LEA-FRANCIS TO RACE AGAIN

Lea-Francis cars can trace their roots back to 1903, when the firm, which had previously produced bicycles, made its very first automobile. During the 1920s and ’30s its cars were successful in competition, and the company was rescued from bankruptcy by George Leek and Hugh Rose. Production was suspended for WW2, but engineering for war work proved profitable, which enabled production to start again using mainly updated prewar models. Yet behind the scenes, a number of experimental cars were being worked on, including a prototype sports-racer.

- MICHAEL WARE

Designed by Albert Ludgate in 1949, with the idea that Ken Rose (son of Hugh) would race it, the car reached a semi-running state but was never bodied. It was stored at the factory until the late 1950s or early ’60s, when it was obtained by well-respected tuner and racing driver Peter Harrison, who was running Harrison Brickworks at Stourbridge while still tuning cars for other people. In 1969, Simon Richards heard that Peter had died and his yard was being cleared, and he was able to purchase this chassis. In the early 2000s he discovered that it was not an ordinary old Lea-Francis and set to researching its history, but kept it unused until early 2025 when it was bought by Lea-Francis Owners’ Club member Oliver Yarrow.