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Were it not for a disastrous fire at the Jaguar Works in 1957, it is possible that Jaguar-powered Lister sports racing cars would never have been produced. The blaze brought all car production, including Jaguar’s race cars, to a total halt. This spelled the end of Jaguar’s formidably successful D-Types, leaving a gap to be filled in that rarified market.

Brian Lister stepped into the breach. His family engineering firm, George Lister & Sons, built a range of high-quality metalwork reaching back to the Victorian era. Regarded as an “engineer’s engineer,” Mr. Lister had been deeply involved in racing car design and fabrication since building his own Cooper-MG sports special in the late 1940s. By the time of the Jaguar fire, his success at building racing specials included a car for John Tojeiro, as well as cars carrying his own Lister badge using Bristol, Rover or MG power and, in one case, a Maserati engine.

In 1957, Lister built his first Jaguar-powered sports racer with which he achieved outstanding racing victories with the extremely talented driver Archie Scott-Brown. Lister’s sponsor, British Petroleum, was seeking a team of large-displacement sports racing cars to rival Aston Martin and Ecurie Ecosse Jaguars, both of whom were sponsored by Esso. Lister seemed the obvious choice and the first production “Knobbly” Lister Jaguar, so named for its unusual but effective body shape and aerodynamics, debuted in 1958. The first two cars went to Briggs Cunningham to complement and, eventually, replace his older Jaguar D-Type team cars.

At the beginning of 1959, Lister initiated a restyling of the already-efficient Knobbly bodywork. Famed de Havilland aeronautical engineer Frank Costin was enlisted for the task and began work by revising the irregular formation of the Knobbly. Costin was a prime choice for this challenge, having created the advanced bodywork for the Vanwall Grand Prix cars in the early 1950s. His work significantly influenced front-engined GP design for years to come, and also Lotus’s Mark VIII and Eleven.

Frank Costin was the brother of Mike Costin, the co-founder of renowned engineering firm Cosworth. Together with designer and engineer Jem Marsh, Frank Costin co-founded Marcos Sports Cars. There he applied his knowledge of building monocoque chassis from plywood, a skill adapted from his aircraft work. He later went on to build the Costin Amigo and the TMC Costin in the mid 1980s as well as the Costin Sports Roadster in the early 1990s.

Costin succeeded admirably in smoothing the coachwork but, surprisingly, the modified sleeker shape was less aerodynamic than the Knobbly. Nevertheless, nine Costin Listers were built, just two with Jaguar power and seven with Chevrolet V-8 engines. The Chevrolet engines were installed by the now-legendary Texans Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby, Lister’s first US importers.

Chassis & Sales

BHL 123-One of Two Briggs Cunningham Costin Listers Jaguars. Prepared by legendary Cunningham team chief mechanic Alfred Momo for the inaugural 12 Hours of Sebring race in 1959. The drivers included the Lister works team driver and Jaguar Le Mans veteran, Ivor Bueb, and the great Stirling Moss. At the 1959 12 Hours of Sebring, Moss was piloting the Lister in third place when he made a scheduled pit stop. Impatient to rejoin the race, Moss shot away before the tank was full and subsequently ran dry on the course.

Briggs hired Walt Hansgen to drive the new Lister Jaguar at the following venues: Virginia International Raceway, the Cumberland International Races in Maryland, Bridgehampton Race Circuit and Watkins Glen. Hansgen also achieved second and fourth place finishes capturing the 1959 SCCA C-Modified National Championship. BHL 123 was also raced that year by Briggs Cunningham himself, who placed third at Thompson Raceway.

In 1961, the Lister was bought by well-known eastern US dealer/racer Bob Grossman for Phil Forno, who raced it with co-drivers Ed Crawford and Dr. Dick Thompson. By 1976, the car was back in England where it was campaigned by Tony Crossingham. Two years later, BHL 123 was purchased by William Symons who kept it until 1983 when it was sold to Chris Drake. It returned to America that same year to Dean G. Watts, who lavished time and money on the original engine and chassis – including the creation of more rugged alloy suspension uprights and the installation of a roll bar.

In 1989, after Mr Watts’s ownership, BHL 123 went back to England. The following year it was owned by well-known vintage dealer Dan Margulies, who registered the car with the FIA Historic Vehicle Identity program. It passed through the hands of a few appreciative UK collectors until it once again returned to America, where the present owner purchased it in 2000.

The car went through a full mechanical restoration in 2000 by Lister experts The Vintage Connection in Oklahoma City. In 2003, the same team completed a comprehensive, body-off restoration. A more recent comprehensive cosmetic and mechanical restoration by the same team took place during 2008 and 2009. Sold at Gooding & Co's 2010 Scottsdale Auction for $1,000,000 USD.

Story by Gooding & Co.

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