History of the Lister - Kit Carchives

In the mid-to-late '50s, an engineering company in Cambridge, England, built some of the fastest road-racing cars in the world and sold them in kit form to anyone who wanted to win. And win they did, taking home trophies across the European continent and spreading their victorious ways to America, where they were a dominant force in big-bore events for the next decade. Much of the company's success was due to two men: one a young engineer who played mean jazz drums, the other an unlikely racing driver with only one good hand and a pair of deformed feet. Their future would be both glorious and tragic.

Brian Lister was following in his family's footsteps, being groomed for management in George Lister and Sons Ltd., an engineering firm that specialized in ornamental ironworks (like gates and fencing). It was a successful business, but Brian's interest was directed elsewhere. In addition to being a professional-level drummer, he had discovered racing cars and wanted to build one of his own.

His first effort was the Asteroid, a special built on a Tojiero chassis with a JAP motorcycle engine. It was quick but temperamental, and Brian discovered he was no great shakes as a driver. In 1953 he met a diminutive Scotsman who could ably manage that part of the package.

Archie Scott Brown was born in 1927, a year after Lister. His mother had contracted Rubella while carrying him, and Archie was born with only a stub of a right arm, capped by a thumb and palm that started below the elbow. His legs were both short and deformed, with no shinbones, and tiny clubfeet pointed to the side and backwards. Despite these setbacks, Archie grew up as normal as could be expected and, due to his charming personality and handsome face, became quite a hit with the ladies. He also had an astounding sense of balance, which led to his winning college contests to see who could balance the longest on a stationary bicycle. When he discovered racing cars he knew he had found his future. After performing well in his own MG, he was offered the opportunity to drive the Asteroid for the 1953 racing season.

LISTER EMERGES
The Lister/Scott Brown association immediately gelled in small, club-level events. But they both knew the Asteroid had limited potential, and Lister convinced his father to front him 1,500 to develop a Lister racing car that could be used to promote the company's engineering abilities and to sell copies of it for profit. A decision was made to sell them only in kit form to limit the liability to the Lister parent company if something should go wrong on the track. The reasoning went that if they didn't build the car, it would be hard to say they were at fault. Plus, kit cars were not required to pay the stiff purchase tax levied on complete cars.

The first proper Lister was introduced in 1954. It had an advanced (for the day) ladder frame with equal-length front wishbones and coilover shocks, while at the rear a DeDion setup worked with a Salisbury final drive unit. Brakes were Girling drums all around, and power was from a modified MG TD mill. The aluminum body was simple but handsome, and the combination proved competitive right out of the box. Soon Lister upgraded to Bristol six-cylinder engines (the same powerplant later used in the AC Ace-Bristol) and the first customer cars began to show up at the circuits. By this time the drum brakes had been replaced by Girling discs.

Archie and the Lister-Bristol were a match made in heaven, and immediately they became the scourge of the 2L class in Britain. In 1956 Lister inserted a Maserati 1500cc engine into their old Lister-MG chassis, but the Italian six-banger proved to be underpowered and temperamental.

THE IMMORTAL LISTER-JAGUAR
Normal Hillwood was a London diamond merchant who ordered a bare Lister chassis in 1956, then added a new Jaguar engine and gearbox. Lister reluctantly put the parts together for Hillwood and the first Lister-Jaguar proved, much to their surprise, to be a workable combination. The timing was perfect, as the Jaguar factory racing team announced they were quitting and their sponsor, British Petroleum, offered to bankroll the Lister team if they would use Jaguar engines. (Arch-rival Esso Petroleum supported the Aston-Martin team.)

The factory Lister-Jaguars followed the same basic layout as the Lister-Bristols, but were beefed up to take the increased weight and power of the Jaguar D-Type mill. The aluminum body was an austere, blocky shape resembling a doorstop with four bumps over the wheels. It was nicknamed the "flatiron" body.

Archie didn't waste any time coming to grips with his new steed. In his second race he beat the Aston-Martin factory team by 10 seconds! Archie was a sight to see, drifting the big Lister sideways into corners to save the brakes. His sense of balance was uncanny; just when it was apparent he couldn't possibly regain control of the lurid-sliding Lister, he would gather it all back in and go thundering down the next straight! Among the drivers he defeated in like equipment were Stirling Moss, Roy Salvodori, and Ron Flockhart. Lap records piled up at tracks across England, and by 1957 he was the driver to beat!

The next year, Lister introduced an improved model with a new body that was quite attractive despite having numerous bumps and blisters to cover the wheels and running gear. It was nicknamed the "knobbly" body, named so from a British expression for "covered with bumps." Customer orders continued to pile in, and a number were sent to America for the team owned by millionaire Briggs Cunningham. Cunningham's lead driver was Walt Hansgen, and he had been winning everything in sight in 1957 driving a white Jaguar D-Type. In the Lister, he picked up right where he had left off, sweeping past all before him.

TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY
Another American customer was a tall Texan named Jim Hall (later of Chaparral fame), who ordered a rolling chassis through the sports car dealership he shared with Carroll Shelby. Instead of the Jaguar engine, they fitted a Chevy 283 with a Latham super-charger. It was not a complete success (due to the belt popping off the blower), but soon other Yanks were happily slipping Chevys between the Listers' framerails. Although quick, the Chevy V-8 was then in its developmental infancy and less reliable than the proven Jag six, so the Lister-Jag had a better race record than the Stovebolt version. Back in the U.K., Archie was still wiping up the competition. But the 1958 season was to end sadly when Archie was killed at the treacherous Spa circuit in Belgium. His Lister slid wide into a concrete post commemorating the death of British Grand Prix ace Richard Seaman at the same corner in 1939. The Lister rolled into a ball and its experimental magnesium body burst into flames. The valiant Archie died the next day from his burns.