Eric's career as a racing driver was short lived, in his own words "The Mk1 proved too quick for me. It was a very hairy and inexperienced and could not do justice to the car". A year later, using his £2000 savings, Eric formed Lola Cars Ltd and designed and built the very first Lola which was constructed at Maurice Gomm's West Byfleet workshop. At the time this area was a hotbed of racing car construction with both Brabham and Cooper nearby.

During the next four years thirty-five of the multi-tubular spaceframe Mark 1 (usually Coventry Climax-engined) 1098cc sports racers were built at business partner (and future Lola works manager) Rob Rushbrook’s garage in Bromley, South London.

The cars were offered in a wide variety of configurations as regards choice of engine, gearbox, wheels and tyres to allow the purchaser to fit the car to his budget. Before the advent of the Mk1 sports racing was very much dominated by Lotus and Elva however success was immediate with Peter Ashdown in particular leading his class with win after win.

Amongst all of these successes was Lola's first continental victory at Clermont-Ferrand and the Mark 1 would be the first sports car of any size to lap Brands Hatch in under one minute.

Fortunately, many Mk1s have survived and can be seen at Historic events all around the world where they are still just as competitive.