The LEC CRP1 is Goodwood’s local Formula 1 car

First tested at Goodwood in 1977 and that we last saw it in the ‘Fearless and flat broke’ class at the 2015 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard.

“I came to that Festival of Speed when the two LECs were on track,” Maydon tells us. 

“I remember seeing them driving and it struck me they were beautiful cars, with great liveries. I knew their owners intended to get them into Monaco but the cars were too young at that period. Then I heard that because they couldn’t, they lost interest. So I did a deal and bought them both, but sold one.

“To me it’s just different, it’s a unique story, designed by Pilbeam and built in a fridge factory in Bognor Regis. I just love oddball cars.”

Formula 1 was a rapidly changing sport in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as the accessibility of the DFV, the birth of livery advertising revenue and a wide open rulebook tempted many a pretender to championship glory to the paddocks with F1 cars that were effectively four-wheeled billboards. 

One such character was David Purley, racing driver and family heir to the refrigeration company LEC Refrigeration. Following an uninspiring entry in 1973 using a March 731, LEC returned in 1977 with the CRP1, a car of its own that it commissioned Mike Pilbeam to design, with bodywork moulded by moonlighting fridge panelling machines...

Purley was, by all accounts, a great character of the sport at the time. In that ill-fated attempt at the 1973 season, Purley abandoned his race at the Dutch Grand Prix, pulling over to help save Roger Williamson. His actions, however futile, earned him the George Medal for courage. 

He was courageous indeed, if not the fastest driver, with the nickname around the paddocks of ‘the rabbit’, denoted by the rabbit next to his name on the car. He was also the godfather of Justin Bell. Maydon recalls when Bell told Purley’s story at Laguna Seca.

“I was at Laguna Seca and I could see Justin Bell getting very excited about the car and pointing out the rabbit. When I saw it played back later on, he said ‘my goodness me, David Purley was my godfather’. He told the story of the Rabbit. Lauda was called the rat and had a go at Purley for not being fast enough, so that’s how he got the rabbit name.”

Maydon also, chuckling through his words, told us the other reason Purley won himself the rabbit nickname, which Bell supposedly also told live on air with no hesitation. We’re sure you can work that one out for yourself.

What’s the car like to drive? That’s the real appeal of the CRP1 for Maydon.

“I shipped it out to the States for some Masters races and just fell in love with it. To me it was the best car I’d ever driven. It just suited me down to the ground. I just felt totally safe in it. It doesn’t move. It doesn’t slide around. Maybe that’s because I don’t drive fast enough but I’ve put good drivers in and they’ve said it’s an amazing car – I’m told the suspension setup is really quite advanced. I’ve just kept it ever since.

“I had an Arrows – that car was better than I was. I never felt at home in the Arrows and I felt instantly at home in this. If I could choose any pre-ground effect car, budget no object, I’d have this. That’s how good I really think it is. I’m fortunate to be the owner of it.

“I love this era of cars. To me they’re the ultimate. The later cars are spectacular but this is the shape that I like. I love the way it looks and I love the way it drives.

In terms of tracks and using the car, Maydon has taken it here there and everywhere since we last saw it at FOS and is a regular at Monaco. But he has no delusions of grandeur when it comes to his own abilities.

“It always gets into Monaco, it’s been here six or seven times now. I’ve loved Watkins Glen and Mosport in it, and Brands Hatch. I’ve no idea why. It’s not the car, it’s where I like to go. 

“I gave the car to Martin O’Connell and he came back and said it’s brilliant, and told me to trust the car. I’d love to do it a favour and give it a decent driver just to see what it can do.

"Here I intend to start off slowly and taper off after that. If I bring my A game, I’ll hold on to last place.”

A final interesting and slightly terrifying tidbit on the CRP1 is to do with Purley’s crash when driving the car during pre-qualifying for the 1977 British Grand Prix. He survived, with significant injuries, an estimated 180G deceleration, from 108mph to 0 in less than 70cm. It was believed for a long time afterwards that this was the highest G-force survived by any human being.

Purley as you’d expect was never quite the same after that, but being the courageous thrillseeker that he was, got into aerobatics after throwing in the racing towel. It was to this hobby that Purley eventually lost his life. 

His memorial reads, appropriately, “Gone now your eager smile, high held head and soldiers strike. Etched were the skies by your elegant style”. 

What a great character, in whose life the LEC CRP1 Formula 1 car is but a chapter. It was great to learn about this car and the man behind it at the 2024 Monaco Historic.

Photography by Peter Summers