https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/m...edition/790322
989 Lister-Chevrolet 'Knobbly' Centenary Edition
$350,000 - $450,000
Chassis No.
BHL 148
- One of just four Centenary Listers built by Brian Lister in 1989
- Raced extensively, with multiple class podium finishes
- Offered with current FIA HTP and extensive history file
Please note that this lot is offered on a Bill of Sale only.
Numerous privateer racing drivers got it in their minds to build their own car in the 1950s, but Brian Lister actually had the money and the engineering know-how. His first racing car, built in the mid-1950s with the able assistance of Don Moore and Archie Scott-Brown, was an incredible success, collecting a 1st- or 2nd-place finish wherever it roamed. Its success was such that Lister soon had a deal with Jaguar to supply engines, and the Lister-Jaguar became a world beater. It was eventually developed into the now-legendary “Knobbly,” nicknamed for its curvaceous but rather bumpy bodywork.
Eventually a U.S.–built engine was dropped into the British-built sports car, and the result was the Lister-Chevrolet—more than competitive, it was, in fact, “the car to beat.” The Listers swept the SCCA Championships in 1958 and 1959. Unfortunately, with the success of the Lister-Chevrolet, the “ultimate” Lister came at the end of the company’s life, as production wound down in 1959 after fewer than 50 cars had been produced.
Thirty years after production ended, three craftsmen who worked on the original Listers joined together to produce a second sanction Centenary Edition model—officially built by Brian Lister, now Light Engineering Ltd. Just four cars were built using the original drawings and fitted with Jaguar engines upon completion. As true to the originals as possible, each car was given a proper “BHL” chassis number. BHL 148, on offer here, moved up to the period-spec, MSA-approved 5.3-liter Chevrolet V-8 in 1998. In order to gain FIA HTP papers for the 2016 season, the current owner commissioned CKL Developments to reshape and repaint the body as a perfect recreation of Art Huttinger’s monstrous Lister-Chevy, with its striking blue-and-white livery.
Since 1989, BHL 148 has raced extensively across Europe, achieving multiple class podiums, and has raced at circuits like Goodwood, Spa Francorchamps, and Le Mans, during which time it has always been maintained by specialist CKL Developments, Mark Lewis Engineering, and Classic Performance Engineering. More recently it has been campaigned by Andrew Smith and James Cottingham, who qualified 3rd out of 39 cars at the 2018 Silverstone Classic and ran as high as 2nd before finishing 5th, demonstrating its front-running potential. Offered with an extensive history file, including several letters from Brian Lister and an original press booklet from 1990, this is a very rare chance to own a fantastically prepared Lister with a clear history from new, and for considerably less than a period car or a newly built example.