MOTOR CARS | 273292
1989 liSter JAguAr 7.0-litre le MAnS Coupé
Registration no. FCF 3
Chassis no. 038LJ05LM
Engine no. LP047/70L
A director of his family’s Cambridge-based light engineering firm, Brian
Lister was better placed than most to become a racing car designer.
He enlisted the considerable talents of Don Moore and Archie Scott-
Brown to help with engine tuning and driving respectively, and built his
first car in 1954. The MG XPAG-powered Lister proved an immediate
success, notching up five 1st and eight 2nd places in short order.
Upgraded that summer with a Bristol straight six, the Lister won its
class during the British Grand Prix support race and throughout the
1955 and ‘56 UK racing seasons was a serious thorn in the side of
both the Aston Martin and Jaguar works teams. Fitted with Jaguar
straight-six and American V8 engines, the Lister ‘knobbly’ sports-
racers proved immensely successful at international level through the
1950s but by the decade’s end the writing was on the wall for front-
engined sports-racers and Lister closed at the end of 1959.
In recent years cars bearing the Lister name have been a major force
in GT racing worldwide. From the early 1980s the name has also
graced some of the world’s fastest road cars, after an agreement
first with BLE Automotive and then WP Automotive saw converted
XJ-S models marketed as Lister Jaguars. Following six years of
development, the Lister Le Mans burst onto the supercar scene in
- Named in honour of Jaguar’s successes at La Sarthe in the
1980s, the Le Mans featured a 7.0-litre version of Jaguar’s V12
engine, comprehensively re-worked and upgraded to cope with
its now 604bhp maximum power output. A similar torque figure
ensured stupendous acceleration in any gear. Needless to say, the
suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres were up-rated to cope, while a
purposeful-looking body kit ensured that the car remained stable at
its 200mph maximum speed. The price? A cool £160,000.
Previously registered ‘G445 UGX’ and ‘9951 EJ’, the car we
offer is the fifth of only 20 Lister Le Mans made. Chassis number
‘038LJ05LM’ served as Lister’s demonstrator and featured in its sales
brochures before being purchased by industrialist Jack Walker, who
had just sold the Blackburn-based family firm, Walkersteel, to the
British Steel Corporation for more than £300 million. A keen supporter
of Blackburn Rovers, Walker bought the football club and invested
heavily in new players, twice setting a new British record for the most
expensive transfer. Jack Walker died in 2000 but in 1994/1995 had
had the immense satisfaction of seeing his beloved team win the
Premier League.In 1994 this Lister Le Mans was sold to Mr Eric Palethorpe, one of
Jack Walker’s fellow company directors, who kept it until September
2013 when it passed to the current registered keeper. Now carrying
the cherished registration ‘FCF 3’, the Lister has covered only 38,000
miles from new and comes with service history including a bill for
£3,400 for its most recent service. The car also comes with a Lister
handbook pack, sales brochure, (copy) old V5, V5C document
and a quantity of expired MoTs. Freshly MoT’d, ‘FCF 3’ represents
an exciting opportunity to acquire a powerful car possessing an
exceptional specification, as well as a direct link with one of the
greatest of all Jaguar exponents. The car will be driven to the sale.
£40,000 - 60,000
€50,000 - 75,000