1990 Lister Jaguar XJ-S 7.0-Litre Le Mans Cabriolet

Lister is one of the most renowned names in sports car racing history, the Lister-Jaguar, designed by Brian Lister, swept almost all before it during its first full racing season in 1957. Then in recent years cars bearing the Lister name have been a major force in GT racing worldwide. From the early 1980s the name has also graced some of the world's fastest road cars, after an agreement first with BLE Automotive and then WP Automotive we saw highly modified XJ-S models marketed as Lister-Jaguars. The famous Lister Jaguar connection made its commercial reappearance in 1986. Approximately 90 tuned Jaguar XJSs were produced, the emphasis being very much on super car performance. For those who felt the standard V12 Jaguar engine a bit insipid, Lister added a comprehensive tuning package. The fuel injection was modified with 4 additional injectors and throttle bodies. The engine management system was tweaked, the heads gas flowed with larger valves fitted and to take the power the crankshaft was nitrided, whilst Cosworth conrods carried special forged pistons. New bearings and a modified oil system were also deemed necessary in order to reliably deliver the 604bhp that it could now produce. Clearly the suspension and braking were going to need some attention, and this they duly got. The car was made to look the part too with a full body kit and superb Lister Recaro leather interior.

This Lister Jaguar is the first of only five that were manufactured in 1990 using brand new XJ-S Convertibles as the basis. The car is powered by a Lister-converted 7.0-litre V12 engine equipped with twin Albrecht mechanically driven superchargers. Its stupendous power - 604bhp- is transmitted via a Ferrari clutch and a five-speed manual transmission to oversize (335x30x18) Goodyear F1 tyres. Almost certainly the most powerful British passenger car at the time of its construction, the Lister cost a staggering £167,000 when new, getting on for five times the price of the donor XJ-S!

The car has featured in various motoring journals including Autocar and Jaguar Quarterly while the Lister's 200mph top speed also earned it a place in the record books. Having spent five years of its life with the first private owner, in January 1996 it returned to Lister, and was used as personal transport for the proprietor Laurence Pearce. The next listed owner was David Stewart a Jaguar specialist of Wimblington, Cambridgeshire, where under his ownership the car was featured in Jaguar Driver (July 2000 edition).

Re-sprayed last year, the Lister is finished in blue with blue-piped cream Connolly hide interior, the car also features Recaro seating and a '200mph' speedometer. This rare British supercar is offered with the old-style logbook, service booklet, DVLA owners list, sundry invoices, some expired MoT certificates, Swansea V5C document and a current MoT. Currently displaying a total of only 23,961 miles on the odometer, this represents a great opportunity to own a unique car with exceptional specification and history.