Indianapolis, May 1967. Delayed during qualifying, Frank Lance and A.J. Foyt are in the process of installing a new magneto in Foyt’s Coyote/Ford. [Photo Frank Lance Collection]

Story by Willem Oosthoek

With John Mecom winding down his racing program, Frank Lance left the Mecom team at the end of 1966, but he had fond memories of his time there.

Frank: “In 1966 Mecom flew in some of his company people, as well as my wife Carolyn, to see the Indianapolis 500. His company airplane was a four-engine Lockheed Electra. They flew up just for the day, and flew back to Houston that night, after celebrating Graham Hill’s win in the Mecom Lola. I got to see Carolyn for a few minutes before the race and for a couple of hours afterward. I had been away from her for the whole month. Carolyn had a seat in the stands behind the pits, with all of the drivers’ wives. I thought it was very thoughtful of Mecom to include her on that trip to Indy. By 1967 the theaters would show the race in closed circuit. My mother came up to Houston to help Carolyn with the kids, and they all went to see the race there in Houston. This was the first time my mother ever got to see what it was that I was doing for a living.

Galveston, Summer of 1966. Frank Lance next to one of John Mecom’s Lola T70s. Although Galveston was not an important race, the car was entered for George Follmer since Mecom liked to support his hometown events. Afterward the crew would have a party at John’s apartment at the Galveston Yacht Club. No, your eyes are not going bad, the face is a bit blurred int the original photograph. [Photo: Frank Lance Collection]

Story by Willem Oosthoek

After a year with Shelby American, the lack of insight in the future with the Ford program after the Le Mans disaster made Frank Lance return to his previous employer, John Mecom in Houston. Little did he know what a success story the Fords would become at Le Mans in 1966 and 1967. He rejoined the Mecom Racing Team in July 1965.

Frank: “When I got back to Mecom’s I never saw the Hussein. I didn’t know where it was. It was not in the shop. The Lola Mk 6 Coupe wasn’t there either. John didn’t keep his old race cars for long. All that was present at the time were two Lolas T70.”

Part 2

By Harry Hurst
Photos courtesy John Mecom collection
Read Part 1

At one point you were the Lola distributor for North America. How did that come about and how did it end?
The beginning was when I bought what I thought was the first Lola GT – the one I saw at the London Racing Car. We became the distributor and went to the races with spare parts and support. We probably sold more than 20 T-70s. We spent a lot of money representing Lola. We were very sincere about it. And from time to time we made sure Eric could go on to the next day of production. But Carl came along with a better deal and Eric took it. I, unfortunately, did everything by handshake. Our friendship was over after that happened.