You Know You Want To... 1990 Jaguar Lister Le Mans

Lister didn't make the XJS any prettier, but it did make it a heck of a lot faster...

Okay, so it's not pretty... in fact it's a rather vulgar-looking beasty, but back in its day it was one of the fastest cars money could buy.

At a time when the Ferrari 348 was producing a thoroughly respectable 300bhp, these seven-litre behemoths were being delivered with just shy of 500bhp and were reputedly capable of over 200mph. It may be hard to believe, but if you'd have drag-raced an F40 in one of these you'd have probably kept up at the very least.

Had you been in one of the few 7.0 Lister XJSs with twin superchargers and 700bhp, you'd have handed any 1990 production car its backside...

However, it's hard to imagine that the Lister can ever have been considered good to look at. Earlier examples like this one retained the standard XJS bonnet, whereas with the later cars Lister shifted the headlamps backwards a few inches and brought the edge of the bonnet down to meet the bumper - presumably in an effort to reduce frontal area and increase top speed. The combination of that and the very eighties body kit do little to enhance the XKS's looks.

Still, the wheels are cool and it's rare to see one on the market. This Lister Le Mans appeared recently and, despite the rarity, low mileage and full history, it hasn't found a new owner yet at £37,950.

So if you're a big Jaguar fan or you just want to find out what 500bhp is like in a car whose design was already 15 years old when it was made (now more than 20 years ago), you might want to get your negotiating head on, check your life insurance is up to date, and put in a bid.

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greeneggsnsam

Original Poster

617 posts

157 months

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Wednesday 27th July 2011

Actually, the car in the first photo looks pretty good. I think the XJS is a great looking car- to me they look like stately homes with aerodynamic bits.