Alfred Lazarus Fingleston (16 December 1920 – 13 May 2012), better known as Les Leston, or in full Leslie Leston, was a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, born in

Bulwell Bulwell is a market town in the City of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. It is south-west of Hucknall and to the north-west of Nottingham. The United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded the population of Bulwell at 29,771 which amounted to o ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

Early life

In his early life Leston was a successful drummer for the jazz band The Clay Pigeons. He also served in

WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as a mid-upper gunner in an

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

. In 1939 before the outbreak of war he was the shopkeeper for fancy and toilet goods as part of the family business, and soon after the war finished he and his father "Monty" (otherwise Henry or Harry General Registrar's Office registers of births and marriages; 1939 Register for Willesden, where his occupation is "general dealer") set up a successful aeronautical accessories business, Aero Spares, a company involved in a variety of technical appliances made for war planes. He was the younger brother of the entomologist Dennis Leston.

Racing career

He started racing in a

Jaguar SS100 The SS Jaguar 100 is a British 2-seat sports car built between 1936 and 1939 by SS Cars Ltd of Coventry, England. The manufacturer's name 'SS Cars' used from 1934 maintained a link to the previous owner, Swallow Sidecar, founded in 1922 by ...

before acquiring a 500cc

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

and his own Leston Special. He won the

Luxembourg Grand Prix The Luxembourg Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Luxemburg) was the name given to two races of the FIA Formula One World Championship, held in 1997 and 1998. Both races were held in Germany at the Nürburgring, which is located some from ...

in 1952 (a race containing Stirling Moss and Peter Collins), and became a Cooper works driver in 1954 winning the British

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

championship in the same year. He participated in three

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 September 1956, but scored no championship points. He was entered to 1962 Le Mans by

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

to co-drive with Tony Shelly in a

Lotus 23 The Lotus 23 was designed by Colin Chapman as a small-displacement sports racing car. Nominally a two-seater, it was purpose-built for FIA Group 4 racing in 1962–1963. Unlike its predecessors Lotus 15 and 17, the engine was mounted amidshi ...

, but the race organizer, ACO, denied the entry in the famous Lotus Le Mans debacle. His best success at Le Mans came as an Aston Martin works driver with Roy Salvadori where he finished 6th overall in 1957. From 1958 to 1960 he had a successful stint in a Riley 1.5 becoming British Saloon Car champion in Class B as well as campaigning the car in the Monte Carlo Rally and using it as a daily run about for business and pleasure. He was most famous for driving the famous DADIO - a Lotus Elite. His duels with Graham Warner in LOV1 have gone down in British racing history. He would become British GT Champion in this car and have many victories.

Life outside racing

After escaping from a serious crash at Caen in 1958 when his F2 Lotus seized and the engine caught fire, he concentrated on his ever-expanding motorcar accessories business – the field that he was best known for. Les Leston Accessories merchandised aftermarket parts for cars, such as steering wheels and gear levers. The steering wheels were made in Walsall and like with most things in the aftermarket motoring accessories field Les Leston was the first to offer such items - hence he gained the tag as the godfather of the motoring aftermarket. It was after receiving burns in the crash in Caen (where he leapt from the car at 90 mph) that he pioneered the marketing of flameproof overalls. At the time many racing drivers wore short sleeved shirts - Leston's fame and connection to all the great Formula One drivers meant that very soon a lot of them were wearing Les Leston overalls. Graham Hill appeared regularly in Leston's adverts in such overalls, also sporting the Leston made Graham Hill rally master jacket. In the late 1960s Leston became a Formula One pit reporter for the BBC, until he was replaced by Barrie Gill. In the 1990s Leston lived in Hong Kong, where he was married twice and expanded his merchandising business sourcing-in from China the giveaways, etc., that were rewards for incentives such as submitting cereal-box tops. His lifestyle involved owning a large cruiser that he would take out to sea at weekends and a jazz radio show. He frequented the bar of the Foreign Correspondents' Club, and for leisure he rode a BMW 1,200 cc motor bike.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.) † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes. * Car over 1000cc - Not eligible for points.

References

Les Leston profile at The 500 Owners Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leston, Les English racing drivers English Formula One drivers 1920 births 2012 deaths People from Bulwell Sportspeople from Nottinghamshire 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers British Touring Car Championship drivers Connaught Formula One drivers Cooper Formula One drivers BRM Formula One drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen