Over the weekend we were in Italy for the newly established Mugello Classic and were treated to some spectacular sports cars. Before we start creating our comprehensive coverage, we have taken a detailed look at several other sports cars that were not at Mugello but certainly could have been. They share the fact that they were funded by privateers and raced at Le Mans.
The most famous of the machines highlighted today is the De Cadenet Lola T380 Cosworth, which had been commissioned from Lola by Alain de Cadenet. He is today better known for his television work but he was a formidable driver in his day. De Cadenet certainly proved his worth behind the Cosworth DFV-powered T380, which he drove to third at Le Mans in 1976 together with Chris Craft. We captured the car resplendent in its original livery at the Le Mans Classic in 2012 and it is on the entry list again this year. The original T380 was followed by two more cars following the same design, known as the De Cadenet Lola LM, which were competitively raced well into the 1980s. The featured example is pictured at Le Mans and Silverstone.
Not quite as well known is the Nomad Mk 2 BRM, which was the second of three cars built by Bob Curl for privateer racer Mark Konig. While the original was powered by a small four-cylinder Ford engine, the Mk 2 featured the altogether more powerful BRM V8. It was raced at the Targa Florio and Le Mans in 1969 before it was replaced by the bigger and stronger Mk 3. Like the De Cadenet-Lola T380, the Nomad Mk 2 BRM was captured back at Le Mans in 2012.
Our action-packed Mugello Classic coverage will follow on Wednesday.

Enjoy the links:

1977 - 1978 De Cadenet-Lola LM Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information

1975 De Cadenet-Lola T380 Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information

1969 Nomad Mk 2 BRM - Images, Specifications and Information