David Purley was born on 26 January 1945 in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, into the family that owned the Longford Engineering Company, known commercially as LEC Refrigeration. After service as an officer in the Parachute Regiment, Purley pursued a career in motorsport, competing in Formula Three and building a reputation through the early 1970s in various formulas.
Purley first appeared in Formula One in 1973, hiring a March with backing from the family company. He competed in a handful of Grands Prix that season, including the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, where he became widely known for an act of extraordinary courage. When fellow British driver Roger Williamson's car overturned and caught fire following a serious accident, Purley stopped his own race and repeatedly tried to right the burning car and extinguish the flames. He received no assistance from nearby marshals or other passing drivers. Williamson died from asphyxiation. Purley was subsequently awarded the George Medal for his bravery.
After competing intermittently with a Token car in 1974 and focusing on Formula Two and Formula 5000 — winning the British Formula 5000 championship in 1976 — Purley returned to Formula One in 1977 with an original design. The LEC CRP1 was designed by Mike Pilbeam and run by Mike Earle. It was entered under the LEC Racing banner, with the family company's refrigeration business providing the funding.
The team's 1977 season was ended prematurely and dramatically at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. During pre-qualifying, Purley's throttle stuck wide open and his car struck a barrier at unabated speed. He decelerated from approximately 108 mph (173 km/h) to a standstill in a distance of 26 inches (66 cm), subjecting him to an estimated peak deceleration of 179.8 g — one of the highest g-loads ever survived in a racing accident. Purley suffered multiple bone fractures and a lengthy rehabilitation followed.
Purley recovered sufficiently to race again, though he confined himself to the Aurora AFX Formula One series in Britain rather than the World Championship. He also underwent corrective surgery in Belgium for unequal leg length resulting from his injuries.
LEC Racing did not return to Formula One competition following the Silverstone accident. Purley eventually retired from motorsport and took up aerobatics. He died on 2 July 1985 when his Pitts Special biplane crashed into the English Channel off Bognor Regis. He was 40 years old. A memorial sculpture by artist Gordon Young was erected in 2017 near the site of the former LEC factory in Bognor Regis. The remains of the LEC CRP1 were displayed for many years at the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition; the second car has since been restored and competes in historic Formula One racing.
LEC Racing's story is inseparable from that of David Purley, whose courage at Zandvoort in 1973 and extraordinary survival at Silverstone in 1977 define his place in motorsport history. The team itself was an archetypal British privateer effort of the era: a single car, family money, and genuine ambition that was ultimately overwhelmed by circumstance. The LEC CRP1 chassis, though it never scored a championship point, remains a tangible artefact of a distinctly personal chapter in Formula One history.