By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(July 9, 2017) The folks at the Lister Motor Company are at it again. This time, a customer wanted a Knobbly race car to be made street legal; not an easy thing to do to an original specification continuation sports racer.

A number of changes had to be integrated into the design of the Knobbly without changing its look or feel significantly. These include:

    A collapsible steering column
    Roll over protection
    Turn indicators, side repeater flashers and rear fog lamp
    License plate surrounds front and rear
    Padded leather dashboard
    Push button switches
    Removal of the wheel spinners for pedestrian safety
    Replacement of the windscreen with a wind deflector
    A ratchet-style handbrake
    Rear view mirrors
    A sunken fuel filler cap
    Brake fluid and low fuel level warning lights

Because LMC makes few continuation cars to original specifications, they are eligible for Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA). The vehicles must be made in very small numbers, and individually inspected before they can be approved for registration and road use. Just 10 Knobbly road cars will be built between September 2017 and June 2018.



As with the race version, the road Knobbly features a hand-beaten aluminum body over a welded spaceframe built on the original jigs. All welds are pressure tested, and it takes 550 hours to create the finished body.

The engine is a Jaguar 3.8-liter inline six (a 4/2-liter also is available) built around original Jaguar blocks by Crosthwaite & Gardiner. Good for 330 horsepower, the engine — which is mated to a four-speed manual gearbox — has enough power to push the 1,735-pound Knobbly from 0-60 mph in 4.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 181 mph.

Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of the Lister Motor Company, says: “I am really proud and excited that the Lister Motor Company has succeeded by being the first, and to date the only, specialist sports car maker to engineer and launch a fully road legal version of a racing continuation model.

"This is a hugely important step for us, making Lister the first to be able to offer our enthusiastic clients the excitement and thrills of driving a historically significant race car on the road. Our new road legal Knobbly also paves the way for more future road-going Lister models too.”

4.2-liter Knobbly road cars start at £225,000 ($219,111) on-the-road, while a 3.8-liter with Dry Sump will be priced at £295,000 ($381,679).

The Virtual Driver