Lister Jaguar– Brian Lister and the Cars from Cambridge
By Paul Skilleter
In my humble opinion, this is the finest motoring book to appear this year. Paul Skilleter uses his extensive knowledge of Jaguars and links it to the intriguing tales of Brian Lister and his efforts to produce a sports racing car to follow the D-Type Jaguars.
This book started out to be a picture book, but the extended captions turned into a much more detailed story. Skilleter wisely consulted with Brian Lister himself and John Pearson, and they rapidly turned this into a much more ambitious tale. While some, especially in the USA, will say “what about the Chevy engines?” the story of Lister is mainly connected to their early use of Jaguars…and Bristol. Lister eventually made the car work very well with a range of engines, producing superb sports car results for years.
The photos are all very evocative of the ’50s-’60s era, down to the shot of Bill Travers and Sud James in the film The Green Helmet, which used chassis BHL 126. Another Lister is shown in scenes from the film in the Mille Miglia…filmed in Wales! Skilleter not only draws a portrait of the Lister company in its heyday, but brings it up to date with important reunions, historic racing and the cars built in the 1990s for current modern sports and GT racing.
Available for £50 (US$75) from PJ Publishing www.paulskilleterbooks.com
