Brian Lister of George Lister & Sons had started racing with a machine of his own design in 1951 built on a Tojeiro chassis with a JAP motorcycle engine. Lister soon realised his skill lay in designing and building the cars rather than driving; he teamed up with driver Archie Scott Brown. With a loan from his father Lister went into production of racing cars from 1954, the first model having a ladder frame and De Dion rear suspension with power provided first by an MG engine and later a 6-cylinder Bristol engine. Lister was asked to make up one of his cars with a Jaguar engine, and at this same time Lister were offered sponsortship to build cars around the newly released Jaguar D-type engine after the works Jaguars pulled out of racing. This Lister-Jaguar had to be strengthened and was given a new 'Flat Iron' body, and Archie Scott Brown took this car to 11 victories in 14 races during 1957. For 1958 Lister developed a distinctive new lumpy body which was to be built by Williams and Pritchard and nick-named the 'Knobbly'. It's design gave a low frontal area with bodywork raised over the engine and over the wheels. Briggs Cunningham purchased two of the Lister-Jaguars and took them back to America, where almost inevitably a Chevrolet Corvette engine was tried and the Lister-Chevrolet became a production variant of which 17 were built. In 1959 Frank Costin was engaged to give the Lister a lower more aerodynamic body and the 'Lister-Costin' was born, and in America this won the 1959 SCCA championship. Brian Lister hadn't the heart to continue after 1959 following the death of Archie in 1958. Approximately 56 Listers were built.