THE SHAPE OF VICTORY
Lister’s continuation car follows in illustrious tyretracks, says Richard Heseltine
Despite its legendary status, the Lister ‘Knobbly’ enjoyed only a brief spell as a frontline racer. The prototype swept all before it in 1957, with the brilliant Archie Scott Brown at the wheel. The production variant arrived a year later and was offered with a raft of engine options. Customers had the choice of 3.0- or 3.8-litre twin-cam XK units, or 4.6- and 5.7-litre Chevrolet V8s. Early adopters included Ecurie Ecosse, Pierre Strasse’s Equipe National Belge, and Briggs Cunningham. The latter became the marque’s US concessionaire, with the likes of Carroll Shelby, Tom Carstens and Kjell Qvale also doing much to raise Lister’s profile Stateside.
Cunningham fielded two 3.0-litre cars in the 1958 Sebring 12 Hours. The Scott Brown/Walt Hansgen entry had managed a mere three laps when it was assaulted by Olivier Gendebien’s Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, after slowing suddenly. The sister entry of Ed Crawford and Pat O’Connor made it to lap six before dropping out with a holed piston.
Hansgen, a man who had enjoyed success aboard Cunningham’s Jaguar D-type, said after the race: ‘The Lister goes through the “S” turns and over bumpy parts of the circuit far better than the D-type. I believe this is due to several factors. The rear unsprung weight is very much lower, and the weight distribution is better for braking.’ The future Grand Prix occasional would dominate his class in SCCA events to the end of the season.
Closer to home, Scott Brown steered the latest works car to a brace of wins at Snetterton in March ’58. At the BARC Goodwood Easter Monday meeting, he led Stirling Moss in his Aston Martin DBR2 during the Sussex Trophy race until a steering rack bracket failed. At the Oulton Park British Empire Trophy meeting, Scott Brown again starred until the steering arm failed. At Aintree, he was challenged by Masten Gregory in the new Ecurie Ecosse Lister but came home the victor. Gregory didn’t take defeat lying down, however, the ‘Kansas City Flash’ emerging on top after a titanic scrap with Scott Brown next time out at Silverstone. The works driver then won at Mallory Park.
It would be his final victory: the disabled race ace perished at Spa-Francorchamps in May ’58. Scott Brown and Gregory had battled furiously in variable conditions, the former going off-line on the Clubhouse curve behind the pits – where Dick Seaman had died in 1939. He clouted a roadsign, which snapped the Lister’s right-hand track rod. The car then somersaulted before coming to a stop with fuel gushing from the fuel tank. The magnesium body went up like a Roman candle and Scott Brown died from his injuries the following afternoon.
His death had a profound effect on his friend and patron Brian Lister, whose immediate impulse was to retire from racing. Nevertheless, works cars continued to be fielded to the end of ’58 for Moss, Hansgen, Ross Jensen and Ivor Bueb. The swoopy, Costin-bodied variant emerged during the winter of 1958-59, but Knobblies continued to appear well into the ’60s before finding a home in Historics. In fact, they’ve never really gone away.