1967 Lenham Le Mans Coupé

Do great things come in small packages? Well, in the case of the Lenham Le Mans Coupé yes they certainly do. Based on the humble MG Midget and Austin Healey Sprite these mini 60s GT cars have become increasingly popular due to Goodwood’s Weslake Trophy where the Lenham’s frequently trounce the rest of the grid.

It all started from modest beginnings at Lenham Square in Kent in 1962. Julian Booty and Peter Rix the founders started by restoring vintage cars. It was only after a customer asked them to create a new hard top body for his Austin Healey and further orders flooded in that they started to create fibreglass moulds. These fibreglass GT conversions soon turned into the mainstay of their business. Sixty years on and their popularity is greater than ever. Their appeal is only enhanced by their cheeky styling with Kamm tails and smiling radiator intakes but these pocket rockets shouldn’t be underestimated. The track cars with their tuned BMC A Series engines going beyond 7000 rpm are real giant slayers. The ex Ian Burford / ‘Whizzo’ Williams Lenham is one such car. It was one of a batch built in late 1966 but registered in 1967 and it’s been a competition car for most of its life. Internationally rallied by Gordon Howie with success it was then taken on by Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams. ‘Whizzo’ developed the car into a circuit racer but the Lenham proportions were just a bit too restrictive for his frame so he reluctantly sold the car on and Kent based racer and collector Ian Burford took over custodianship. Burford competed in many series with 696 BMO but it was the HSCC’s Historic Road Sports that was his happiest hunting ground, taking home the Class E championship. Ian told me how he would regularly humiliate the Porsche 911s and Mustangs on the tighter circuits cornering with his inside front wheel in the air to the delight of the photographers. Ian set the car up so it’s slightly soft at the back end with gentle oversteer resulting in a beautifully balanced racer.

In 2014 Ian developed the car further with CCK Historic, enlarging the engine to 1310cc featuring a steel crank with CCK’s own steel conrods, forged Omega pistons and one of their own full race cylinder heads. The bottom end was balanced with a steel flywheel and F3 type racing clutch. Sitting on Yokohama racing rubber it’s still eligible for the HSCC’s Historic Road Sports series but a change to Dunlops would be needed for the HRDC or Equipe GTS. I took the car on in 2020 with the intention of running it in both these series but with Covid lockdowns and work commitments my ambitions were never realised resulting in merely road use and track days. Even these non competitive periods behind the wheel gave a wonderfully joyful insight into an eager racer that is not only an economical way into historic racing but also a potent tool for collecting some serious silverware. Sadly, as I’m not using the feisty and seriously quick Lenham as it was intended I’ve decided to move it on so it can return once again to the circuits where it truly belongs. Available to buy and currently on the market at £28,000.00. Do please contact me if you’re interested in acquiring this car.