CAFÉ RACER 76: A Car In Which To Win: 1959 Lister-Chevrolet

Images: RM Sotheby’s by Darin Schnabel

The particulars of this car’s provenance may be murky, but its potential for podiums is undisputed. This 1959 Lister-Chevrolet is considered one of the fastest ’50s racers available today, and it could be yours when it heads to auction at RM Sotheby’s’ Andrews Collection sale.

Brian Lister got into developing race cars in the mid-1950s, and he had the engineering knowledge and financing necessary to back up his dream. His first Lister hit the track and found immediate success, and he soon found himself backed by Shell/BP with Jaguar supplying engines. Thus came about the legendary Lister-Jaguar and the world-beating “Knobbly”.

The Lister legend did not conclude with the Lister-Jaguar, however. After a string of British motors powering the Listers, eventually the idea came about to drop some American muscle into the cars. The Lister-Chevrolet was a beast, and it built a reputation to match. They dominated the SCCA Championships in ’58 and ’59, but unfortunately they would be the last of the Listers as production came to an end in 1959 leaving a legacy of just fifty cars, sixteen of which were Lister-Chevrolets.

And that’s what we have here, a Lister Chevrolet chassis BHL127. The car was finished with a Frank Costin body and powered by a Chevrolet motor. Its history suggests that Chuck Howard and Tracy Bird owned it in its early days, racing it at Road America and Elkhart Lake.

Jim Mullen would own it later, and it was approved by the Vintage Sports Car Club of America in the ’70s. Around that time it would head to England and pass through the hands of Barry Simpson, David Clark and Walter Becker. It was during this era that it was re-bodied with the Knobbly-style body it models today.

At this point in its life its documented race history would light up, and it won the BRDC Championship, won the British Grand Prix support race and won the Sussex Trophy at Goodwood twice. The turn of the millennium would see its competitiveness continue, and it has claimed a further 34 podium finishes along with all-time lap records for ’50s sports cars at Oulton Park, Goodwood and Spa.

It’s sold with FIA paperwork, a working race car’s spares package including spare engine and gearbox, along with historical and technical information.

This car is exciting in all of the right ways, and it’s a supremely-competitive option for any historic racer looking for a beautiful vintage machine. It’ll head to auction on the second of May, 2015, at RM Sotheby’s’ Andrews Collection sale, and you can find more information at their website here.

Images thanks to RM Sotheby’s by Darin Schnabel