First of a Sold Out run of all New Lister Knobbly Jaguar's leaves the production line at Lister Cars.

• The first customer ‘Knobbly’ continuation racer has been completed at Lister Cars’ Cambridge factory and is ready for delivery
• Built to the very same specification as the original 1958 ‘Knobbly’ it uses the late Brian Lister’s original drawings and manufacturing jigs
• Metallic silver example is the first of a limited production run of ten cars but overwhelming response means Lister is considering three final special editions

The first of Lister Cars’ reborn ‘Knobbly’ racers has rolled off the production line at the Lister factory in Cambridge. Built to Brian Lister’s original specifications for the 1958 ‘Knobbly’, this customer car is the first of a sold-out production run of ten cars, but overwhelming demand has meant Lister is considering three additional one-off ‘final editions’.

All ‘Knobbly’ models are built to meet relevant FIA racing regulations and are powered by a race-prepared Jaguar D-Type 3.8-litre straight-six, producing 330bhp. Customers are able to compete in a series of historic Lister race meetings taking place in 2015.

This particular ‘Knobbly’ has been finished in a stunning metallic silver with a lustrous dark green leather interior. Like all ‘Knobbly’ continuations, it has incredible performance, capable of accelerating from 0-60mph in 4.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 181mph.

Lister Cars chairman Lawrence Whittaker said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to see the first customer ‘Knobbly’ roll off our production line in Cambridge – it’s a testament to our fantastic team and a fitting tribute to the memory of Brian Lister.”

Lister to expand with new Multi Million pound supercar.

• Lister riding high on re-launch success with sales totalling over £3m in 12 months          
• Andrew & Lawrence Whittaker nominated for ‘Personal Achievement of the Year’ for their work with Lister at the International Historic Motoring Awards
• Investors being sought for exciting new company expansion programme
• Strategy to develop and launch all-new sports and Hypercar projects

Re-launched at the end of 2013, just at the turn of its 60^th anniversary year, The Lister Motor Company has enjoyed an unprecedented return to sports car manufacturing, rapidly taking orders for their exciting anniversary ‘Knobbly’ sports racing cars from customers keen to buy into the heritage of one the most historic and significant of all the British sports and racing car manufacturers.

In the past 12 months since Lister’s re-birth, the company has successfully sold nine of the limited run of its £350,000 ‘Knobbly’ anniversary cars generating an order book with a value of over £3million, whilst also establishing the ‘Brian Lister Trophy’ - awarded to the most successful competitor racing a Lister car in the historic racing scene. 

Furthermore, the father and son team behind the company’s re-launch, Lawrence and Andrew Whittaker, have also been nominated for the ‘Personal Achievement Award’ in the UK’s prestigious International Historic Motoring Awards.

Now, the management team has announced its desire to expand the Lister business into new and exciting product development, with the intention of launching a new, highly sophisticated Hypercar that will return Lister to the leading edge of low-volume sports car manufacturing in the UK as well as Asia and North America.

Lawrence Whittaker, Managing Director of Lister Cars, says: “Our aspiration has always been to return the Lister brand to the forefront of people’s minds. The ‘Knobbly’ project has firmly established that the Lister name still has enormous good will and we know we have a brand with a lot of marketable collateral attached to it.  

Over the coming years our ambitions are to create a world beating brand new Hypercar with a list price of somewhere in the region of  £2million. We are currently seeking external investors that have the desire to join us on what promises to be an incredible journey, because if we proceed with our ambitious plans, it is fundamental that the entire project is sufficiently resourced in order to deliver a serious, world-beating new product.”

As well as the significant international success achieved by the original Lister team in the 1950s, Lister retuned to the market in 1989, under the management of Laurence Pearce, who launched the Lister XJS 7.0 V12, selling 90 of the £115,000 cars. Pearce went on to build the Lister Storm Le Mans car, enjoying huge success in GT racing and building four 200mph Storm road cars at a retail price of £350,000.  

Brian Lister, the founder of the original company, has fully endorsed the recent re-launch of the business and remains an enthusiastic advisor to the new management team.

Brilliant news - Lister cars is back in business.

In an historic announcement today, Lister Cars, one the greatest names in British sports car manufacturing, has stated it will return to its Cambridge roots to once again reinstate production of an exciting new Lister car.

After a gap of almost 25 years since the last Lister rolled off the production line, the three Lister companies of George Lister Engineering of Cambridge, Brian Lister Light Engineering and Lister Storm, have been reunited into one organisation that will herald the return of one of the greatest sports racing cars of the 1950's - the fabulous Lister 'Knobbly' Jaguar.

In an exciting move that will ensure the return of the Lister name to new car production, the three companies have been consolidated within a new business called Lister Motor Company Limited, after a significant investment by Warrantywise, one of the UK’s most successful aftermarket used car warranty providers.

Lister Motor Company Limited has invested in a new, state-of-the-art facility in Cambridge, which includes CNC machining, 3D scanning and Catia design, all of which will enable George Lister Engineering to develop and deliver an exciting and near identical development of the historic, race-winning, competition and track car.

Brian Lister’s original working drawings and manufacturing jigs have all been re-commissioned, and many of the team involved in the original 1950’s project with Lister Cars have been called back into service, including Martin Murray, Colin (Chippy) Crisp, Graham (Curley) Hutton, Laurence Pearce and even Brian Lister himself.  Heading up the manufacturing project is Mark Hallam, technical director at George Lister Engineering and Jerry Booen of D Type Developments will also be assisting with the project. The cars will be built to be identical to those of 1958, and will be race-ready 'out of the box' to race with BHL-C (C for Continuation) chassis insignia and up to FIA/HTP Appendix K specification.

Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Warranty Wise and the investor in the project, said: “Anyone with a fondness for British sports car manufacturing and with an understanding of Lister’s remarkable heritage should rightly be excited by this news. The Lister ‘Knobbly’ was a powerful, giant-killing racing car in its heyday, and with all the expertise we have brought together for this project, I can promise that the new Lister will be a fabulously exciting and desirable car. This is a passionate undertaking for us and we also have some very exciting plans for the future.”

Race proven, Jaguar D Type-specification engines and D Type gearboxes will be supplied by world-renowned experts, Crosthwaite & Gardener, and all race preparation and track commissioning will be undertaken by Chris Keith-Lucas of CKL Developments, another leading specialist in historic Jaguar restoration and preparation. Last but not least, that fantastic streamlined Knobbly body will be re-created using the original Shapecraft body bucks by the immensely skilled artisan craftsmen, Clive Smart and Adrian Breeze.

A series of Lister sponsored historic race meetings are planned for 2015, in time for the Lister 125th year anniversary.