HARRY LESTER - HIS CARS & THE MONKEY STABLE
Garage owner and expert engine tuner, Harry Lester was very well known for racing and sprinting MG sports cars in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1949, he designed and built his own car with a rigid tubular chassis, lightweight aluminium body and utilising the favoured engine of many club racers of the time, the XPAG unit from the MGTC.
So successful was the car in his hands that a trio of wealthy young amateur racers decided to form a team and commissioned him to build them a car each, plus a spare. They called themselves “The Monkey Stable” and enjoyed much success in their first year, 1952, a highlight being winning the team prize at the first 9 hours race at Goodwood.
In subsequent years their fortunes changed, as did their cars, going to Kieft MGs in 1953, then back to Lesters in 1955. In the interim, the Monkey Stable drivers twice drove for the Bristol team at Le Mans, and one of their number, Pat Griffith, briefly became a works driver for Aston Martin, partnering Peter Collins in a number of long-distance events.
It all ended in tragedy, however, when team founder Jim Mayers was killed at Dundrod in the 1955 Tourist Trophy race, only weeks after another team member, Mike Keen, had crashed fatally at Goodwood.
Never before published in its entirety, this is the story of Harry Lester and his cars, together with the exploits of The Monkey Stable during their brief but significant racing career.
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