1959 LISTER JAGUAR KNOBBLY

British title
Chassis n° BHL 20

• Eligible for Le Mans Classic, quicker than a D-Type
• One of the quickest cars in grid 3
• Reliable and powerful; wide- angle cylinder head
• High-quality restoration; car signed by Brian Lister

Of all the independent British builders of competition cars, Brian Lister, from Cambridge, is probably the best known, thanks to his excellent results in racing. In 1954, he assembled his first car, starting from a tubular chassis, a De Dion rear axle and an MG 1500 engine, with a sports body designed by Tom Lucas. Its results were unconvincing, so he got his friend Archie Scott Brown to drive the car and he won the next two races. The adventure had begun, and Lister built 20 or so Lister- Bristols with a 2-litre engine, Scott Brown picking up several trophies. In 1956, a customer from London fitted a Jaguar 3.4-litre engine to a Lister-Bristol chassis and had a body produced by Gomm. This car proved very quick and in 1957, Lister produced two prototypes with the same engine. In 1958, the chassis was completely redesigned, along with the suspension and brakes. The aluminium bodywork closely followed the lines of the engine, and the car was given the name ‘Knobbly’.
Two engines were offered, the D-Type Jaguar 3.8 with a wide-angle cylinder head, and the Chevrolet V8. In Scott Brown’s hands, the Knobbly was almost unbeatable, and Roy Salvadori, driving the works Aston Martin DBR1 and then DBR2, only won once, at Silverstone. For 1958, Lister was the supplier to Briggs Cunningham’s team, the Ecurie Ecosse and the Belgian national team. However, one driver, Masten Gregory, began to overshadow the works driver, as – on top of Gregory’s natural talent – the Ecurie Ecosse had already entered the D-Type in previous years and therefore had far greater expertise when it came to preparing the Jaguar engine.
Scott Brown, a determined and skilled driver, despite being born with an atrophied right hand, fought hard against Gregory at Spa in May 1958. When they were racing wheel to wheel, Scott Brown lost control of his Lister at La Source in driving rain. He died from his injuries the next day. Lister was devastated but continued his work. For the following season, he unveiled a new car designed by Frank Costin, but it was up against stiff competition from the quick new Lotus XV and Cooper Monacos. In July, a fresh tragedy struck the Lister team when the other works driver, Ivor Bueb, was killed in the Grand Prix at Clermont- Ferrand for Formula 2 (Lister’s other discipline), and Lister immediately closed up shop.
The car offered for sale today, BHL 20, started out as a Lister- MG and was fitted in 1960 with a 3.4-litre Jaguar engine. Jeremy Broad from Coventry, a noted Jaguar specialist, confirmed in a letter from 2005 that he bought BHL 20 in the mid-1970s from John Harper and used it in club races and hill climbs. After an accident at Prescott, he decided to rebuild it as a Knobbly, using part of the original chassis. Converted into a Big Lister chassis, it was equipped with a 3.8-litre engine with a dry sump and wide-angle cylinder head. As Broad explained, it was in the nature of things for competition cars to undergo a succession of repairs, modifications and improvements. In 2005, an English enthusiast bought the car, restored it and took part in a series of events including Le Mans Classic in 2008, 2010 and 2012, the 6 Hours of Spa, the Motor Racing Legends race held at the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2009 and various HSCC and BRDC races at Silverstone and Donington Park. At Silverstone in 2008, Brian Lister signed a note of thanks on its body.
It arrived in France, thanks to another fan of the marque, in 2013. He had it completely restored by the excellent workshop O-one under the direction of Josserand de Murard, who entered it in some Classic Endurance races. Its current owner, an experienced ‘gentleman driver’, bought the car in 2017.
It successfully competed in the 2018 Le Mans Classic, without any problems. With its FIA form and British title, it will need a general service, new tyres and a check of its safety equipment before making a brilliant return to the track for the 2022 season. This speedy Lister, faster than a D-Type appears in the reference work on special Jaguars, Les Métamorphoses du Jaguar, by the late Roland Urban.

The auction of this lot will take place on Friday 18 March 2022.
https://www.artcurial.com/fr/lot-1959-lister-jaguar-knobbly-4134-208