Steve Konsin's 1950 Lester MG Race Car, Number 284
Harry Lester, and "The Monkey Stable"
In the late forties and early fifties, Harry Lester of Knebworth, Hertfordshire
built about twenty racecars based on MG drivetrain and chassis components. Lester
had already established himself as an MG specialist and a racer before the war,
with a successful garage and with his own modified MG PB racecar. After the
war, Lester was keen to fit MG-based specials with more aerodynamic bodywork and
with larger displacement engines than the factory offered.
Indeed, the most striking feature of Steve Konsin's Lester is its distinctive
hand-crafted aluminum body...
Peaking underneath the body, we spot a mix of familiar and surprising details.
From the MG TD: independent front suspension with unequal length A-arms, coil
springs, knee-action hydraulic shocks, and rack and pinion steering. However,
at the rear of the car, the leaf springs retain sliding trunnions in lieu of
shackles, like pre-war TB and earlier Midgets. Whereas the TD frame
had box-section frame rails, Lester created his frame from round tubing.
(Note: at first glance, MG TD frame rails look like C-channels because their
inboard side is inset.)
Lester built-up MG engines to his own recipe, He started with the MG "XPAG"
engine block of the TC and TD (1250cc displacement, 66.5mm bore by 90mm stroke),
but he courageously bored the block right out into the engine's water jacket and then
re-sleeved it to a cylinder diameter of about 72mm to create a displacement
of 1467cc. Lester fitted a Harry Weslake cylinder head, a special camshaft, and a
lightweight flywheel. As configured, the static compression ratio was reportedly
raised from 7.25:1 to 10:1, and the engine's output was reportedly raised from
54.4hp at 5200rpm to just over 100hp, freely revving to over 6500rpm.
In 1950 Lester began working with a wealthy racing enthusiast named Jim Mayer.
Together, they put together a three-car racing team for the 1952 racing season.
"The Monkey Stable" included drivers Jim Mayer, Pat Griffith and Gerry Ruddock
driving Lester built MG specials. The Monkey Stable team had a very successful
year, including a sweep of the first three places in the nine-hour Goodwood
race.
New cars would be required for Mayer and his teammates to move up to international
competition in 1953, but Lester was unable to develop and produce a new chassis
quickly enough. Instead, he agreed to prepare MG engines that would be installed
in Kieft race cars. However, the 1953 season was a dissappointment in every
respect for the team. Mayer sold the three Kieft cars at the end of the 1953
season, and the Monkey Stable team sat out the 1954 season while Lester built
four new cars for 1955. Two of the four 1955 cars would utilize MG engines, while
two would use Coventry Climax engines. Ultimately, engine choice didn't seem to
matter; none of the four 1955 cars was competitive against more aerodynamic and
lithe Lotus and Cooper cars. The Monkey Stable team came to an abrupt end in
September when Jim Mayer was killed while driving a Cooper-Climax in the Tourist
Trophy Race. Harry Lester went back to running his garage. He died in 1982 at
the age of 82. About a half dozen Lester race cars are still known to exist.
Overview
Harry Lester built MG-TD Special.
MG-based specials with aerodynamic bodywork and hopped-up engines were extremely
popular in British sports car racing in the early and mid 1950's.
MG designers were certainly familiar with Harry Lester's cars, so the obvious question is:
"Did the Lester MG specials influence the design of the MG's own MGA model?"
This Harry Lester MG-TD Special predates MG's MGA model by five full years.
Number 284.
Distinctive hand-crafted aluminum body.
Lester emblem.
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Interior
Safety fast! The roll hoop is a relatively modern addition, required to keep this car racing.
On the inside: the stripped-down utility of a purpose-built racing car.
Lightweight aluminum bucket driver's seat.
Moto-Lita steering wheel.
Smiths tachometer (500-8000rpm).
Smiths coolant temperature (90-250F), oil pressure (0-100psi), ammeter (-30-30amperes) gauges.
Exterior Details
Perspex windscreen (with Vintage Sports Car Club of America inspection decal.)
Pittsburg Vintage Grand Prix.
The black rear view mirror is a new addition.
Raydyot spun aluminum mirrors were commonly used on British race cars of this era.
Performance blisters.
(Hood pin.)
Lester styling must have seemed very modern for MG fans, five years before the MGA was introduced.
SuperTrapp muffler.
Gathering of the Faithful, Number 26. Toronto, Canada.
Suspension
MG TD derived front suspension, with coil springs, knee-action shocks, and rack and pinion steering.
Whereas the MG TD frame had box-section frame rails, Lester created his frame from round tubing.
Sliding trunnions at the rear of the leaf springs, in lieu of shackles, like on pre-war Midgets.
Sixty spoke Dunlop wheels with Dunlop Racing 5.00L-15 front tires.
Drum brakes were fitted, front and rear.
Sixty spoke Dunlop wheels with Dunlop Racing 5.50L-15 rear tires.
Two-eared spinner knockoff hub nut.
All photos shown here are from June 2009, when we viewed the car at The Heacock Classic Gold Cup at
Virginia International Raceway. All photos by Curtis Jacobson for BritishRaceCar.com, copyright 2010.
All rights reserved.
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