New Lister Knobbly Retro Race Car Confirmed

There seems to be a bit of a trend for retro race cars at present.

As we seem to be driving forward towards a world of (possibly) all electric cars on our roads, there just might be a hint of nostalgia creeping in for the smell of petrol and oil and the roar of an old racing car.

The Lister Knobbly is just such a car. Originally the car was a late fifties Jaguar inline-six engined racing car, which was nicknamed the ‘Knobbly’ because of the shape of the curved body. The Knobbly could do 0-100mph in just 11.2 seconds. In 2014 the Lister Motor Co announced that they would be celebrating their 60th anniversary by producing 10 new hand-made 1958-spec Lister Knobbly racing cars, describing it as one of the most successful racing cars from that era.

Such is the demand for retro racing cars these days, and especially the Lister, that in 2014 it was said, with maybe a touch of sarcasm, by Technical Director Mark Hallam that there are now probably twice as many Lister Knobbly cars out there than were actually made…

Sneak Peak of the new Lister Knobbly concept we’ve been working on. #LISTER #KNOBBLY pic.twitter.com/0JQYcAYrkt

— Lawrence Whittaker (@ListerLawrence) February 22, 2019

Back to the present, and the excitement of vintage race car enthusiasts rose when Lister head Lawrence Whittaker tweeted a picture of a Lister Knobbly with the words ‘Sneak Peak of the new Lister Knobbly concept we’ve been working on’. The response was as enthusiastic you might expect, and many automotive magazines took the idea and ran with it, but it’s only now that we can actually confirm that it will indeed go into production, thanks to a follow-up tweet simply announcing ‘…and yes we will build it!’

So what can we expect from a new version of a classic late fifties racer that was once driven by Stirling Moss? Judging by Lister’s previous incarnations, it might be safe to presume that the company will want to keep the essence of what the Lister Knobbly is all about and remain very true to its 1950s heritage.

What to Expect

It’s likely that Lister will give buyers the option of either owning a track model or a road-legal Knobbly. And whether they will go above the ten production models mark is also yet to be known – after all, if this model is to be made by hand it will take time to complete each model. Cost-wise, we can presume that the initial price of ownership will be big; think of a figure somewhere near the £300,000 mark. As for the engine, well Lister Motor Co remains tight with Jaguar, so a V6 or V8 roar will very likely be emanating from the new Lister Knobbly. 

No information on any potential release date as yet – way to early for that. But it looks like you may well find out more news as it appears by keeping an eye on Twitter.

Images: twitter.com, topgear.com