Twin-supercharged Lister Storm for sale
A one-of-eight homologation special with zero miles for £135k? You bet, but there's a slight catch...
Have you ever had the overriding feeling of ‘I must own this now’ when an exceptionally rare car comes up for sale, but you’re not in the financial position to make it happen immediately? It’s a struggle I face constantly. Not that any of the cars that grab my attention in that way are what you'd call attainable; a certain Lancia 037 Stradale that was for sale last year springs to mind. But there’s a nagging voice that always pipes up and says: ‘you’ll never see another example like this ever again.’
That’s seldom the case, of course. Lancia built 200 (wink wink) examples of the 037, for instance, so it’s more than likely that another one will come up for sale again in the not-too-distant future (gives me plenty of time to save up some pocket money). Sometimes, however, a car comes along that’s so freakishly rare that it’s impossible to imagine a scenario where another will grace the classifieds again. That’s right folks, there’s a Lister Storm currently for sale on PH. This is not a drill.
You’re probably aware that the Storm was produced in tiny numbers. This is chassis six of eight, according to the advert, two of which were supposedly converted into racing cars while another two were exported, meaning this could very well be one of just four left in the UK. It’s not some glass fibre wonder that was glued together in someone’s garden shed, either. The Storm was a proper homologation special, built to allow Lister Cars access into the FIA GT Championship and, more importantly, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The road cars were closely linked to the racers, with carbon fibre bodywork covering a carbon chassis and a 7.0-litre, naturally aspirated Jaguar V12.
Well, that’d be the case for a ‘normal’ Lister Storm. This example also has 7.0-litre Jag V12, only it benefits from not one, but two superchargers. So while a stock Storm would deliver somewhere in the region of 550hp, this one’s been dialled up to 627hp. Barmy, as was the way in which the car was acquired. It was originally purchased in 2008, some 14 years after production ceased (if Wikipedia is anything to go by), arriving in an incomplete state as the original order had been cancelled before the car could be finished. Probably explains the utterly bonkers engine, which was originally destined for an E-Type track car build before finding a home in the Frankenstorm.
Over the next 15 years, the previous owner has been piecing the car together bit by bit, with bodywork, lights, wheels and even wiring connectors all missing upon initial delivery. Solid progress has clearly been made, especially as there are a number of proprietary parts that needed fabrication, but the car isn’t complete just yet. Look at the back and you’ll see it’s missing an exhaust system, for instance, and the ad claims that the rear suspension needs some attention. Oh, and you’ll want to fit a proper aluminium fuel tank in there, too, as the race-spec bag that’s currently fitted is prone to degradation.
Admittedly, that’s just scratched the surface of what needs to be done to get this Storm back on the road. It doesn’t even have a V5 and has never been registered. The ad makes for a fascinating read, though, and provides some great insights into a car that the internet knows little about. Just bear in mind that the £135,000 asking price doesn’t get you a car that you’ll be able to drive away, but it does grant you access to a legendary British GT, and surely one of the rarest homologation specials in existence. Which doesn't happen every day.
Is tough to reg-ister
Skinned knuckles, blood blisters
And wife lives with sister
A Storm once completed
An exhaust that is needed
Six figures that is needed!
Sale won't be repeated
So you bought and built it
To gift your kids it
But your kids won't use it
'Cos it's not electric
I thought the Lister Jaguar based on the XJS was a little ‘challenging’ in the way it looked but this is truly ugly
Having said that, if I had the necessary funds it could make for a really interesting and fun car, if it can be registered for the road…
Favourite memory of the Storm racers was May 1999 at Silverstone, for the FIA GT race. The cars lined up on the grid and Julian Bailey needed a wee, so stepped out of his car, did what he needed to do against the pit wall and got back in - to great cheers from the crowd.
The Lister Storm is pretty cool in an oddball way, with the V12 and proper raceworthy chassis.
However the golden rule with buying a rare car is to find one which is complete, since any missing parts will be hard to find. In this case the missing parts probably never existed in the first place.
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