Half-price Lister LFT-666; twice the charm?
Lister promised to bring the Thunder - might it finally have arrived?
Pity poor Lister. When it revealed the Thunder as a concept back in 2018, it did so with the intention of repositioning the firm’s venerable brand name for the 21st century. The idea was that with its wagon hitched to Jaguar’s star, its relationship might eventually become the equivalent of the one Alpina had with BMW. And on the basis that there was a lot of high-performance white space that Jaguar seemed reluctant to step into, the idea did not seem like a bad one at the time.
The problem was of course that Jaguar was already edging toward the start of a journey that would ultimately see it end production of its conventional models completely, in favour of a future build around six-figure EVs. And while the transition was chiefly about remaking the brand as a fixture in the luxury segment, it simultaneously (rightly or wrongly), tossed combustion engines on the scrap heap, effectively declaring them remnants of a past it was attempting to distance itself from.
Obviously this robbed Lister of the lifeblood that would have resulted from Jaguar following up the F-Type or F-Pace with like-for-like replacements - but it did leave one potential upside. With the mothership veering into uncharted space, not every existing customer was guaranteed to go along for the ride; meaning that for a while at least any owner hoping for a 200mph Jaguar powered by a V8 had one place to turn. And that place could point to nearly seven decades of race heritage.
This F-Type, for example, harks from 2015, but didn’t receive the full LFT-666 treatment until 2023. That means Lister wheels, titanium exhaust, interior trim, suspension work, engine management changes and supercharger pulley upgrades. Officially, the output is 666hp (measured the metric way), which accesses 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds and 208mph, although it’s as much about the soundtrack and attitude as it is fine margins. The concept was called Thunder for a reason.
Lister quoted a price of around £140k when new, which obviously placed the LFT among expensive company - not least the long shadow cast by the Porsche 911 Turbo. Jaguar had been there, too, but only with the exotic Project 7; the Lister’s appeal was not subtlety or value in the spreadsheet sense. It was the idea that if Jaguar’s own V8 coupe was amusingly anti-social, Lister could make it faster, louder and rarer while keeping the underlying GT ability intact.
While the car’s various shortcomings remain, the prospect is arguably more interesting at £77,495, especially with only 41k on the clock and the balance of the Lister warranty remaining. Granted, a standard F-Type R, available for around half the money again, will do much of the same job for less. But it’s the Lister mischief that makes the Jaguar muscle that bit more interesting - and with no replacement 5.0-litre V8 sports car ever coming, and a scarcity on its side, there could hardly be a better time to shine…
t sliding caliper brakes still despite the extra performance 
To someone who wants something unusual or is particularly a Jag or Lister fan, nothing else will do.
I think this is mega cool, would have. Probably an absolute animal to drive.
That looks magnificent and properly fast. The F Type is such a good looking car - even now.
Just not German yellow highlights.
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