The ‘Cars from Cambridge’ designed, and built by Brian Lister, were simply the best of their kind and dominated the field with Archie Scott Brown driving, even when driven by Stirling Moss, who also drove a stint for Lister.

In October 1956, Sir William Lyons announced that the Jaguar Works racing effort would cease for the 1957 season citing the “heavy burden on the Technical and Research Branch of the Engineering Division”.

Shell-Mex BP, the fuel sponsors for both Jaguar and Lister, were keen for representation of the British market and so was Jaguar. A cost-effective way of accomplishing this was for a Jaguar engine to be fitted to a different chassis.

Brian Lister, the owner of Brian Lister (Light Engineering) Ltd., was initially reluctant, but Jaguar agreed, via Shell-Mex BP, to supply a Jaguar engine and transmission to be fitted into a Lister chassis with full factory support.

The new car was entered for the 1957 season as a Lister-Jaguar and the 60-year dedication to the Jaguar marque began. 30 years later in 1987, under the new ownership of Laurence Pearce, development began on a tuned Jaguar XJS V12, which would become known as the Lister Le Mans. In total, ninety cars were completed and the project was deemed a great success. In the 1990’s Lister went on to have stratospheric success with the Jaguar V12 powered Lister Storm, winning the British Empire Trophy for a record 4th time, and in 2000, winning the FIA GT Championship. Lister’s place as one of the leading Jaguar tuning companies was sealed.

In 2013 The Lister Motor Company was acquired by father and son team Andrew and Lawrence Whittaker.

(source: Lister)