1959 Lister Jaguar – Cambridge Iron

1959 Lister Jaguar

Few of the 30,000 spectators, bundled warmly against the biting wind, realized they were to witness the birth of a legend. The British Empire Trophy Race of 1957 took place on a cold but sunny afternoon at the heavily wooded Oulton Park circuit in rural Cheshire. In 1955, one-armed Archie Scott-Brown had taken first in the Lister-Maserati built by Cambridge businessman Brian Lister, and the following year Stirling Moss won in a diminutive Cooper-Climax. But this year it was going to take more than 1500cc to secure the trophy, and Lister had come ready to rumble.

Their piece de resistance outwardly looked like the fast yet fragile Lister-Maserati they had run in the past, but up front was a 3.4-liter, dry-sump Jaguar D-Type engine freshly purchased from the factory and tuned by engine wizard Don Moore. In its debut at a minor Snetterton race the week before, Scott-Brown had set fastest lap, but was let down by clutch problems. This time the formidable trio of Archie, Brian Lister and the Lister-Jaguar were ready for battle. Ranged against them were the might of the Aston Martin team. Debonair Roy Salvadori was piloting the latest works 2.5-liter DBR-1, with Noel Cunningham-Reid in a factory DB3S. Also Aston-mounted were brothers Graham and Peter Whitehead in privately-entered DB3S models. Dick Protheroe was in the prototype Tojiero-Jaguar Mk.II, while LeMans winner Ron Flockhart drove an ex-Duncan Hamilton Jaguar D-Type. Other big iron included an H.W.M. Jaguar, a few D-Types, a Cooper-Jaguar and an ex-Ecurie Ecosse C-Type.

The expectant crowd eagerly awaited the 5 p.m. start, then watched aghast as the thundering herd hurtled into narrow Old Hall Corner. Salvadori made a great start and was out front, while Archie was picking his way up through the field. But by the time the pack emerged from the woods and streamed onto the main straight, Archie had seized the lead and was pulling away! In only its second race, the dark-green Lister was showing its heels to the finest sports racers in England. Despite failing brakes, Scott-Brown continued to pull away to a 10-second win over Salvadori, launching a legend that was to last until the final car rolled out of the George Lister and Sons ornamental ironworks plant in 1959. To a generation of racing fans, the Lister was THE big-bore sports racer of the late 1950’s.

Humble Beginnings

Brian Lister had built a series of specials before turning out his first customer-version racing cars in 1954. These were powered by MG T-series engines or the ubiquitous 2-liter Bristol sixes also used in Coopers and other British racing cars. With the consummate skill of Archie Scott-Brown and the tuning mastery of Don Moore, Listers quickly became a dominant force in English club events. A number of Lister-Bristols were sold to customers, while the factory developed a Maserati A6GCS-powered version for Scott-Brown.

The Lister chassis was simple but state-of-the-art for 1954. Three-inch diameter frame members formed a ladder chassis with equal-length front A-arms and a DeDion rear axle. Coil-over shocks were used with inboard Girling drum brakes at the rear. In 1956, Lister customer Norman Hillwood decided to shoehorn a Jag six into his Lister-Bristol over the objections of Brian Lister, who thought it would be too much motor.

However, it went on to a successful club racing career, and Lister sponsor British Petroleum (BP) encouraged Lister to build an improved chassis for the Jag engine. Jaguar had just retired from racing, and both Aston Martin and the highly successful Ecurie Ecosse team were contracted to competitor Esso, so BP was willing to up the ante. Also, Lister figured that there might be a market both in Europe and America for customer versions.

Shelving his plans for an F2 car, Brian Lister beefed up the Lister-Bristol chassis with parallel chassis members, more bracing and Triumph TR-3 10” disc brakes all around. The front suspension retained equal-length A-arms, which Lister felt gave the best balance for the grip provided by the DeDion rear end (keep in mind that tires were both hard and skinny and “drifting” was the quick way around most circuits). The front suspension used MG-TD/MGA kingpins and spindles, while the rack and pinion steering was courtesy of a Morris Minor. Dry weight was quoted as 1,625 pounds and the weight distribution was 48/52. With 250-280 hp, it was one quick package!

The first body style fitted to Lister-Jags was a long-snouted affair with bulges over the wheels known as the “flatiron” body. Only a handful were built and each was unique in detail. These had been inspired by the lines of the MG EX 179 record car and differed from the “knobbly” body style introduced in 1958 and fitted to most customer-version Listers.

The “knobbly” body was an inspired design, more brutal than the sinuous shapes of the D-Jags and Ferraris of the era. Bulges and scoops popped up everywhere to cover the tall engine and provide air for the buried rear brakes. One early Lister customer was Briggs Cunningham, who needed something lighter and better handling than a D-Type to defend Jaguar honor in the States. In a similar position was Ecurie Ecosse, whose aging Le Mans winners could no longer keep up with the latest Astons and Ferraris on short tracks.

Just as everything was coming together in national-level events in England and the U.S., the FIA put a damper on Jaguar success in international races by decreeing a 3-liter limit for endurance racing. The Jag six did not take to being run in this small a form, and parallel efforts at boring out the lighter 2.4-liter “economy” version or sleeving and destroking the 3.4-liter model did not work out. One of the culprits was excessive connecting rod angularity, coupled with weak titanium rods in the factory engines. The 3-liter Jags were perennial DNF’s in enduros, so the glory days of the Listers were to be in sprint races.

World Domination – Lister Style

Although Lister sold around 57 customer racing cars in kit form, the bulk of Lister’s major wins were made by four teams. The Lister factory, captained by the spectacularly quick Archie Scott-Brown and joined by a variety of other stars from Stirling Moss to Ivor “the driver” Bueb, won the lion’s share of English domestic events. The Ecurie Ecosse team picked up a Lister for Masten Gregory to pilot, who proved to be a formidable foe (unfortunately Ecosse later had a rancorous falling out with Lister). In the States, Cunningham’s star driver Walt Hansgen proved to be the “shoe” to beat in East Coast big modified racing. Additionally, rising star Jim Clark put in many a great drive in an early “flatiron” Lister owned by the Scottish Border Reivers team.

Archie Scott-Brown and Brian Lister were to become one of the legendary teams in the history of racing, like Clark and Chapman or Penske and Donohue. William Archibald Scott-Brown was a unique driver in many respects, not the least of which being the fact that he was born with only a partial right arm and two badly malformed legs. He stood barely five feet tall, but otherwise had the looks of a movie star and was never the least self-conscious about his “special” build. In fact, he was gregarious, extremely talented and a big hit with the ladies. He had sensational strength in his left hand and a sense of balance that allowed him to win bets at university by sitting motionless on a bicycle without toppling over. The fiery Scot was to become one of the foremost exponents of the four-wheel drift, and on a good day was fully a match for Moss or Salvadori, Britain’s other top sports car drivers.

Brian Lister had learned engineering as an apprentice at the family ironworks (he interestingly enough, was also a superb jazz drummer). George Lister and Sons was an ornamental ironworks business that repaired and fashioned gates and other items for some of the finest homes in Great Britain. Brian fell in love with racing cars and owned a secession of them before embarking on his own designs. He met Scott-Brown in a Cambridge car club and they became fast friends. When Archie showed his prowess behind the wheel, Lister focused his energies on developing cars for Archie to drive.

Like the aforementioned MG, Bristol and Maserati-powered cars, the Lister-Jags were sensational. In 1957, they followed up their Oulton Park win with victories at all the major circuits including Goodwood, Snetterton, Crystal Palace and Brands Hatch. In 1958, they appeared set to do more of the same, with Archie conquering at several New Zealand venues in addition to trouncing all at the British tracks. He even did well in Connaught F1 cars before a fateful day at Spa, Belgium. While fighting a tremendous duel with Masten Gregory in the Ecosse Lister, Archie lost control in a high-speed turn and clipped a road sign at the same spot where Dick Seaman had been killed 20 years earlier. The magnesium-bodied Lister flipped and caught fire, and Archie, badly burned, died the next day in hospital.

After this huge loss, Lister considered quitting racing altogether, but was persuaded to continue on. In deference to Archie, the straight, yellow racing stripes on the leaf-green Listers were swept back around the nose and tail to mark his passing. Lister also began looking for ways to make the cars faster without breaking the bank (compared to the Aston Martins, Lister was run on a shoestring budget).

The Cunningham Crew

Briggs Cunningham purchased the first shipment of customer-version “knobbly” Listers in 1958 to be driven by himself, ace wheel spinner Walt Hansgen and a variety of guest drivers. After closing down his racecar manufacturing operation, Cunningham had become Jaguar’s racing ambassador to the States. Hansgen had piloted his D-Types to the 1956 and 1957 SCCA National Championships in the C-Modified class. Cunningham’s cars were prepared by Alfred Momo, whose New York shop maintained many of the most exotic cars on the East Coast. Momo had also engineered the expansion of the Jag engine from 3.4- to 3.8-liters, which the factory quickly picked up on. The Cunningham Listers ran this formidable powerplant in National events, although they had no more luck than the factory with 3-liter mills in enduros. In 1958, Hansgen was virtually unbeatable, with Ed Crawford backing him up (frequently with a 1-2 finish).

The only cars in the U.S. capable of dealing with the Cunningham Listers were the dreaded Scarabs. These fearsome beasts had better brakes and comparable handling to the Listers, allied with at least 70 more horsepower. The first confrontation between them took place at Virginia International Raceway in 1958. Scarab team owner Lance Reventlow showed impressive speed and led the preliminary race at one point but finished a distant third in the feature behind the flying Listers. A rematch took place at Montgomery later in the season, where Reventlow was accompanied by hard-charging Chuck Daigh, thereby providing driving talent comparable to Hansgen. Another quick competitor, Bill Sadler’s Chevy special, was also a threat as was Fred Windridge in a Lister-Chevy. After a furious race, Hansgen was in the lead when a tire blew, letting Daigh through to the win.

Two weeks later the final matchup between the titans took place at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut. Reventlow convincingly won from Hansgen to even the score from his early season defeat. These were among the very few races that the Cunningham Listers didn’t win in 1958! Hansgen repeated as SCCA National Champion.

In 1959, Cunningham switched to the new Costin-Listers, but their early season optimism proved unfounded and Hansgen had to fight hard with George Constantine’s potent 3.8-liter Aston Martin DBR-2. At Marlboro, Don Sessler beat Hansgen with a Porsche Spyder and Alan Connell’s Ferrari 335S finished ahead of the formerly dominant Cunningham team at the season-ending race at Daytona. At most tracks the lap times for the new Costin-Listers were no faster, or in some instances slower, than the previous season’s times by the “knobblies.” Hansgen still managed to edge out Constantine for the C-Mod championship, but by the narrowest of margins. For 1960 Cunningham switched to Corvettes and Maseratis.

Taking the Wheel

So what does it feel like to take the wheel of a legend? Pretty intimidating, to tell the truth. I got a chance, thanks to the generosity of owner Dr. Julio Palmaz, who let me drive this recently purchased Lister at his private test track. YOB 575 (the registration number) was the last “knobbly” Lister built. It was first sold in January 1959 in kit form to Peter Mould, who owned a metal foundry. His friend Mario Deliotti assembled the car with a 3-liter Jag engine (a 3.8 was later substituted). Production of the Costin-Lister had already begun, but Deliotti was convinced the older body was best and, after considerable argument from Lister, it was fitted with an assortment of new and used body panels. Mould’s foundry cast his own engine block which was fitted with a D-Type “wide angle head” and a 5-speed ZF gearbox. It was one of the few 3-liter Listers to amass an impressive record, winning 32 awards in 39 starts in 1959 and 1960. At the end of the 1960 season it was sold to Gil Baird, who raced it for a season, then to John Coundly and Tom Fletcher. Later, Jag expert John Pearson bought the car and let Thoroughbred & Classic Car editor Michael Bowler drive it in historic racing. It still has its original aluminum body, a rarity in the cut-and-thrust world of English historic racing.

It is a time capsule car, with the look of a veteran campaigner, not a concours queen. Edgy and uncompromising, the stark aluminum interior is a gymnastic challenge to enter and feels a bit tight to my 6’2” frame. The seating position is very low, more so than my old Bocar or a Devin SS. Once inside, the ignition switch is flipped and the fuel pump seems to physically shake the entire car. Push the starter button and the potent 3.8-liter lump barks to life. Let me tell you, there is nothing like the exhaust note of a full-race Jag six to put goose bumps on your goose bumps. The raucous, staccato firing tells you that you are in a SERIOUS racing car, one that will require respect to get the most out of it. The shifter (now on a 4-speed Jag gearbox) sits far back and takes some getting used to, but a quick snick and the big Lister rumbles out onto the track. The Morris steering gear is light but has good road feel (no wonder they were also used on the Scarabs and Devins).

Once on the short test track, the Lister comes alive. The engine is a delight, with plenty of power throughout the range. The Dunlop L-section tires are suitably “driftable,” but it takes some getting used to before you want to boot one of these babies. For starters, the front roll center is at road level, while the DeDion arrangement positions the rear roll center at hub height. This means once the back starts moving you had better be ready to catch it quick or you are going around (no, I didn’t spin it). Once under way, the gearbox requires some serious contortion to effect a clean shift. However, the pedals are well positioned. There is plenty of power available, and although I didn’t have an opportunity to test the top end, it should be in the vicinity of 160 mph with Le Mans gearing, or 145 mph with a short-track 3.77 ratio.

So how does it feel to go where giants like Scott-Brown and Hansgen have tread? Indescribable. The combination of ample punch, incredible racket and responsive controls makes the Lister one of the greatest driving experiences in historic car racing. My thanks to Julio Palmaz for a splendid day I will never forget.

 

Specifications
Year of construction: 1959
Chassis type: Tubular, ladder frame.
Wheelbase: 90-3/4”
Track: Front: 52”. Rear: 53-1/2”
Weight: 1736 lb.
Suspension: Front: Equal length fabricated wishbones with coil-over shocks. Rear: Four-link DeDion, with vertical slide and coil-over shocks.
Engine: Jaguar DOHC inline six w/ wide-angle head.
Bore and stroke: 87 mm x 106 mm
Displacement: 3781 cc.
Compression ratio: 10:1
Oil system: Dry sump
Carburetors: Three Weber twin-throats.
Horsepower: 300 hp.
Clutch: Racing triple-plate.
Gearbox: Jaguar D-Type close-ratio 4-speed.
Brakes: Girling alloy calipers w/ 12” solid discs.
Wheels: 16″ Dunlop racing.
Tires: Dunlop 16 x 6.00

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