Paddy Hopkirk’s early life and how he won the Monte Carlo Rally
The Les Leston Monte Carlo steering wheel takes its name from one of the best-known results in British rallying: Paddy Hopkirk’s victory in the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally. Hopkirk and co-driver Henry Liddon won the event in the now-famous red Mini Cooper S, registration 33 EJB. Fitted to the Mini was a Les Leston Alpine steering wheel. Following the victory, the wheel became known as the Les Leston Monte Carlo, a name given in honour of Hopkirk’s win.
Paddy Hopkirk’s early career
Patrick “Paddy” Hopkirk was born in Belfast and educated at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare before attending Trinity College Dublin, where he studied engineering. His academic career was made more difficult by dyslexia, and it was cars rather than university that would ultimately determine his career.
His introduction to driving came unusually early. At the age of nine, a local clergyman left him an invalid carriage in his will. Hopkirk used it to learn some of the basics of controlling a vehicle before later progressing to a motorcycle and sidecar. While at Trinity, he acquired an Austin 7 “Chummy” Tourer and used it to make his rally debut.
Hopkirk eventually left university and went to work for the retail operation of Dublin’s Volkswagen assembler in Ballsbridge. He bought a succession of used Volkswagen Beetles and entered them in competitions. His first win came in 1953 at the Cairncastle hillclimb in a VW Beetle, and he was also given a Beetle for that year's Circuit of Ireland.
His professional rallying career began to develop quickly. In 1955 he took a class win on the Circuit of Ireland and won his first Hewison Trophy, awarded to the most successful Irish rally driver of the year. He would win the trophy for three consecutive years. By then he had moved on to a Triumph TR2, and his performances attracted the attention of the Standard Motor Company. Standard offered him his first factory drive for the 1956 RAC Rally.
Paddy Hopkirk, Les Leston and the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally
There was an important Les Leston connection to Hopkirk’s Monte Carlo story several years before the famous Mini victory.
In 1959, Paddy Hopkirk competed in the Monte Carlo Rally with Les Leston in Leston’s Riley 1.5. Leston had initially asked Mike Hawthorn to drive with him. Hawthorn, however, had “lost the heart” for racing and considered them all mad for taking part in the extremely dangerous Monte Carlo Rally.
There was a tragic irony to his decision. While the Monte Carlo Rally was taking place, Hawthorn was killed in an entirely separate road accident in England.
Hopkirk’s career continued to progress. He joined the Rootes Group as a works driver and competed in cars including the Hillman Husky and Sunbeam Rapier. He finished third overall and won his class on the Alpine Rally in a Rapier, and in 1962 finished third in the Monte Carlo Rally.
Reliability problems with the Rapier eventually prompted a change. After trying Pat Moss’s Austin-Healey 3000, Hopkirk joined the British Motor Corporation. He made his BMC debut in an Austin-Healey 3000 and finished second on the RAC Rally in only his second competition with the car.
His first Monte Carlo Rally in a Mini came in 1963, when he finished sixth. During the same season he took second on the Tulip Rally, fourth on the RAC Rally and achieved a strong result in the Tour de France Automobile. Hopkirk and Alan Hutcheson also won their class at Le Mans in an MGB.
Interestingly, Hopkirk had not always been convinced by the Mini. When he first saw it arriving in showrooms, he and others laughed at it and called it the “district nurse’s car”. His opinion changed after BMC team manager Stuart Turner persuaded him to drive a Cooper. Hopkirk was immediately impressed by its performance and handling.
The 1964 Monte Carlo Rally
Going into the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally, Hopkirk and the Mini were not considered the obvious favourites.
The Mini Cooper S had a four-cylinder 1071cc engine and was competing against much larger and more powerful machinery, including Mercedes-Benz 300 SEs and Ford Falcons. The Falcons' V8 engines were more than four times the capacity of the Mini's engine.
Hopkirk’s Mini, car number 37 and registration 33 EJB, was also fitted with a Les Leston Alpine steering wheel.
The Monte Carlo Rally of the period was very different from a modern stage rally. Competitors started from several different European cities and had to travel considerable distances before reaching the timed sections in France. BMC divided its crews between different starting locations, with Hopkirk, Liddon and 33 EJB starting from Minsk in the USSR.
Hopkirk also took an unusual piece of cargo with him. He carried nylon stockings which he traded for a large tin of beluga caviar. His plan was to take the caviar to Monte Carlo and sell it there, potentially making more from the deal than he would receive for winning the rally. The tin travelled in the Mini among its spare parts.
Even reaching the competitive stages was difficult. The crews had to keep to demanding schedules while dealing with mechanical problems and limited communication with their support teams.
Then, on the first day of the rally itself, Hopkirk nearly found himself out of the event.
After accidentally travelling the wrong way along a one-way road, he was stopped by a gendarme. Being booked could have resulted in disqualification. Hopkirk claimed that he had withdrawn from the rally and was hurrying home because of bad news concerning his mother. The explanation worked, allowing him to continue.
Where the Mini had the advantage
The Ford Falcons were faster on many of the stages, particularly where their considerable power could be used. But the Mini had advantages of its own.
On narrow, icy roads, its compact size and front-wheel-drive layout worked particularly well. The larger cars could exploit their power on uphill sections, while the Mini was particularly effective through tight and twisty roads and on the downhill sections.
One of the most important parts of the rally was the Col de Turini. At around 5,000 feet above sea level, the Alpine mountain pass combined tight hairpins with winter ice. The stage was also run at night, making an already demanding section considerably harder.
Hopkirk was fast but also conscious of looking after the Mini mechanically. As he later put it when discussing left-foot braking: “Fast, but you break the car.”
After four days and nights, Hopkirk and Liddon reached Monte Carlo in the lead, helped considerably by their performance on the Col de Turini. There was still one final test: five laps of the Formula One circuit around Monaco.
Hopkirk knew he did not need to take unnecessary risks. Bosse Ljungfeldt's Ford Falcon was around 30 seconds faster on the Monaco circuit, where its V8 could finally make full use of its power, but it was not enough.
The final figures gave the Mini 2152.1 penalty points against the Ford’s 2216.2.
Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon had won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally.
From the Les Leston Alpine to the Les Leston Monte Carlo
The victory turned Hopkirk into a household name and established the Mini as a serious competition car. He received congratulations from the Prime Minister and a telegram from The Beatles, accompanied by a signed photograph.
It also left a lasting connection with Les Leston.
The steering wheel fitted to Hopkirk’s winning Mini was a Les Leston Alpine. Les Leston was delighted that his wheel had played a part in the Mini’s Monte Carlo victory, and following the win the wheel became known as the Les Leston Monte Carlo in honour of the result.
It was a fitting name given the connection between the two men. Five years before the famous 1964 victory, Hopkirk had already competed alongside Les Leston in Leston’s Riley 1.5 on the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally. By 1964, Hopkirk was back at Monte Carlo in 33 EJB, this time with a Les Leston steering wheel in front of him.
That victory is how the Les Leston Monte Carlo steering wheel got its name, connecting it directly with Paddy Hopkirk, the Mini Cooper S and the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally.