I have reviewed some pretty rare cars on my InstacarHK channel before, but nothing really comes close to this (Except perhaps the 1 of 1 Hong Kong-made Biomega EV? Not really the same calibre though is it?) Today, we are reviewing the one of four ever made, and one of only three surviving, Lister Storm road car.
Many may not have heard of the Lister firm before, but it is a small independent British automotive company that could trace its roots all the way back to 1890. In modern times, they are best known for modifying Jaguar cars, something which they are still doing today with the likes of the Jaguar F-type, called the Lister Thunder. The car we have today came from the 1990’s, perhaps one of if not the most successful era of the Lister brand.
In the 1990’s, Lister wanted to race in the 24 hours of Le Mans. As many of you know, to be eligible for certain types of racing, a manufacturer must also produce a street version of their race cars. This is an attempt by official racing bodies like the FIA to tone down and keep under control the technology (and costs) of race cars by requiring manufacturers to use at least some of their race car technologies on road legal cars. The result of such race-derived street cars is known as ‘homologation specials’. There are tons of homologation specials out there, from relatively ordinary street cars, like my Volvo 850 (homologation model of Volvo’s BTCC entry), to iconic cult-following models like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, to very rare and valuable cars like the Porsche 959. Not many, however, can rival the rarity of the Lister Storm. Because Lister has always been a small manufacturer, they were never going to make 400 homologation special models, hence they only made four, with only three surviving today.
Given the small numbers, the Lister Storm road car has always been elusive in the automotive world. Not much is known about the whereabouts of the three surviving samples until ‘ours’ surfaced a few years ago. Truth be told, I was never too familiar with the Lister Storm before today’s review either. Like many people of my generation, I learned about the Lister Storm through the popular PlayStation game, Gran Turismo, which featured the car extensively. So, when this car appeared on our shores a few years ago and started showing up in local car meets and events, I was just as gobsmacked as everyone else. Since then, I have been hoping to review and experience the car one day. Luck would have it that the car actually belongs to the same collector whose Jaguar XJ220 and Lamborghini Diablo Roadster we reviewed a couple of months ago. And it was the owner who volunteered the Lister Storm for me to review before I even got to ask. I recalled him saying that we would be the first ever YouTube channel to review a Lister Storm road car – and he was right, because aside from a very old and short Discovery Channel segment uploaded on to YouTube, there has never been a modern-day YouTube review of a Lister Storm road car where the car is actually driven by the reviewer. This is therefore a very special review of a very special car.
Walking around the outside of the car you can’t help but feel it is a very strange looking car. And it should be. As it was built by a small independent company, no one can possibly expect everything to be built from scratch. So, for example, you have the greenhouse portion of the car from a Volkswagen Corrado and rear lights from an Audi 80. The parts-bin nature of the car I can understand, but what I find mind boggling is that, despite having an extremely low and short frontend with a long and wide rear end, the car is actually front-engined rather than mid-engined! Another thing that catches your attention is the 2+2 layout. With a 7-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine derived directly from the Le Mans winning Jaguar XJR-9 race car, and a limited production of 4 units only, this car’s purpose was only ever about speed and racing. Why does it need 2 extra seats in the back? None of these features make sense but somehow when put together as a complete package, this car, while unique looking, actually looks pretty good and proportionate. It does not look hastily designed, it looks very aerodynamically-focused (I would imagine they did not have much wind tunnel access during the design phase, if at all), and doesn’t actually look like a parts-bin special at all.
Opening the door to the car you get the view of a rather normal-looking 90s interior. The leather looks a bit cheaper than your in-period conventional brands like Mercedes and Jaguar. Getting inside, you feel like you are sitting down into a tub where you are sitting very low. Despite the low roofline of the car, there is still a ton of headspace because of how low I am sitting. Everything otherwise looks and feels like a normal 90s car; the ergonomics, the feel to the touches, and the instrument cluster. Stepping on the clutch, it is expectedly firm, but not restrictive. Travel distance of the clutch is also normal. To start the car, one needs to match the cranking with a few pumps of gas, despite it being a fuel-injected car. The glorious 7-litre V12 then fires up and, surprisingly, gives a very solid and composed sound, with none of that rattling, spluttery noise you would expect from a race engine. Setting off, I can’t help but be reminded of how difficult the Jaguar XJ220 was to get used to when I first drove it (where I, for the first time on InstacarHK, stalled the car not once, but twice). I can only imagine the Lister Storm would be worse, given it is such a race-focused car. The owner assured me that this wasn’t the case, and he was right. Thankfully, setting off in the car was easy and predictable, even when we were on a slope, and I was therefore spared from a repeated on-camera humiliation.
Unlike the Jaguar XJ220, going at slow speeds from red light to red light was not uncomfortable or challenging at all in the Lister. The Lister Storm behaved like any 90s manual supercar would. No hassle, no trouble, and with a very adequate aircon too! The road cleared up and I step on it for the first time. There is no other way to describe it but that I was simply mind blown. It was fast, very fast for street use, which is nothing new to me. But it was the linear, instantaneous, and most importantly, useable power delivery that was most surprising and impressive about this car. I was expecting a race-derived small manufacturer car that would feel flimsy, spluttery, unpredictable, and squiggly when putting my foot down the pedal. It was anything but that. Even though the power rushes at you, it comes in an organized and predictable fashion. There was not a moment where I felt unsure or that there was a lack of grip when I put my foot fully down on the pedal.
The gear changes from the conventional H gearbox with expectedly short throws feel good and smooth. While it has six gears, I was unable to go past fourth gear in my drive given how fast the car is! Whereas the 550HP it has is by no means a crazy figure for today’s standard, the Lister Storm has always been, and still is, a very fast car on paper; 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 208mph. It was for the longest time the fastest 2+2 road car in the world. When it comes to stopping, the brakes are as you would expect from a 90s car. Adequate, but reminds you that you should not tempt fate by doing something too ambitious.
As with most reviews here, I have not been able to test out the handling of the car due to the lack of quiet country roads. Even if there were such opportunities, I do doubt I would be pushing the car much; the last thing I want is to crash a one of three surviving car which is historically significant. And on that topic, this is indeed a historically significant car, not only for the small Lister brand, but for the general automotive world as well. While the first few years of its Le Mans and Daytona entries back in the early- to mid-90s were nothing short of disastrous (DNFs, crashes, etc.), the Lister Storm race car (in its GTS and GTL guises) did eventually achieve some extremely respectable results, particularly in the British and FIA GT championships. It started with numerous podium finishes and two victories in the 1998 British GT championship, followed by winning the championship outright in both 1999 and 2001. In 2000, the Lister Storm also took the overall crown in the 2000 FIA GT Championship.
Just like its racing relatives, the Lister Storm road car is an underdog that performed better than what one would have expected. Before I took the keys to the car, I had no idea what to expect. After all, what should one expect from a 1990s hypercar built by a small independent British manufacturer? What I did not expect was how user friendly the car was. Comfortable interior and ergonomics, controls that are easy to use, and most impressively, significant power that is easily accessible and managed (at least on a straight line). This is genuinely a hypercar that you can use on a daily basis – which is incredible for a race-focused homologation special by a small independent manufacturer. Whether you would want to use it as a daily driver or not, given its rarity, is another matter. The Lister Storm is therefore an amazing car that literally exceeded all expectations – the only shame is that they made so very few of them that, as a result, few people would get to experience its greatness. Today, I became one of the lucky few who got to experience it, and I am ever so thankful for that.
Huge thanks to the generous owner and my team as always:
Alex (http://www.tiapanmedia.com)
Dave (david@lemonadeandgiggles.com)
Adhi (IG: @supercarsofhongkong)
Alex C (IG: @nofishark)
Jeremy (IG: @jyy3.x)
See our review video here: