 was the use of the three-litre engine as a stressed member — a technique then common in Formula One — eliminating the need for a separate rear subframe. The rear brake discs were positioned at the differential output rather than at the wheel hubs, an arrangement necessitated by the wider rear wheels required to manage the engine's higher power output; the wheel rims were too narrow to accommodate outboard disc brakes of sufficient size.
The suspension layout at both ends used deformable wishbones, with upper longitudinal arms at the rear. The T280 was designed around the Ford Cosworth DFV as its primary engine.
The T282, introduced for the following season, brought aerodynamic refinements including a sharper nose profile and a full-width rear wing. Only one three-litre T282 was produced, purchased by Scuderia Filipinetti with Gitanes sponsorship. Four additional examples designated T286 were subsequently built in 1976 and 1977, incorporating aerodynamic modifications originally developed for the two-litre T292. A further variant, the T284, was created from the spare parts of the second Ecurie Bonnier chassis — number HU02 — which had been destroyed in the 1972 accident that killed Jo Bonnier. Swiss tuner Heini Mader assembled the surviving components for compatriot Heinz Schulthess, who raced the resulting car from 1974.
The T280 made its competition debut at the 1,000 kilometres of Buenos Aires in early 1972. Two T280-Cosworth DFV chassis were prepared by Jo Bonnier's Ecurie Bonnier team for the full 1972 World Makes Championship season, where they faced the official factory squads of Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Matra, along with the Mirage M6 cars of the John Wyer Automotive Engineering operation, also running Ford Cosworth DFV power. Early in the season the T280 demonstrated genuine pace: a victory at the 4 Hours of Le Mans in March 1972 pointed to competitive potential ahead of the main 24 Hours in June.
Tragedy struck at the 24 Hours of Le Mans itself, where Jo Bonnier was killed in an accident while running in third position. His death cast a shadow over the entire programme and effectively ended Ecurie Bonnier's 1972 campaign. The Ford Cosworth DFV engine also proved troublesome throughout the season, generating destructive vibrations that affected both the engine's own reliability and the cars built around it. The T280 therefore delivered only a fraction of the results its Le Mans showing had suggested.