Lenham GT

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Founded in 1960, the Lenham Motor Company of Kent was (and still is) one of the many ‘cottage industry’ companies that sprang up to convert production sports cars into proper racers.

Aside from building a few single seaters of their own design and producing hardtops for Jaguar, Triumph, Lotus, MG and Jensen-Healey, Lenham were best known for the Le Mans-style GRP streamlined bodies they made for the Austin-Healey Sprite and the MG Midget.

Raced with some success (notably by John Britten), the Lenham GT transformed the base Midget/Sprite into a lightweight closed coupe with an aerodynamic Kamm tail (like the Ferrari 250 GT ‘Breadvan’) and a forward-hinged bonnet with either open or sleek faired-in headlights (as here).

Starting out in life as a November 1965-registered MG Midget, KPF 57C was subsequently rebuilt by Motobuild in 2011 as an occasional competition car for the last owner. It is powered by a tuned and balanced 1,310cc engine with a 649 cam, Duplex timing chain and gear, uprated bearings, gas-flowed cylinder head and Weber 45 DCOE carburettor.

Fitted with a competition clutch, 3.3:1 diff and Moss uprated half shafts, it also has a roll cage and LifeLine fire proof system and comes with the Minilite-style alloys shown plus a spare set of wire wheels. Described by the vendor as “a very lively driver on the open road with plenty of power to hand”, it certainly went well when we took it for a quick spin on the occasion of our visit to take these photos.

Supplied with a V5C and an MOT to 31st May 2019 with no advisories recorded, this pretty and effective machine would be an ideal car in which to practice your race craft and start a motor sport career. Go on, you know you want to!