John Chapman (Pyrope), Donington Grand Prix Collection, CC BY-SA 3.0 (CREDIT LINKS AT THE END OF THE CONTENT)
We continue our journey through Formula One’s forgotten teams, and this time our focus is on LEC Refrigeration Racing, better known simply as the LEC F1 Team.
Many British teams appeared in Formula One during the 1970s, some as privateers and others as full constructors, and it may take quite some time before we manage to tell every one of their stories on our website.
However, F1 has always been dominated by manufacturers, that’s what makes the story of LEC F1 so strange, so compelling, and so easy to forget.
This team was born not in a wind tunnel or a motorsport factory, but inside a British refrigeration business.
For a brief moment in the 1970s, LEC dared to step onto the F1 grid and race against giants.
They never scored a point or win, and yet, their name is forever tied to one of the most astonishing survival stories in motorsport history.
LEC Refrigeration Racing: A Privateer Dream in a Factory Sport
The team was founded by F1 legendary driver David Purley, who also was former British army officer who inherited his family’s LEC Refrigeration Racing and chose to spend its profits chasing a F1 dream.
However, unlike most teams of the era, LEC had no backing from major sponsors or automotive manufacturers, the operation was small, personal, and often improvised!
But the name David Purley still means something to F1 fans. His desperate attempt to save his friend Roger Williamson, and his short but unforgettable time in F1, made him stand apart. He was different, and he was an extraordinary driver.
By World Championship standards, LEC was underfunded and outgunned.
But within the context of 1970s privateer racing, the team earned a reputation for being stubbornly respectable.
They turned up, they qualified when they could, and they raced hard with what they had.
The 1973 Season: A Modest Beginning
LEC’s first F1 attempt came in 1973 using a customer MARCH 731 chassis, the car itself was already aging, and the competition was brutal, results were limited, and outright pace was rarely there.
Yet this season is not remembered for lap times, but for character. At the Dutch GP, Purley famously stopped his car mid-race and attempted to rescue his friend Roger Williamson.
The rescue attempt failed, but Purley’s courage did not go unnoticed, and that story still resonates with F1 fans today.
Building Their Own Car and The Comeback: The LEC CRP1
The team first made its attempt in 1973, and then returned in 1977 with a very different approach. Instead of using a customer chassis, LEC built its own car: the LEC CRP1.
According to reports, the car was designed by Mike Pilbeam and built by a small team of engineers working with limited resources, many of whom were directly involved in the family’s refrigeration business.
This time, it was different. The car surprised the paddock with its reliability, something even many larger teams struggled to achieve in that era. But it was a brief moment of promise, and by 1977 the team had vanished from Formula One forever.
LEC F1 Team: Race of Champions
The LEC CRP1 also showed promise outside the World Championship. At the Race of Champions, a non-championship Formula One event, Purley finished sixth against a field packed with established teams. It was proof that, given the right conditions, LEC could run with serious competition.
But the car’s most important quality was not speed. It was strength.
The Crash That Ended Everything
During practice for the 1977 British GP at Silverstone, Purley’s throttle jammed wide open at high speed, unable to slow the car, he hit the wall.
From approximately 108 miles per hour to zero in 26 inches, Purley endured an estimated 179.8 G impact, it was considered highest G-Force ever survived.
The crash effectively ended LEC’s F1 journey that weekend.
However, the team’s engineers later believed that the solid construction of the LEC CRP1 played a major role in saving Purley’s life.
Why LEC Walked Away from F1
The crash was the turning point, but it was not the only factor, LEC was already operating on borrowed time.
No sponsors, and the team relied heavily on family funding.
After Purley’s injuries and a brief, difficult return to minor racing in 1979, financial support dried up.
A second chassis was built partly as motivation during Purley’s recovery, but it only appeared in a handful of non-championship events.
The F1 project was quietly shelved, never officially announced as finished, but clearly over.
LEC Refrigeration Racing faded from the paddock as quietly as it had arrived.
Life After Formula One
Purley never fully returned to top-level motorsport, instead, he turned to competitive aerobatics and continued running the family business.
David Purley passed away in 1985 in a flying accident while pursuing aerobatics.
The team itself left one final mark on F1. Several LEC staff members, including team manager Mike Earle, went on to form Onyx Grand Prix team, which entered F1 in 1989. In a way, LEC’s DNA survived long after the name disappeared.
REMEMBERING LEC Refrigeration Racing Team
On paper, LEC F1 Team barely registers in F1 history, seven race starts, zero points, and no finishes inside the top eight.
And yet, few teams are remembered with such clarity.
LEC represents a version of F1 that no longer exists. A time when a small business owner could build a car, take on the world, and briefly lead a Grand Prix. A time when bravery mattered as much as budget. And a reminder that some of the sport’s most powerful stories are written far from the podium.
For a team that arrived from the cold storage industry and left in silence, LEC Refrigeration Racing remains impossible to forget.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: John Chapman (Pyrope), Donington Grand Prix Collection, CC BY-SA 3.0 – Source: Wikimedia Commons
