Three-quarter front view of a 1959, Blue, Lister Costin Jaguar, waiting for the Qualifying Session of the Stirling Moss Trophy for Pre '61 Sportscars
The Lister Costin chassis BHL135, was the fourteenth and last Lister Costin ever produced and was shipped new from the Lister factory to the USA in 1959. It left the UK engineless, but with featured to accept the Maserati 450S V8 engine – the only car to ever leave the factory in this specification. Differences included modified engines mounts and a rivetted bonnet section to allow the taller carburettors of the Maserati V8. Although it is unknown whether the engine was ever installed and tested in the car, when it returned to the UK in 1987 under the guidance of John and Gary Pearson, these unique features were still in place, and the chassis and body still original and undamaged, although missing the tail section. Pearson Engineering restored the car with Jaguar XK power, as per the works cars, and soon the car was racing here in the European historic racing scene. Since its return to the UK, BHL has been always been run by Pearson Engineering, with racing campaigns all over Europe and regular invites to the great events like Le Mans Classic and Goodwood Revival. Under its current ownership, BHL135 has continued to be highly competitive, a highlight being overall championship victory in the 2019 Stirling Moss Trophy. In the final race of the championship at Portimao, and sharing the car with historic ace Chris Ward, the car made a strong claim for title as the ‘fastest Lister in Europe’ when Ward went a full second quicker than he ever had in any Lister Jaguar round the Portuguese track. They won the race overall recent months, the car has had a full rebuild for the 2020 season, including a full crack-test and the construction of a new aluminium bonnet to protect the original 1959 item. A truly race-ready car that needs nothing before being entered into the 2020 Revival or 2021 Le Mans Classic.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -quarter, 3800cc, 61, 1959, 2019, bhl135, blue, chassis, circuit, classic, costin, driver, front, jaguar, kent, lister, moss, motosport, national, northamptonshire, number, paddock, power, pre, produced, qualifying, richard, session, silverstone, sportscar, sportscars, stirling, towcester, trophy, view, winner, xk
