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2018 Lister Costin Continuation to Start Production in 2017

Old British cars are a breed apart, especially racers. One such car is the Lister Costin, which will come back to life next year.
Lister Costin racing car 4 photos
Photo: Lister Motor Company
Lister Costin racing carLister Costin racing carLister factory
After the Knobbly and Stirling Moss edition, the Lister Motor Company is proud to announce a third continuation model in the guise of the Costin. Drawing its name from Frank Costin, an aerodynamics engineer and the brother of Mike Costin of Cosworth fame, the Costin is hailed as the last Lister racing car of the 1950s. According to the manufacturer, all Costin continuation cars will be a carbon copy of the 1959 original model.

“Buyers of the continuation Costins will be getting perfect period cars, which will no doubt become highly collectable and successful historic racers,” said Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Lister Motor Company. “I’m also very proud that we are continuing the tradition of hand-building cars at George Lister Engineering in Cambridge, using many of the traditional methods that were used in 1954, as well as some of the original engineers. We are keeping Brian Lister’s legacy alive – and that is so important to us all,” he concluded.

As hardly believable as it sounds, three of the original engineers that developed the Costin will aid construction, even though they’re now in their 80s and 90s. The aluminum-bodied racer will begin production in 2017, with first deliveries scheduled for early 2018. Price? That’ll be £295,000 plus VAT in full competition specification, HTP included. Short for Historical Technical Passport, the HTP is the idea of Max Mosley when he was FIA president.

For a type-approved road car, prepare to pony up an extra £12,500. Paying tribute to the two works cars built for the 1959 racing season, the 2018 Lister Costin will use a period-correct 3.8-liter Jaguar inline-6 with 337 horsepower available at 6,750 rpm and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque at 4,250 rpm. Of course, a good old manual transmission produced by Crosthwaite and Gardiner is also on the menu. Performance-wise, 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) arrives in just 4 seconds, while top speed is rated at 170 mph (273 km/h).

The announcement to revive the Lister Costin comes after an original model (pictured) crossed the finish line first at the 2016 Goodwood Revival Sussex Trophy. If you’re curious how the driver clinged to first after 25 laps of wheel-to-wheel action, watch the video below and keep your eyes on #41.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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