Brian Lister
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lister Motor Company Ltd is a British
sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...
manufacturer founded by Brian Lister in 1954 in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, which became known for its involvement in motorsport. After buying the company in 1986, Laurence Pearce produced variants of the
Jaguar XJS The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury car, luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, convertible#variations, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. Ther ...
before producing a bespoke sports car, the
Lister Storm The Lister Storm was a homologated GT racing car manufactured by British low-volume automobile manufacturer Lister Cars with production beginning in 1993. Road car The Storm used the largest V12 engine fitted to a production road car since ...
. In 2013, Lister Cars was acquired by Lawrence Whittaker's company Warrantywise. Production of the original sports car restarted in 2014 and ten continuation Lister Jaguar Knobblys were built to celebrate Lister's 60th Anniversary. In 2016, the company announced the build and sale of the Lister Knobbly Stirling Moss. On 31 January 2018, the Lister LFT-666 (previously called the Lister Thunder) based on the
Jaguar F-Type The Jaguar F-Type (X152) is a series of two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured by British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover under their Jaguar Cars marque from 2013 to 2024. The car's Jaguar Land Rover car platforms#D6a, JLR D6a platfor ...
was announced.


History


George Lister and sons

Beginning in 1954, company manager and racing driver Brian Lister brought out the first in a series of sports cars from a
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
iron works. Inspired by
Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), an alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * "Cooper", a song by Roxette from ...
, he used a tubular ladder
chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
, de Dion rear
axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotation, rotating wheel and axle, wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In ...
and inboard
drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...
brake A brake is a machine, mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for Acceleration, slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of ...
s. Like others, he used a tuned MG engine and
stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...
gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...
. Setright, p. 1202 It made its debut at the
British Empire Trophy The British Empire Trophy was a auto racing, motor race in the United Kingdom. Since its inception in 1932, the Empire Trophy was hosted at five different circuits and awarded for ten separate racing categories. The race was run a total of 42 tim ...
at
Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...
in 1954, with former MG driver
Archie Scott Brown William Archibald Scott Brown, known as Archie, (13 May 1927 – 19 May 1958) was a British Formula One and sports car racing driver from Scotland who had a prodigious racing ability despite having the fingers of his right hand missing and havin ...
at the wheel. Later, Lister swapped in a Moore-tuned
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
two-litre engine and knockoff
wire wheels Wire wheels, wire-spoked wheels, tension-spoked wheels, or "suspension" wheels are wheels whose rims connect to their hubs by wire spokes. Although these wires are considerably stiffer than a similar diameter wire rope, they function mechanic ...
in place of the MG's discs to improve performance. For the sports car race supporting the
1954 British Grand Prix The 1954 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 17 July 1954. It was race 5 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 90-lap race was won by Ferrari driver José Froilán González after he started fro ...
at
Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...
, Scott Brown won the two-litre class and placed fifth overall behind only works
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
s. In 1955, a handful of Lister-Bristols were built with a new body built by an ex-Bristol employee with the aid of a
wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...
. Despite its new fins and strakes, it was less successful than the original Lister-Bristol of 1954. Lister moved up to a six-cylinder motor from a
Formula 2 Formula Two (F2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 to 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned aga ...
Maserati A6GCS Maserati A6 were a series of grand tourers, racing sports cars and single seaters made by Maserati of Italy between 1947 and 1956. They were named for Alfieri Maserati (one of the Maserati brothers, founders of Maserati) and for their straight-s ...
for their own car, while customers continued to receive the Bristol motor, sold for £3900. Setright, p. 1203 Lister also attempted
single-seater An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...
racing with a multi-tube chassis powered by a
Coventry-Climax Coventry Climax was a British manufacturer of forklift trucks, fire pumps, racing engines, and other speciality engines. History Pre WWI The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, a joint venture by Jens Stroyer and Pelham Lee. In 19 ...
motor and using an MG gearbox, but the car was a failure. For 1957, Lister redesigned the car around a 3.4 litre
Jaguar D-type The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type ...
XK
inline-six A straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balanc ...
, with an aerodynamic
aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
body. It was tested by racing journalist John Bolster, performing a 0–100 mph (0–160 km/h) run in 11.2 seconds. Driver
Archie Scott Brown William Archibald Scott Brown, known as Archie, (13 May 1927 – 19 May 1958) was a British Formula One and sports car racing driver from Scotland who had a prodigious racing ability despite having the fingers of his right hand missing and havin ...
won the 1957
British Empire Trophy The British Empire Trophy was a auto racing, motor race in the United Kingdom. Since its inception in 1932, the Empire Trophy was hosted at five different circuits and awarded for ten separate racing categories. The race was run a total of 42 tim ...
in the new Lister-Jaguar. Refined again in 1958, the Lister-Jaguar entered international competitions. Brown was killed that season when he crashed the Lister-Jaguar at
Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, ho ...
. Lister also developed another single-seater car based on the Lister-Jaguar, for use in the unique
Race of Two Worlds The Race of Two Worlds (Trofeo dei Due Mondi in Italian), also known as the ''500 Miglia di Monza'' (500 Miles of Monza), was an automobile race held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy in 1957 and again in 1958. It was intended as ...
at
Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...
. Cars from this era are affectionately known as the "Lister Knobbly" cars, due to their curved bodywork. For 1959, Lister hired aerodynamicist
Frank Costin Francis Albert Costin (8 June 1920 – 5 February 1995) was a British automotive engineer who advanced monocoque chassis design and was instrumental in adapting aircraft aerodynamic knowledge for automobile use. Career Costin was an engineer ...
Setright, p. 1204 who produced entirely new bodywork built around a new
Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...
power plant. However, the
front-engine layout Front-engine design is an automotive design where the engine is in the front side of the car, connected to the wheels via a drive shaft. The main types of Front engine design are: * Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, the traditional automoti ...
of the new Lister-Chevrolet was quickly eclipsed by the rear-engine layout of the new Cooper sports car. By the end of 1959 Lister withdrew from competition although production of sports cars continued for customers. In 1963, Brian Lister was chosen by the
Rootes Group The Rootes Group was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. From headquarters in the West End of London, the manufacturer was based in the English Midlands, Midlands and the distribu ...
to prepare the
Sunbeam Tiger The Sunbeam Tiger is a high-performance V8 engine, V8 version of the British Rootes Group's Sunbeam Alpine Roadster (automobile), roadster, designed in part by American car designer and racing driver Carroll Shelby and produced from 1964 unti ...
for the prototype category of the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
. The
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
V8-powered Tiger was still in the early stages of development while Lister was constructing the chassis at the Jensen factory. Lister upgraded the suspension and brakes, added an aerodynamic fastback hardtop with a more sloping windscreen and a
Kamm tail A Kammback—also known as a Kamm tail or K-tail—is an :Automotive styling features, automotive styling feature wherein the rear of the car slopes downwards before being abruptly cut off with a vertical or near-vertical surface. A Kammback re ...
. The Ford V8 engine was tuned by
Carroll Shelby Carroll Hall Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012) was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur. Shelby was involved with the AC Cobra and Ford Mustang, Mustang for Ford Motor Company. With driver Ken Miles, he dev ...
in order to allow it to produce instead of the in standard specification. The car was designed with a top speed of in mind, but were developed in a short time frame and suffered engine failures. Rootes later received a refund for the engines. The two cars and one prototype mule still exist. The failure of the cars and Rootes' bankruptcy led to the demise of Lister's tuning work as well.


Pearce ownership

The Lister company returned in 1986 as Lister Cars Ltd. based in
Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...
, Surrey, with engineer Laurence Pearce tuning approximately 90
Jaguar XJS The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury car, luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, convertible#variations, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. Ther ...
s and improving their top speed to over , with an asking price of over £100,000. Success at this endeavour led the newly formed company to design a new sports car, the
Lister Storm The Lister Storm was a homologated GT racing car manufactured by British low-volume automobile manufacturer Lister Cars with production beginning in 1993. Road car The Storm used the largest V12 engine fitted to a production road car since ...
. Launched in 1993, it would use the largest displacement
V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more c ...
ever fitted to a production car at that time, a 7.0L unit derived from the
Jaguar XJR9 The Jaguar XJR-9 is a sports-prototype race car built by Jaguar (car), Jaguar for both FIA Group C and International Motor Sports Association, IMSA IMSA GT Championship, Camel GTP racing. In 1988, Jaguar's XJR-9 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, aft ...
. The Storm was later developed for motorsport in various guises, winning the
FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...
in
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
. Lister later developed a bespoke
Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...
, the Storm LMP in 2003.


Whittaker ownership

In 2012, Lawrence Whittaker and his father visited the Lister factory to source parts when restoring a Lister Knobbly, and the opportunity to purchase the Lister Motor Company arose. In 2013, ownership of George Lister Engineering Limited of
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, original intellectual property rights, the plans and drawings for all original Lister cars, as well as the property rights of Pearce's Lister Cars were bought by father and son Andrew and Lawrence Whittaker, who also own car warranty company Warrantywise. The new company, along with its associated partners, was rebranded as the Lister Motor Company Ltd. Ten months later, the Lister Motor Company announced the build and sale of the Lister Knobbly to mark 60 years since the first Lister Racing Car was built.


Current Products


60th Anniversary Lister Knobbly

The new company started building of the original Lister designs in 2014. To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of The Lister Motor Company, the release of the Lister Knobbly was announced, described as the most successful racing car of the late 1950s. The Lister Knobbly was driven by some of the most notable racing car drivers of the 50s including: Archie Scott Brown, Stirling Moss, Ivor Bueb,
Bruce Halford Bruce Henley Halford (18 May 1931 – 2 December 2001) was a British racing driver from England. He was born in Hampton-in-Arden (then in Warwickshire) and educated at Blundell's School Halford drove in Formula One from to , participating in n ...
and
Innes Ireland Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993) was a British racing driver and journalist, who competed in Formula One from to . Ireland won the 1961 United States Grand Prix with Lotus. Born in Mytholmroyd and raised in S ...
amongst many others. Within a matter of weeks half of the 60th Anniversary Lister race cars were sold out. Soon after, the order book was completely full and Lister had orders for £5m.


Lister Knobbly Sir Stirling Moss Edition

In June 2016, The Lister Motor Company announced the build and sale of the Lister Knobbly Stirling Moss at the Royal Automobile Club in London. The car is built to the exact specification of the 1958 model and is the only magnesium-bodied car in the world and only the second car in history endorsed by legendary racing driver
Sir Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula One World Drivers' Cha ...
. Brian Lister invited
Sir Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula One World Drivers' Cha ...
to drive for Lister on three separate occasions, at Goodwood in 1954,
Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...
in 1958 and at Sebring in 1959, and to celebrate these races, 10 special edition lightweight Lister Knobbly cars are being built and priced at £1 Million each. The company announced that the cars will be available for both road and race use and
Sir Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula One World Drivers' Cha ...
will personally be handing over each car.


Lister LFT-666

In January 2018, Lister announced the LFT-666. The car, which is a modified Jaguar F-Type R has a modified variant of the 5.0-litre
supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically powered (usually by ...
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...
as utilised in the Jaguar F-Type SVR, generating at 6,000 rpm and a peak torque of achieved by dual modified supercharger pulleys, a modified intercooler, an improved air intake system and a different ECU. The Thunder is capable of accelerating from in 3.2 seconds and attaining a maximum speed of . The four-wheel drive layout and the 8-speed ZF
automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...
with torque converter are retained from the F-Type while a Quicksilver
titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
exhaust system saves of weight. The car has light weight 21-inch alloy wheels, acid green accents and brake callipers. The car has a Bridge of Weir Nappa leather interior that is available in 36 colour combinations, with the Lister logos stitched into the headrests and seat pattern to match the front grille. The car was unveiled at the Historic Motorsport International show, at London's ExCeL. The LFT-666 will be built in limited numbers, with only 99 cars to be produced in total having a base price of £141,155 while a carbon fibre bonnet adds £14,850 more to the base price. The owners will also receive access to the exclusive Lister driver's club.


The Lister Stealth

In August 2020, the Lister Motor Company launched Britain's fastest SUV - the Lister Stealth. Based on the
Jaguar F-Pace The Jaguar F-Pace (X761) is a compact luxury crossover SUV made by Jaguar Land Rover, a British car manufacturer, under their Jaguar marque. It is the first Jaguar model in the SUV class. It was formally announced at the 2015 North American ...
, the Stealth uses a Lister-modified version of the 5.0-litre
supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically powered (usually by ...
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...
found in the factory F-Pace SVR, to achieve a power output of and of torque. The Stealth accelerates from in 3.6 seconds and boasts a top speed of . The Stealth adds proof to its claim of being Britain's fastest SUV after beating the
Lamborghini Urus The Lamborghini Urus is a high performance Luxury car#Luxury SUV / crossover, luxury SUV manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini. It was introduced in December 2017 as a 2018 model year production vehicle. The Urus is the fi ...
,
Aston Martin Vantage __NOTOC__ Aston Martin has used the Vantage name on a number of vehicles, normally indicating a high-performance version of another model. In one case, from 1972–1973, the Vantage was a distinct model, being a straight-6 powered version of th ...
and McLaren 570GT in a drag race at the renowned testing event, VMAX200.


See also

*
List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom :''This list is incomplete. You can help by adding correctly sourced information about other manufacturers.'' Major current marques Current manufacturers ;A *AC Cars, AC (1908–present) *Action Automotive (2004–present) *Aeon Spo ...
*
Lister-Jaguar Monza The Lister Jaguar Monza, nicknamed the ''Monzanapolis'', was an open-wheel race car, designed, developed and built by British manufacturer Lister Motor Company, and raced by Scottish team Ecurie Ecosse Ecurie may refer to: * Écurie, a commune i ...


References


Other sources

*


External links


Lister Cars
– official website {{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1954 Formula Two entrants Formula Two constructors Car manufacturers of the United Kingdom Sports car manufacturers 1954 establishments in England Companies based in Cambridge British racecar constructors Car brands