Lister Bristol

The Lister-Bristol came into operation in mid-1954 causing something of a sensation when Archie Scott Brown won the 2.0-litere class

The first Lister-Bristol was registered MVE 303, after Brian had visited the Cambridge motor vehicle licensing office once more “to see what they had got,” as he put it. In view of the fame this registration mark has acquired in historic motor racing circles it’s worth digressing into its origins. Dick Barton: “I’ve always said that it was Brian who said to me that when he registered the cars in Cambridge, he chose 303 because of the association with the rifle bullet. But he said the idea was mine, so there’s a bit of confusion there.” Nevertheless, both men agree that likening the speed of the car to a .303 bullet fired from a Lee Enfield service rifle (which both would have encountered during their time in the RAF) was highly appropriate.

 

Lister Maserati

Brian Lister purchased a Maserati A6GCS engine and transmission from the Italian manufacturer in 1956 in hopes of adding more power to Lister Chassis number BHL1

He believed the increased power would help continue the team’s success in the 2-liter class. This is the only Lister-Maserati constructed and was the factory cars driven by legendary Archie Scott Brown, called the ‘King for the 4-wheel Drift’ by Fangio. The Lister-Maserati raced with varying degrees of success throughout 1956 and 1957, including four first-place finishes and twelve D.N.F.s.

 

The ‘Archie’ Lister (MVE303)

When one thinks of legendary racing cars of the late 1950s, words like sleek, sexy, and dramatic come to mind. Cambridge manufacturer Brian Lister’s offering was all of the above, but it found its groove in rather unique contours that nonetheless gave it the popular nickname “Knobbly”.

Designed by Brian Lister to meet windshield height regulations set by the FIA, while also minimizing the frontal area of a car powered by a rather large three-liter Jaguar engine, its aluminum body featured a large central bump covering the engine, which fell off in wide grooves on either side and aft, and incredibly curvaceous streamlined fenders and headrest. The result was an athletic-appearing, distinctive racing car that took the sporting world by storm when it made its debut in February 1958 and made famous by Archie Scott Brown

 

Lister Flat-Iron

The flat-iron Lister-Jaguar – as ‘HCH 736’ became known – is perhaps the most famous of the non-works/non-Cunningham team cars.

As ‘the other Lister-Jaguar’ run concurrently with the works’ famous first prototype that was driven by Archie Scott-Brown through 1958, it was the Dick Walsh-run car which Bruce Halford and Brian Naylor drove at Le Mans, and then in 1959 became the Scottish Border Reivers’ team’s entry most notably for the youthful Jim Clark, and in which the World’s greatest racing driver first developed so much of his supreme skill. Partly because it has been unused for so very many years it has re-emerged as an extremely important, truly historic sports-racing car, and its Clark connection gives it almost iconic status.

 

Lister Monzanapolis

The Monza Lista was conceived and built in little more than two months, a rush job that was completed in the paddock at the Nürburgring, where Ecurie Ecosse were running three D-types in the 1,000km race.

Autosport 6 June 1958 described the Monza Lister as having quite substantial alterations, such as the 3.8 litre D-type engine being off-set to the nearside, strengthened de Dion tube with a large diameter centre pin to retain the sliding block, stronger front suspension wishbones, and even friction-type dampers to augment the standard telescopic units. Although the single-seater Lister was handsome, it proved slower than Ecurie Ecosse’s two D-types at the Monza ‘Race of Two Worlds’ in 1958 – and even these were nowhere near as competitive against the American Indy cars as they had been in 1957,

 

Lister Costin

In order that Listers could continue to be competitive in the big-engine classes in the 1959 season, Brian Lister was particularly receptive to the ideas of aerodynamicist Frank Costin, who had already suggested detail modifications to the ‘knobbly’ cars during 1958

Costin persuaded Lister that many benefits could be gained from a multi-tube spaceframe, lighter and more rigid than the trusty twin-tube design which had featured in all Lister sports cars to date – especially if it carried a truly aerodynamic body. Accordingly, in October 1958 he was taken on full-time and given his own office and even an assistant (David Bennoy), with the brief of designing a car with exactly these features. But it soon became apparent that the spaceframe was complex and would take some months to design and develop, so as an interim measure the aerodynamic body intended for it would be produced first and fitted on the existing chassis which is how the ‘Costin’ Lister-Jaguar came about.

 

Lister Le Mans

The famous Lister Jaguar connection made its commercial reappearance in 1986. Based in Leatherhead, with engineering input by Laurence Pearce, approximately 90 tuned Jaguar Le Mans were produced, the emphasis being very much on super car performance.

For those who felt the standard 5.3 litre V12 Jaguar engine a bit insipid, Lister added a comprehensive tuning package, first of all taking the engine out to 6 litres. The fuel injection was modified with 4 additional injectors and throttle bodies. The engine management system was tweaked, the heads gas flowed with larger valves fitted and to take the power, the crankshaft was nitrided, whilst Cosworth conrods carried special forged pistons increasing the compression ratio to 11.7:1. New bearings and a modified oil system were also deemed necessary in order to reliably deliver the 482bhp that it could now produce. Clearly the suspension and braking were going to need some attention, and this they duly got. The car was made to look the part too with a full body kit, superb leather Lister Recaro interior and some very sexy Lister alloy wheels. From the outset this was not going to be a cheap motor car, and it certainly wasn’t, costing a cool £88,000 in 1988.

 

Lister Storm

The Lister Storm was a homologated racing car built by Lister Cars in 1993.