Leslie George Johnson (22 March 1912 – 8 June 1959) was a British racing driver who competed in rallies, hill climbs, sports car races and Grand Prix races.

Overview

Leslie Johnson was born in Walthamstow, at that time one of London's poorest districts, and he spent his early years there. His father, a cabinet maker, died soon after starting his own business. Johnson, left with a mother and younger brother to support even though he was still in his teens, took charge of the firm. The employees responded to his enlightened, philanthropic management with a loyalty and dedication which, allied with Johnson's astute business brain, helped create the successful furniture manufacturing business that funded his entry into motor sport.

When competition resumed after World War II he progressed from rallies to hill climbs, sports car racing and single-seaters. Although a prodigiously gifted driver who early in his career won the admiration of senior competitors such as Raymond Sommer and Louis Chiron, however, he never made a full commitment to racing. Business interests remained his primary focus. Further, as a child his heart and kidneys were damaged by nephritis and acromegaly, and deteriorating health in adulthood imposed its own constraints on his racing.

Johnson specialised in European sports car endurance events, competing in five Le Mans 24-hour races, two Spa 24-hour races and four Mille Miglias. He also took part in five Grands Prix, and broke several world speed records for production cars.

In sports car racing, Johnson achieved Aston Martin's first postwar international victory, and also the first successes for Jaguar's XK120 model in both England and America.

Johnson's business ventures included the acquisition of British racing car manufacturer English Racing Automobiles (ERA) after World War II. He also initiated and negotiated Stirling Moss's first commercial sponsorship deal, with Shell.

Among Johnson's close friends were Jaguar founder William Lyons (to whom he lent his BMW 328 for detailed mechanical investigation during the planning and design of the XK120) and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix engineering supremo Rudolf Uhlenhaut. (Johnson used three Mercedes-Benz road cars: 300SL "gullwing," 300 "Adenauer" saloon, and 220S "ponton" saloon.)

Johnson's worsening heart condition finally forced permanent retirement from competition in 1954. He bought a farm in Gloucestershire that included three houses: one was for himself and his family, one for his farm manager, and one for his bank manager. He continued to run his Maidenhead-based company Prototype Engineering, which produced precision components for the fledgling nuclear industry. Towards the end of his life he developed a keen interest in the "Sport of Kings" and owned several racehorses.

Doug Nye recorded motor racing photographer Guy Griffiths's personal recollection of Leslie Johnson:

"[Q]uite the most charming, friendly, unassuming and courteous man in motor racing... [His] furniture factory [was] an extremely paternalistic, caring concern, in which long-term employees were looked after virtually to the grave. When they became too old for their regular work they might be put onto lighter duties for a lesser wage, but there'd always be something for them, Johnson made sure of that.

"When he acquired ERA Ltd and re-established it at Dunstable he [employed] a number of old lags from pre-war racing who were looking for a job postwar. When he drove the E-Type, I think in the Isle of Man, Reg Parnell wandered over for a chat with Johnson, and absent-mindedly gave the car's steering wheel a tweak, to discover VAAAST free-play. 'You can't race this Leslie, you'll kill yourself'. 'Oh yes, well, it takes a bit of getting used to but you know, the boys have worked so hard to get it ready I really feel I ought to give it a go...'.

"He apparently never complained, he was a very buttoned-up, stoical, philosophical chap...his final illness was very quick, and extremely painful for him, yet he never let it show [...] He was regarded as being straight as a die...a good fellow."

Johnson was married to the widow of Anglo-French driver Pierre Maréchal, and stepfather to her son Christian Maréchal, an advertising copywriter, UK ultralight aviation pioneer and freelance journalist.

Johnson died in 1959, aged 46, at Foxcote House, the family's home in the village of Foxcote, Gloucestershire, England.

Review of competition career Key: FTD fastest time of the day; DNF did not finish; DNS did not start

Rallies

Johnson’s involvement in motor sport began and ended with rallying, and he was a member of the Rootes factory teams in four Monte Carlo Rallies and one Alpine Rally. Rootes Competition Manager Norman Garrad said Johnson "knew more about the geometry of driving than anybody in the business . . . I used to sit beside Leslie and say, 'I don't give a damn who you are, you are never going to get round this one at this speed.' Thank God he always did."

Johnson's rally results included:

1937: Winner, Scottish Rally. Winner, Torquay Rally, BMW 328. 1938: 3rd, RAC Rally, BMW 328. 1939: 3rd, RAC Rally, BMW 328. 1952: 3rd, RAC Rally, Jaguar XK120. Later disqualified after a protest for running without rear spats, despite the scrutineers having noted and agreed their removal. 1953: Winner, Team Prize, Monte Carlo Rally, with Stirling Moss and Jack Imhof, Sunbeam-Talbot Mark IIAs. Class winner, Alpine Rally, Sunbeam Alpine Mark I. 1954: Winner, Team Prize, Monte Carlo Rally, with Stirling Moss and Sheila van Damm, Sunbeam-Talbot Mark IIAs. During the rally Johnson suffered a heart attack. Norman Garrad, who was in the car with Johnson and navigator John Cutts, said: "It was altogether typical of Johnson that he somehow persuaded his colleagues . . . to get to the end of the event before committing him to hospital in Monaco." He recalled that they arrived in Monte Carlo with Johnson "absolutely unconscious", and that he nearly died that night in the hospital.

Speed hill climbs

Johnson competed in numerous British speed hill climbs in 1946. Notable results included:

First and second, Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb International meeting 1 June; Talbot-Lago T150C and BMW 328. John Eason Gibson reported: "It was noticeable that Johnson was one of the select few who deliberately slid their cars into the swerves, in preference to waiting for a centrifugally inspired slide to compel them to dice a bit…the high praise poured on Johnson by Sommer and Chiron, for his driving at Brussels, has been confirmed elsewhere." 4th and 5th, Bugatti Owners Club Prescott Speed Hill Climb 23 June; Talbot-Lago and BMW 328. 2nd, Bugatti Owners Club Prescott Speed Hill Climb 28 July; Talbot-Lago. First, FTD and course record, Scottish Sporting Club Bo'ness Speed Hill Climb 7 September; Talbot-Lago. Achieved on his first acquaintance with the course. 3rd in class (to Sydney Allard's Allard), Jersey Motor Club Bouley Bay Speed Hill Climb 17 October; Talbot-Lago.Motor Sport, December 1946, Page 284.

Racing: sports cars

Johnson's early races were with a BMW 328 and a Talbot-Lago T150C sports-racing car. Louis Chiron had driven the latter to victory in the 1937 Grand Prix de l'A.C.F. at Montlhéry. Johnson fitted extra fuel tanks in the tail and cockpit for long-distance racing.

1946: 2nd overall and fastest lap, Brussels International Sports Car Race, Spa; BMW. The Motor reported his performance as that of "a budding Dick Seaman" and added: "Sommer and Louis Chiron danced with fiendish glee as Johnson took the esses in a single controlled slide. Chiron said he had the flair of Nuvolari. Sommer, inarticulate with emotion, kissed the poor chap."Maréchal, Christian: "Learning Curves" Classic and Sportscar June 1966 p.92 1948: Winner, Spa 24 Hours; prototype Aston Martin shared with St. John Horsfall. Aston Martin's first postwar victory. 1949: 3rd, Spa 24 Hours; Aston Martin DB2, partnered by Charles Brackenbury. Winner, Silverstone National Allcomers Race; Bentley 8 Litre owned by Forrest Lycett

Johnson's name is closely associated with the Jaguar XK120 model. His racing record in his white XK120, road-registered as JWK 651, made it the world's most valuable XK120 when it sold at auction for £230,000 ($350,000) in 2001.

His various successes with XK120s included the model's first-ever victories in Europe and the United States:

1949: Winner, Daily Express International Sports Car Race, Silverstone, the XK120's first race, after an early collision with a spinning Jowett Javelin dropped Johnson to fifth. 1950: Winner in class, 4th overall, Palm Beach Shores, Florida, SCCA sports car race – the XK120s first American race – despite losing the brakes.Porter, Philip (1998). Jaguar Sports Racing Cars, p.14. Bay View Books. Johnson was granted an American racing licence for the event, as his entry was not sanctioned by the RAC, and the Jaguar was unmodified from standard specification. Jim McCraw wrote, "In rain and high winds, the Jaguar finished fourth in a race that included three giants of American sports-car racing – Briggs Cunningham in a Cadillac-Healey, second; Phil Walters in a Healey, fifth; and Miles Collier in a Riley-Ford, sixth. Sam Collier finished eighth in one of the XK 120s, and Bill Spear DNF'd with no brakes in the third car." The success launched Jaguar in the US market.

Johnson's Le Mans results:

1949: DNF, Aston Martin DB2, co-driver Charles Brackenbury. Retired from fifth place after six laps; overheating caused by water pump failure. 1950: DNF, Jaguar XK120; clutch failure after 21 hours while lying third and catching the leader at a rate that would have seen the Jaguar in the lead before the full 24 hours had elapsedBuckley, Martin: Jaguar: Fifty Years of Speed and Style p.120. Haynes Publishing 2003, —an effort that convinced William Lyons it was worth investing in success at Le Mans.Nevinson, Tim: "Flat out for a week" Thoroughbred and Classic Cars June 2008 p. 84. Explaining the clutch failure, Jim McCraw wrote: "Leslie Johnson ran as high as second during the middle portion of the race, but, in order to save brake wear, he kept downshifting the transmission at high speeds and eventually blew the clutch, which prompted the substitution of a solid-disc clutch plate from then on." 1951: DNF, Jaguar C-Type, co-driver Clemente Biondetti. Retired from third place after 50 laps; no oil pressure. 1952: 3rd overall out of 57 starters, behind two factory-entered Mercedes-Benz W194 300SLs; first in class, ahead of triple Le Mans winner Luigi Chinetti's Ferrari; second in Index of Performance; winner, Gold Challenge Cup. Nash-Healey (a lightweight competition version hastily constructed for the race—the body was fabricated in less than a week; the entire car built from scratch in a fortnight). 1953: 11th out of 60 starters; Nash-Healey.

His Mille Miglia results:

1950: 5th, Jaguar XK120. The best-ever result by an Englishman driving a British car, in this instance a production model beaten only by lightweight competition cars entered by Alfa Romeo (Fangio's came third) and Ferrari. 1951: DNF, Ferrari-Jaguar "Biondetti Special" shared with his 1951 Le Mans partner and four-time Mille Miglia winner Clemente Biondetti. 1952: 7th to Bracco's winning works team Ferrari, the works Mercedes-Benz 300SLs of Kling and Caracciola, and three works Lancias. Lightweight competition Nash-Healey, with Daily Telegraph motoring correspondent Bill McKenzie as passenger. 1953: DNF, Jaguar C-Type.

Racing: single-seaters

Johnson raced Delage, Talbot-Lago and ERA cars in single-seater events between 1946 and 1950.