lister knobbly sports racer is now bespoke built for road-legal driving

the lister motor company announces the first dedicated road-legal version of the 1950’s lister knobbly sports racer. more than 60 years after the original lister ‘knobbly’ first raced, this celebrated competition car – one of the most successful in motor racing – can be driven legally on the public highway for the very first time. unlike some ‘replica’ or ‘retro’ sports cars, the lister ‘knobbly’ is more than just a classic shape on top of modern mechanicals.

all images © lister motor company

beneath the lister ‘knobbly’ sports racer’s hand-beaten aluminum body is a six-cylinder jaguar 3.8-litre engine and four-speed gearbox, which is almost identical to the D-type powerplants fitted in the 1950s. engines are built using brand-new remanufactured parts around original jaguar blocks, assembled by experts from crosthwaite & gardiner. despite the ‘old school’ technology the engine is still capable of an impressive 330 bhp – enough to power the 787 kg knobbly to 181 mph, and accelerate from 0-60mph in just 4.3 seconds.

the tubular chassis is made from seamless engineering tube using the original jigs, and all welds are pressure tested to ensure integrity. the aluminum body panels alone take around 500 hours to beat into the knobbly’s distinctive shape. just ten of the new hand-built road-going lister knobbly continuation models are scheduled to be built. production is due to commence in september 2017, with customer deliveries planned for june 2018.

commenting on the introduction of the sports racer, lawrence whittaker, CEO lister motor company, ‘I am really proud and excited that the lister motor company has succeeded by being the first, and to date the only, specialist sports car maker to engineer and launch a fully road legal version of a racing continuation model.’ he continues, ‘this is a hugely important step for us, making lister the first to be able to offer our enthusiastic clients the excitement and thrills of driving a historically significant race car on the road. our new road legal knobbly also paves the way for more future road-going lister models too.’

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