Lister · 1993–1994

Lister Storm

The Lister Storm is a homologated GT racing car manufactured by British low-volume automobile manufacturer Lister Cars with production beginning in 1993.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Road car

The Storm used the largest V12 engine fitted to a production road car since the Second World War, a 7.0 L (6,996 cc (7.0 L) Jaguar unit based on the one used in the Jaguar XJR-9 that competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Due to the high price of the vehicle at £220,000, only four examples were produced before production of the road-going Storm ceased. For several years, the Storm was considered the fastest four-seat grand tourer on sale. The Storm featured Kevlar and aluminium panels over aluminium honeycomb monocoque. The doors and greenhouse were borrowed from the Volkswagen Corrado. Its design resulted in a drag coefficient of Cd=0.35. The bored and stroked twenty-four-valve V12 engine generated a maximum power output of 554 PS (407 kW; 546 hp) at 6,100 rpm and 790 N⋅m (582.7 lb⋅ft) of torque at 3,450 rpm with a compression of 10.5:1. The car weighed 1,664 kg (3,668.5 lb), accelerated from 0–97 km/h (60 mph) in 4.1 seconds, and a claimed a top speed of 335 km/h (208 mph).

Storm GTS

The Lister Storm GTS debuted at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans as a competitor in the GT1 class, going up against cars such as the McLaren F1 GTR, Ferrari F40 LM, Jaguar XJ220S, and the Porsche 911 GT2. The car, driven by Geoff Lees, Rupert Keegan, and Dominic Chappell, did not perform well, failing to finish due to gearbox failure after 40 laps. In 1996, the team signed a sponsorship deal with football club Newcastle United and hired engineer Geoff Kingston. Changes included bodywork, brakes, and moving the engine 5 inches (13 cm) back to improve weight distribution, which put the driver next to the last three cylinders. The Hewland gearbox was relocated to the rear, replacing the 5-speed unit with a transverse 6-speed sequential. To further compensate for the heavy engine, they put the wide rear tires on the front, allowing them to stiffen up the front suspension while still getting compliance from the thicker sidewalls. The team decided to give the updated Storm an early test for Le Mans by entering a lone car in the 24 Hours of Daytona, driven by ex-F1 drivers Geoff Lees, Tiff Needell, and Kenny Acheson. It failed to finish due to a high-speed crash while Acheson was behind the wheel. The car was destroyed and according to an interview in Octane in November 2020, Kenny suffered from temporary vision loss in his right eye, chest injuries, a broken rib, and still suffers from a reduced lung capacity on the left side. Even with this letdown, the team pushed on towards Le Mans with the Storm GTS. A new car had to be built by G-Force due to the timescales involved. Lees and Needell were joined by Anthony Reid. The car was able to improve on its disappointing start by finishing the race in 1996, although it was classified in 19th place, 59 laps behind the winner. Lister dec

Storm GTL

For 1997, Lister realized that the Storm GTS was too slow in comparison to some of the newer GT1 class competitors, such as the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and Porsche 911 GT1. The Storm was therefore redesigned, with a longer and more aerodynamic front end added to the existing car. This car was referred to as the Storm GTL and also used a carbon fibre structure and body panels. The car debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where it managed to take 19th place overall and fourth in its class. Later that year, for Le Mans, two new Storm GTLs were entered, but neither of them was able to finish, with both cars out of the race by lap 77. Later in the year, a Storm GTL would travel to the United States to participate in the final two rounds of the FIA GT Championship at Sebring and Laguna Seca. The car failed to finish both races. It did take one race win and one second place, both results at Donington Park, in the 1997 British GT Championship, however. 1998 saw the team again attempt Daytona, but again they suffered problems early on, and did not finish. Updates to the car meant that it failed scrutineering and was not allowed to take part in the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans despite the team entering the event and turning up to pre-qualify. One bone of contention was the lack of a rear window in the refreshed design. Also in 1998, the Lister Storm GTL finished fifth overall in the British GT Championship in the hands of Tiff Needell and Julian Bailey (with Anthony Reid subbing for Tiff at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps round). There were three Storm GTLs entered this season and between them they achieved two victories and seven podiums including winning the Silverstone Golden Jubilee Trophy race. An updated version of the car – featuring a longer nose design – won the overall 1999 B

Storm GT

For 1999, the Storm reappeared, a reworked version of the earlier GTS. The car had lost the aerodynamic bodywork seen on the GTL, instead using a more stock front and rear ends. According to Malcolm Cracknell's book Taking the World by Storm, there was a shortage of new suitable GT machines at the time, so Lister was allowed to use the Storm despite road car production long since ceasing. The team announced they would participate in the full FIA GT Championship season under the new GT2 class rules. After a poor start – retiring from fourth place in Monza and retiring from second place at Silverstone – the team managed to take fourth place at Hockenheimring, a mere two laps behind the winning pair of Chrysler Viper GTS-Rs. This was followed by pole position and third place at Zolder, and finally, a second place at Donington, with the Lister finishing 26 seconds behind the winning Viper. These successes brought Lister into a tie for fifth place overall in the teams championship at the season's end, despite only entering half the races. In the 1999 British GT Championship, David Warnock won the GT2 category for Cirtek Motorsport in a Lister Storm GT. Going into 2000, Lister was more upbeat about their possibilities. Chrysler-Oreca had officially left the championship, eliminating a challenge from a factory team. Thus, Lister would face competition only from privateers. With this, Lister proved its capabilities by winning the first race of the season at Valencia. Lister would follow this up with four more wins during the season, all claimed by drivers Julian Bailey and Jamie Campbell-Walter. By round seven at the A1 Ring, the team was saddled with a new inlet restrictor to try to slow them down relative to its on-track rivals. With these victories, Lister claimed the team's

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Lister Storm
Kerb weight: 1664 kg
Assembly: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Designer: Mike Hughes
Length: 4547 mm
Width: 1981 mm
Height: 1320 mm
Wheelbase: 2590 mm
Transmission: 6-speed Getrag manual
Engine: 6996 cc Jaguar V12
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Related: Jaguar XJR-9
Body style: 2-door 2+2 coupé, 2-door coupé
Production: 1993–1994 (road car)
Manufacturer: Lister Cars
Class: Grand tourer (S), Racing Car
sp: uk

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1322824CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lister_StormCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1369205397 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Lister_Storm_(front).jpgCC BY 2.0 · Photo: exfordy / Brian Snelson · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.