1958 Lister Jaguar 'Knobbly'
29 wins and 53 podiums from 1958-63 and a totally documented continuous history results in this being recognised as the best original Lister.
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1958 Lister-Jaguar 'Knobbly'
Original and hugely successful Lister Jaguar
Ordered new by Le Mans winner Peter Whitehead
29 wins from 53 podiums between 1958-63
Unique period bodywork
Complete with valuable original D-Type gearbox
Full and extraordinary history
Current HTP Papers
Astounding spares package
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An outstanding, original and successful example of this indomitable British sports racing car.
To many in attendance at one of the major historic race meetings today, you would be forgiven for thinking that, of the handful made, all Lister Jaguar ‘Knobblys’ were all were created equal. But this Knobbly, known by its chassis number BHL 103 and appropriate ‘NBL’ registration number, is however unique.
It was ordered new by 1951 Le Mans and two-time Reims 12 hours winner Peter Whitehead, and he stipulated that the Williams & Pritchard body be made with bespoke and distinctive large cooling vents behind the front wheel arches – something of an exaggerated design used by Aston Martin on their DBR1. Perhaps a nugget of superior intelligence picked up after a season racing an Aston in 1957…
Whitehead also specified a beefier Jaguar XK steering rack, replacing the standard Morris Minor unit, and, after some initial teething troubles with just the third-built customer Knobbly, began to realise BHL103’s potential. With wins a both Goodwood and Leinster, Whitehead was no-doubt on course for a stellar first season with BHL103. But tragically Peter wouldn’t live to see 1958 out. Navigating for his half-brother Graham in the infamous Tour de France Automobile, Peter was sadly killed when their class-leading Jaguar MkI saloon left the road and plunged 30ft down into a ravine.
For the Lister however, its journey was just beginning and privateer Derek Wilkinson acquired the car from Whitehead’s estate for the 1959 season.
With John Bekaert installed for driving duties, BHL103 embarked upon the most successful period of its career; proudly carrying on from where Peter Whitehead had started.
Over 1959 and 1960, the Lister proved unstoppable and racked up 22 wins, 11 second places and 6 thirds; statistics which would be fantastic for a combined team of Listers, let alone just one of them! Such sensational and consistent results ensured that BHL103 frequently became a familiar sight both on track and pictured, with registration number ‘NBL 660’ clearly visible, in the weekly copies of Autosport and monthly editions of Motorsport. Copies of race reports and images from both of these legendary publications are on file in abundance, and bring this car’s astounding career to life.
In 1961 the Lister was sold to Bill de Selincourt, who persisted to add to this car’s already impressive haul of silverware. Two podiums at Goodwood led to outright wins in 1962, with de Selincourt victorious at both Oulton Park and Goodwood’s 49th Members Meeting.
For 1963 BHL103 was acquired by Allan Deacon, a Fleet Air Arm officer used to handling powerful machinery, who was able to tease another podium out the then 5-year old race car.
The 1970s saw the rise of the burgeoning historic racing scene and BHL103 was there right from the start. Bert Young acquired the Lister in ‘73, the Knobbly having just been rebuilt under the ownership of Gordon Lee, and ran in the JCB Championship and Nürburgring Historics. It may have been on one of these trips to Germany that the Lister caught the eye of collector Count Hubertus Dönhoff, who was able to add it to his museum collection by the late 1970s.
BHL103 would remain in Germany for the next quarter of a century, but fortunately not as a static museum piece. Hans-Peter Glück had managed to prise BHL103 from the Count’s collection by the early 1980s and began enjoying it as originally intended almost straight away. On file is a logbook of events that the Lister contested (usually driven by Udo Rüttcher) during this period of 1982-2003 and it is staggering to see that it was raced every single year, bar four!
During this time the Lister competed at the Nürburgring’s inaugural ADAC Eifel Klassik, the very first Le Mans Classic and, quite evocatively, returned to Goodwood for the second running of the Revival in 1999; 51 years after having achieved its first race win there.
In 2004 the Knobbly was repatriated to the UK and joined Shaun Lynn’s world-class collection of historic competition cars. The collection is renowned for both its quality and competitiveness, with Shaun and his cars a familiar sight on the podium at Europe’s greatest historic events. The Lister then was the perfect addition.
Between 2004 and 2015 the Lister became a regular front-runner and podium finisher at Goodwood’s Revivals and Members Meetings, Le Mans Classic, Silverstone Classic and Spa Six Hours. Alongside a hoard of race and qualifying print outs, on file are a simply breath-taking amount of invoices for race preparation and the restoration by historic Lister and Jaguar specialists CKL.
Also on file and fully documented is Shaun Lynn’s purchase of another Lister which had been built around this car’s original 1958 chassis. That chassis had been removed after John Bekaert had an accident at Aintree in 1959 and owner Derek Wilkinson, a perfectionist to the core, insisted that a simple repair wouldn’t suffice. The chassis in BHL103 today is the original Lister factory replacement from 1959 and, now reunited, the original 1958 unit accompanies the car too, as you can see from the image showing the wealth of spares that this Lister has. What all this means is that, unlike many other highly important 1950s sports race cars, where chassis and identities can become unclear at best, this car has the provenance to equal its pedigree.
In 2017 Goodwood honoured Lister legend Archie Scott-Brown with an eponymous Lister-only race at the 75th Members Meeting and BHL103 was invited to lead the cars to the grid with Dario Franchitti behind the wheel. Fittingly, it was this very Knobbly that won the 1960 Archie Scott-Brown Memorial race for sports cars.
According to Robert Edwards’s book Archie and the Listers just 11 Jaguar-engined Lister Knobblys were built for customers in period, making them considerably more rare than a D-Type Jaguar and indeed a Ferrari 250 Testarossa. Factor in its simply outstanding history and authenticity, and BHL103 is without question one of the most desirable competition cars of the 1950s.
Now available for sale and, with that aforementioned spares package including a 3.8 litre engine with original DCO Weber carburettors, numerous suspension components and a whole host of extras, BHL103 is the perfect entry for the 2020 season. Eligible for all the Blue Riband events, BHL103 is your ticket to Goodwood, Le Mans Classic, Silverstone Classic, the Spa Six Hours and many more besides.