Alfred Lazarus Fingleston (16 December 1920 – 13 May 2012), better known as Les Leston, or in full Leslie Leston, was a British racing driver, born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire.
Early life
Leston was the second son of Harry Fingleston, a coal factor from Milton Chambers, Nottingham, and his wife Kate or Kitty, née Fine, his elder brother being Dennis Leston the entomologist.
In his early life, Leston was a successful drummer for the jazz band The Clay Pigeons. He also served in WW2 as a mid-upper gunner in an Avro Lancaster.
In 1939 before the outbreak of war, Leston 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 ) set up a successful aeronautical accessories business, Aero Spares, a company involved in a variety of technical appliances made for war planes.
Racing career
Leston started racing in a Jaguar SS100 before acquiring a 500cc Cooper and his own Leston Special. He won the Luxembourg Grand Prix in 1952 (a race containing Stirling Moss and Peter Collins), and became a Cooper works driver in 1954 winning the British Formula Three championship in the same year. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 September 1956, but scored no championship points. He participated in the 1955, 1957 and 1960 Le Mans 24 Hour races, but failed to finish in the first two of those, and was unclassified in 1960. However, in 1961 Leston achieved his best result in the event, finishing 11th overall in a Triumph TR4S. He was entered into the 1962 Le Mans by Colin Chapman to co-drive with Tony Shelly in a Lotus 23, but the race organizer, ACO, denied the entry in the famous Lotus Le Mans debacle.
From 1958 to 1960, Leston 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.
Leston 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 surviving a crash at Caen in 1958 in which his Formula Two Lotus caught fire following an engine seizure, Leston increasingly focused on his motor accessories, an area for which he later became well known. Through Les Leston Accessories, he marketed aftermarket automotive parts such as steering wheels and gear levers. The company's steering wheels where manufactured in Walsall and Leston was among the early figures associated with the development of the aftermarket motoring accessories industry.
It was after receiving burns in the crash in Caen (where he leapt from the car at 90 mph) that Leston pioneered the marketing of flameproof overalls.
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† 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