Racing Relic - In the golden decades of motorsport innovation, many remarkable cars emerged not from massive manufacturers but from determined engineers and small workshops driven by passion. These projects often blended experimentation, creativity, and a willingness to challenge conventional thinking. Among the fascinating creations from that era is
the Lenham-Hurst GT, a rare sports racing machine that reflects the ambitious spirit of independent British engineering in the late 1960s.
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| The 1968 Lenham-Hurst GT, a rare sports racing machine that reflects the ambitious spirit of independent British engineering in the late 1960s. (Picture from: en.Springbook.de) |
The story begins with Julian Kingsford-Booty,
founder of the Lenham Motor Company in 1962. Initially, the company gained recognition for producing fiberglass body kits designed to transform
the modest Austin-Healey Sprite into a more aerodynamic fastback known as
the Lenham Sprite. These conversions demonstrated
Kingsford-Booty’s fascination with lightweight materials and streamlined shapes—concepts that would later influence more ambitious racing designs.
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| The Lenham-Hurst GT, built in 1968, featured a lightweight space-frame chassis with a central aluminium tub and fiberglass bodywork, appearing either as a gullwing-door coupe or an open sports racer. (Picture from: en.Springbook.de) |
A major turning point came in 1969 when Kingsford-Booty partnered with racing enthusiast Roger Hurst to establish Lenham-Hurst Racing. Their aim was to develop a new generation of sports racing cars using advanced design thinking of the time. The resulting machines, including
the P69 and
P70 racers,
were built on lightweight space-frame chassis with a central aluminium tub and fiberglass bodywork.
Some versions featured distinctive gullwing doors on the coupe models, while others were configured as open sports racers. Power typically came from mid-mounted four-cylinder engines supplied by
Ford,
Lotus, or
Cosworth, providing strong performance while keeping weight to a minimum.
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| The Lenham-Hurst GT, built in 1968 by Roger Hurst and initially known as the Hurst GT, was designed primarily for racing despite company literature suggesting possible road use. (Picture from: Fahrzeuge.rezbach.de) |
Within this experimental environment emerged the car known as
the Lenham-Hurst GT,
originally built in 1968 by Hurst and initially referred to as the Hurst GT. Although company literature occasionally suggested the possibility of road use, the car’s design clearly reflected its racing ambitions.
Its bodywork was shaped for aerodynamic efficiency,
while the chassis emphasized rigidity and balance.
Inside,
the cockpit was sparse and functional, prioritizing driver focus rather than comfort, which was typical of competition-focused sports prototypes of the period.
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| The 1968 Lenham-Hurst GT bodywork was shaped for aerodynamic efficiency, while the chassis emphasized rigidity and balance. (Picture from: en.Springbook.de) |
The car quickly proved its competitive potential.
In 1969,
Roger Hurst partnered with Ray Calcutt and successfully won the STP Motorsport Championship with the GT.
When racing regulations later allowed open-top cars,
the vehicle was converted into a Spider configuration by the end of that season.
For the 1970 campaign,
French driver François Libert took the wheel.
Unfortunately, the car suffered a severe accident at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry,
after which it was transferred to the Lenham-associated company Société Darnval.
Decades later,
in 1994,
British collector David Methley acquired the damaged car and carried out a meticulous restoration.
The revived machine returned to racing events in 2002 and,
by 2005,
managed to win its class at every event it entered.
The car runs with a Cosworth FVA engine and is currently owned by a racing car collector from Denmark.
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| The 1973 Lenham-Hurst GTR was conceived as a street-capable grand touring version of the lightweight racing platform. (Picture from: en.Springbook.de) |
Alongside the racing GT,
another intriguing derivative appeared:
the Lenham-Hurst GTR,
a road-legal interpretation of the P69 race car concept.
Developed by Kingsford-Booty,
Hurst,
and engineer David Miall-Smith,
the GTR was conceived as a street-capable grand touring version of the lightweight racing platform.
Originally,
three cars were planned,
but only a single example was completed in 1973. Like the racing model,
the GTR used a space-frame structure with a central aluminium tub designed by Peter Coleman and fiberglass bodywork.
Its mid-mounted engine layout originally featured a Lotus twin-cam unit, later replaced with a 1.6-litre Lotus twin-cam producing around 140 horsepower,
paired with a Renault four-speed transaxle.
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| The Lenham-Hurst GTR used a mid-mounted Lotus twin-cam engine, later upgraded to a 1.6-litre version producing about 140 horsepower and paired with a Renault four-speed transaxle. (Picture from: en.Springbook.de) |
The lone GTR eventually made its way to Sweden in 1987,
where it remained for decades before attracting the attention of retired aircraft engineer Tom Karlsson.
In 2017 he purchased the car in poor condition and embarked on a demanding three-year restoration that consumed roughly 2,500 hours of work. The project included replacing the original perspex windscreen with laminated glass, improving the door mechanisms, refining body components, and installing a heater and defrost system to make the car more usable on public roads.
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| The Lenham-Hurst GTR, completed as a single example in 1973, featured a space-frame structure with a central aluminium tub designed by Peter Coleman and fiberglass bodywork similar to its racing counterpart. (Picture from: en.Springbook.de) |
Seen together,
the Lenham-Hurst GT and
its rare GTR sibling represent two sides of the same vision: one born for the racetrack and the other adapted for the road. Both cars capture the restless creativity of a time when small engineering teams dared to imagine their own performance machines. Even today, their rarity and unconventional design keep them alive in the memories of enthusiasts who appreciate the bold experimentation that shaped motorsport’s most intriguing chapters.
*** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | EN.SPRINGBOOK.DE | ULTIMATECARPAGE | HYDE184L | CLASSIC AND RECREATION SPORTSCARS IN FACEBOOK | RACE CARS DIRECT IN FACEBOOK ]Note: This blog can be accessed via your smart phone.
