Former racer and sports car manufacturer Brian Lister has died at the age of 88.
Best known for his eponymous sports-racing cars of the 1950s, Lister started out working for his family’s Cambridge-based engineering firm. A growing interest in motorsport led to him entering events at the wheel of a Morgan 4/4 in the late 1940s, but his fertile mind was already working towards building his own car.
His first creation was based around a very early Tojeiro chassis. Lister fitted an 1100cc JAP V-twin engine, plus independent transverse-leaf suspension front and rear. The lightweight car was known as The Asteroid, and proved very quick – especially in the hands of Archie Scott Brown.
Lister had met Scott Brown on the Cambridge club-racing scene, and this would be the defining relationship of his professional life. He soon realised that Scott Brown’s talents were far above his own – Lister remarked that he had “too much imagination” to be a racing driver – and the pair embarked on a hugely successful few years.
In late 1953, Lister began work on the first car to bear his name. Based around an MG TD engine that was modified by Don Moore – who became a Lister stalwart – it wasn’t particularly revolutionary but it was simple and ripe for development.
