Mossgreen - The Motorclassica Auction (#158MG) - Selected items... Cars... 1958 LISTER-JAGUAR ‘KNOBBLY’ REPLICA RECONSTRUCTION. Chassis No: BHL-165R. Engine No: NC2123-8. If Brian Lister had not produced and raced the Lister-Jaguar, the record of Jaguar powered sports-cars racing in Britain and America in the late 1950s would never have reached the legendary status and pinnacles of fame it has. The D-type was considered to have reached its peak after 1957 and formidable independents such as HWM-Jaguar had all but faded from the race tracks and the Jaguar name may have disappeared from the victory podiums. It would have been solely up to Aston Martin to carry the British flag competitively in the large engine classes against the European single seaters and sports cars. A dynamic group from Cambridge took up the gauntlet to reinvigorate Britain’s reputation for engineering and continued the show that Jaguar could build superb racing engines. Following the excellent performance of the late Archie Scott-Brown winning the Lady Wigram Trophy in Christchurch NZ and beating a 250F Maserati in the original Lister-Jaguar design, a new car emerged for the 1958 season and became the definitive Lister-Jaguar of all time. It was not an entirely new design but rather described a. “substantially, revised, re-bodied edition of the previous car”. The Lister-Jaguar Brian Lister and the cars from Cambridge by Paul Skilleter. The ‘Knobbly’, nick-named later by racing driver John Coundley’s wife, Pat, was designed by Brian Lister and fabricated by Williams and Pritchard of Edmonton, London, who had impressed Lister with work they had done for Lotus. The 2 works cars were made of magnesium alloy, lighter than aluminium, and the privateer customers were given an option to specify mag-alloy. Orders ensued with teams such as Ecurie Ecosse (BHL 104) and Equipe Nationale (BHL 105) on the waiting list. From the outset Lister ensured the design fully complied with Appendix C measurements for International racing, designing the car to take either the XK straight-6 or cleverly, the small block Chev V8, to invigorate interest and competition in the US. The racing car was recognised by American racer Briggs Cunningham. He made an exploratory visit to Abbey Road, Cambridge which resulted in him ordering 3 cars confident they would perform well against the Maserati and Ferrari dominance. During the mid-1960s in Great Britain it was considered the great sporting cars of the 1950s should be able to compete against cars of their own ilk rather than against the wide wheeled modern cars as historic cars. Eventually, sometime after the forming of the Historic Sports Car Club, the JCB Championship was launched in 1973 with the impetus given to historic racing. In so doing, rapid growth followed in Europe, and numerous highly competitive FIA sanctioned championships have evolved. Over time, some of the original Lister-Jaguars have been re-commissioned and brought back to the race tracks and continued racing unchanged. As the historic racing scene has developed and gained in popularity exacting sanctioned replica examples have become increasingly popular and practical. This outstanding replica construction was conceived in 2010 and completed in 2013 born from a common interest in the ‘Knobby’ racer between the vendor and highly regarded Austin-Healey restorer, Steve Pike. The aim was to construct a car to exact and original 1958 specifications. The chassis construction was executed by Mark Lewis Design Engineering, considered the Lister Specialist in the UK who has prepared several of the original factory cars as well as operating a race preparation shop. Lewis constructed the chassis to factory specification, and supplied the suspension, steering, pedals and other special components. Crosthwaite and Gardiner UK (C&G) supplied the brake discs and calipers; the alloy Salisbury Diff; 3.54 LSD gear set; and D Type Bellhousing mated to an all synchro E-type gearbox. A 3.8-litre Jaguar engine was sourced in Australia and rebuilt by M and W Engine Services of Ballarat, fitting 10 to 1 comp forged pistons; Crosthwaite and Gardiner new wide-angle head; triple Weber 45DCOE carburettors; D-Type cams and rocker covers and a D-type dry sump system. In the spirit of authenticity, Smiths D-type instruments as used in the D-type were sourced from a specialist in Ireland. The Lister centre-lock hubs and D type 16in alloy wheels and knock-ons were supplied by Mark Lewis. Dyno testing indicate approx. 320 HP. The superbly crafted alloy body was assembled by Marsh Classic Restorations (Steve Pike). The car has been invited to participate at the Historic Demonstration at the Australian Grand Prix from 2014 to 2017 and has competed in the regularity category at the Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport in 2016 and 2017. The car is accompanied by its Bill of Lading showing the importation of Lister Jaguar chassis BHL 165R. New Dunlop L section tyres were fitted in 2016. At the time of this catalogue going to print an application for the FIA Historic Technical Passport (HTP) has been submitted to the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) Historic Commission and is currently under review. The vehicle is being auctioned without any guarantee expressed or implied that the application will be granted. This superb example for auction presents an opportunity to acquire an outstanding replica reconstruction built to the highest standards by leading local and internationally regarded experts.