RE: Lister Storm II in the works
Thursday 22nd February 2018
As the response to yesterday's Spotted proved, it's rather easy to love a Lister. On cue, Lawrence Whittaker, the firm's current boss, last night posted what he called "a glimpse into the future of Lister... the Storm II". For now, it's just a rendering - but it's enough to confirm that the long stated ambition to build a hypercar remains on the drawing board.
Since then, building ultra-expensive, ultra-fast hypercars has become de riguer for any upstart brand with access to carbon fibre and the right OEMs. Having revived Lister in 2014, Whittaker has been famously bullish about the opportunities for the business in this market - and has previously sought investors to turn the plans into reality.
Lister Storm II in the works
The recently launched Thunder is just the beginning; Lister wants to get back to building hypercars
Any sequel to the Storm would need to be a serious machine, of course. The original mid-nineties version (you'll recall) was powered by a 546hp 7.0-litre V12 and could do 200mph. And while Lister only ever managed to build four, it was sufficiently outrageous to leave a lasting impression on the memory.
Response to the Thunder - Lister's most recent endeavour - will certainly have emboldened the managing director. According to the manufacturer, 22 examples of the 666hp F-Type spin-off were ordered within 24hrs of going on sale. Unsurprisingly, that made it the fastest-selling car in Lister's history - despite wearing a starting price tag of £139,950.
It would not be unreasonable to expect a future Storm model to vastly better its sibling in terms of performance. Previous suggestions that the car might be powered by a Jaguar-derived 7.8-litre V12 would see it develop around a 1,000hp - and better 250mph. It would likely be a serious upgrade on its predecessor's £220,000 cost, too. Expect seven figures, and a tiny production run. If reality beckons.
Discussion
The development budget for the whole car will likely be a fraction of what the big players spend on just some of the final fettling of their hypercars. The final product is therefore likely to be significantly underdeveloped in comparison. I suppose if your main concern is being different this might be attractive. The other plus factor is that you can probably order one (if they actually make it) whereas with the hypercars from Ferrari and co it is only possible by invitation.
When I looked at Lister about a year ago, they were trying to sell Knobblies from a website that seemed like it was last updated several years earlier. I thought we'd hear they'd gone bust very soon after.
Have they had some sort of massive cash injection from somewhere, or is all this some half-baked last ditch effort to get some money coming in before they call it quits for good?
I'd love to see this happen, but I feel like the Bristol Fighter Spotted might have been well timed...
Have they had some sort of massive cash injection from somewhere, or is all this some half-baked last ditch effort to get some money coming in before they call it quits for good?
I'd love to see this happen, but I feel like the Bristol Fighter Spotted might have been well timed...
jmesgotav8 said:
Maybe Lister could buy the rights to the still born Jaguar CX75... Ready made supercar we all want in production
Brilliant , brilliant idea. The Storm is still a really famous car and I believe that only around 5 were made. I know that there were moves to make a production version of the XK180, another remarkable Jaguar concept/ prototype. It would be great if a backer with enough $ could back a Lister CX-75 .Macboy said:
jmesgotav8 said:
Maybe Lister could buy the rights to the still born Jaguar CX75... Ready made supercar we all want in production
And Jaguar would do that why exactly?Jaguar would have had their reasons for not launching the CX75- either not a good fit for their brand/strategic direction, or maybe their market research told them that they wouldn't sell enough to make it viable for such a large company. But a niche manufacturer that deals with small volumes would not have these scale issues; selling a handful would meet their expectations.
If JLR were going to do anything with CX75 then why would they not do it themselves?
If money is the objective, they have plenty of experience now of using SVO to turn low volume vehicles into high-profile and high profit projects. Re-engineering CX75 isn't beyond the whit of man so why would you license or sell it to someone half-baked and back-from-the-dead like Lister when you can do it yourself? The original car was engineered by Williams. Does anyone think that Lister has any capability to complete the job (regardless of the switch to an ICE which is by no means easy)? If anyone thinks this then they clearly have insider information about the huge technical resources Lister has because they seem to have virtually no experience of doing anything much in their current form.
Every benefit you could argue for ANY arrangement with Lister is multiplied hugely by Jaguar doing it themselves - after all that is what they have a significant Special Vehicle team to do. If they wanted a halo product, felt there was a significant profit to be made or that the CX-75 now fitted into the SV portfolio they'd build it. As it doesn't the money they could make by selling the design rights wouldn't be enough for the risk of someone making a complete arse of it.
And, to agree with other posters from this and previous threads, people talk about Lister like they're AMG or Alpina rather than a bought-back-from-the-dead brand name, only reincorporated in 2013 with absolutely no credibility as an engineering or manufacturing business other than remaking a handful of classic racers from outsourced components.
If money is the objective, they have plenty of experience now of using SVO to turn low volume vehicles into high-profile and high profit projects. Re-engineering CX75 isn't beyond the whit of man so why would you license or sell it to someone half-baked and back-from-the-dead like Lister when you can do it yourself? The original car was engineered by Williams. Does anyone think that Lister has any capability to complete the job (regardless of the switch to an ICE which is by no means easy)? If anyone thinks this then they clearly have insider information about the huge technical resources Lister has because they seem to have virtually no experience of doing anything much in their current form.
Every benefit you could argue for ANY arrangement with Lister is multiplied hugely by Jaguar doing it themselves - after all that is what they have a significant Special Vehicle team to do. If they wanted a halo product, felt there was a significant profit to be made or that the CX-75 now fitted into the SV portfolio they'd build it. As it doesn't the money they could make by selling the design rights wouldn't be enough for the risk of someone making a complete arse of it.
And, to agree with other posters from this and previous threads, people talk about Lister like they're AMG or Alpina rather than a bought-back-from-the-dead brand name, only reincorporated in 2013 with absolutely no credibility as an engineering or manufacturing business other than remaking a handful of classic racers from outsourced components.
Seeing the rapid development of electric cars, high density batteries and the insane and drama-free performance that comes with them, I can't help but feel that this is becoming a bit like the anoraks continuing to build new steam locomotives. Still, I wish them luck. Nothing wrong with a passion for the past.
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