1956 Lister Maserati Archie Scott-Brown
Details
Description
1956 Lister-Maserati
This incredibly important sports racing car is the famous Lister-Maserati built by Brian Lister to contest the 2 litre sports car class in 1956 and driven throughout by the renowned Archie Scott-Brown.
In 1954 Brian Horace Lister produced the first of many sports cars that would carry the family name. With an MG engine, tuned by Don Moore, the car was appropriately enough known as the Lister-MG and being the first true Lister it carried the chassis number BHL1. The driver for the 54 season was Archie Scott-Brown, a friend of Lister and an outstanding driver whose performances are all the more remarkable in view of his disabilities (he effectively had only one hand and suffered problems with both legs). This pairing of Scott-Brown and Lister was to become one of Motorsports most famous and successful partnerships and, in spite of a temporarily revoked racing licence for Scott-Brown, showed considerable promise in 1954 and into 1955, when the car was uprated with a Bristol engine. While this new engine was both powerful and reliable, its height (at 29 inches) was a serious handicap, especially for a front engine low-profile car.
In response to this problem, and in search of yet more power, Lister acquired a new 2 Litre Maserati A6GCS engine for the 1956 season. To accommodate this unit, a completely new car was built up although it retained the BHL1 chassis number and MER303 registration of its predecessor. The end result was a sleek and purposeful racer standing just over 27 inches tall (to the top of the scuttle) and with a much-reduced frontal area. The weight was also down, helped in particular by adoption of Girling disc brakes.
Scott-Brown was clearly impressed with the new car and eagerly set off to Snetterton for testing. Unfortunately the Maserati engine was not without its faults and problems with oil feed and the camshafts took several weeks to rectify, which delayed its competitive debut and it wasn’t until the British Empire Trophy at Oulton Park in April that the car was used in anger. The initial result was somewhat disappointing with a 13th place but Scott-Brown soon showed the car’s real potential with a 4th in the Aintree 200 later in April and a class win at the Daily Express Silverstone race in early May. Scott-Brown followed up this victory with another at Snetterton and a 2nd at Brands Hatch. Unfortunately the successful streak ended at Goodwood where the car retired with mechanical failure in spite of Don Moore’s best efforts, no doubt a sign of the poor build quality of the unit as originally delivered. A return to winning form was achieved at Aintree on 23rd June but Silverstone saw another DNF a few weeks later. A subsequent visit to Brands Hatch in August saw Scott-Brown secure another victory, which he repeated at Oulton Park but mechanical niggles persisted which prevented the car from running in the last Goodwood meeting of the season. In summary the results for 1956 were rather mixed. There had been some well-deserved victories but overall both Lister and Scott-Brown were rather frustrated by the lack of reliability in the engine and consequently the car was sold on to a Mr Ormsby Issard-Davies who had Allan Moore campaign the car with some success in 1957, including a 4th place at Goodwood.
After the 1957 season the car faded from view and eventually found its way to the United States where it was restored and returned to competition in historic events. The engine’s earlier reliability issues were almost certainly due to poor assembly and materials rather an inherent design flaw and following a full professional rebuild the car has recently performed as Brian Lister had intended. It is currently fitted with a recently overhauled and dyno-tested Crosthwaite and Gardiner 2 Litre Maserati engine but importantly is accompanied by the original period engine as raced by Archie Scott-Brown. With an impeccable competition history and in race-ready condition this fabulous Lister offers an unrepeatable opportunity to acquire a unique racing sports car with links to two of Motorsport’s true greats. Given its history it is eligible for all the world’s most prestigious events including the Monaco Historics. Please contact us for further details. SOLD
Partial period competition history
14 April 1956
Oulton Park, British Empire Trophy
No. 38
Scott-Brown
13th
21 April 1956
Aintree 200
No. 71
Scott-Brown
4th
5th May 1956
Silverstone, Daily Express
No. 41
Scott-Brown
9th, 1st in class
19th May 1956
Snetterton
No. 43
Scott-Brown
1st
20th May 1956
Brands Hatch
No. 87
Scott-Brown
2nd
21st May 1956
Goodwood
No. 57
Scott-Brown
DNF
23rd June 1956
Aintree 100
No. 48
Scott-Brown
4th, 1st in class
14th July 1956
Silverstone GP
No. 31
Scott-Brown
DNF
6th August 1956
Brands Hatch
No. 45
Scott-Brown
Winner
18th August 1956
Oulton Park
No. 46
Scott-Brown
5th, 1st in class
8th September 1956
Goodwood
No. 14
Scott-Brown
DNS
6th April 1957
Oulton Park British Empire Trophy
No. 38
Allan Moore
4th
22nd April 1957
Goodwood
No. 93
Allan Moore
14th
