The one-off Lister-Jaguar ‘Costin’ going for glory in the RAC TT Celebration

Lister was the face of British success in sportscar racing in the 1950s, triumphing across the pond as well as on home turf. The first Brian Lister-designed car debuted at Oulton Park in 1954 sporting a MG engine with Archie Scott Brown behind the wheel. The MG engine was soon swapped for 2.0-litre Bristol engine, but Scott Brown remained to pick up class wins in the sportscar race that supported that year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The company flirted with other engine suppliers in the years that followed, though it wasn’t until 1957 that Jaguar entered the picture. Brian Lister’s design was reworked to host a Jaguar D-type XK straight-six engine, and the Lister-Jaguar partnership quickly tasted success with Scott Brown’s victory in ’57 British Empire Trophy.

Looking for a way to stay competitive in big engine classes, Lister joined forces with Frank Costin who pushed for a spaceframe chassis with an aerodynamic body, it being lighter and sturdier than the twin-tube design being used though would take some time to build. In the interim, the new body was fitted on to the existing chassis, thus creating the Lister-Jaguar ‘Costin’.

However, the Lister company wasn’t long for the world. Scott Brown was killed racing a Lister-Jaguar at Spa in 1958, and this alongside the death of two other drivers including Ivor Bueb contributed to Brian Lister’s decision to withdraw from competition in 1959.

Fred Wakeman is the custodian of the 1963 Lister-Jaguar ‘Costin’ here at Revival, racing in the RAC TT Celebration with Andy Priaulx, and we caught up with him to learn more about his rare machine.

“This car is a very special car, it's one of one,” Wakeman explained, because although it was built in ’63, this car started life as an open-bodied Costin.

“This spaceframe chassis was built for racing in the 1960 competition year, and it was bought by Jim Diggory from the factory because the factory was closing. Jim made it into an open-bodied car, and it was owned by several other racers in the period.”

Eventually, the car found its way to racers Peter Sargent and Peter Lumsden, who wished to race it at the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours, so they enlisted the help of Frank Costin to build the coupé body we see today.

Sargent and Lumsden had finished fifth at the 1962 Le Mans with a Jaguar E-type coupé, but that achievement couldn’t be followed up with the Costin, which suffered from a lack of development and had to retire from the race after four hours with an engine issue.

Wakeman surmised other potential buyers passed over the Costin because it never had very good results in period. But that wasn’t a hindrance to him.

“Because it's a one-off, it's quite a special thing so I'm quite precious about it, as one of many owners of this car. It was the last Lister to compete at Le Mans in the classic period, so it's quite a special thing.”

The car remains in its original form, including a 3.8-litre Jaguar straight-six engine that with fuel injection, advanced for its day. “It's very light, it runs a D-type aluminium gearbox and the different thing about the car, is rather than having trailing arms in the rear, it has leading arms, so the car handles very differently as a result of that.”

Wakeman has a deep appreciation for the history of this car, something indulged when he had the opportunity to meet both Sargent and Lumsden before they passed away. “[They] talked about the car and their journey with the car. It's brought a lot of the history of historic motorsport into my own life.”

A history he now gets to share with others. When bringing a car like this to Goodwood, Wakeman observes that the Costin always gets a lot of attention “because it is so special and so low. People are always curious about it. I think it looks gorgeous.”

With all that in mind, it’s understandable Wakeman doesn’t race it too often, cautious of events where there might risk contact. To the RAC TT Celebration, however, it’s impossible to say no. It has multiple third and second place finishes under its belt. Wakeman won the race in 2020, together with Andre Lotterer.

“It's very quick, and as a result of that it's enabled me to race in the RAC TT and with some very special drivers,” Wakeman said, names that include Emanuele Pirro, Anthony Reid and Tom Kristensen, and this year will see Andy Priaulx will join the club.

So far preparations have been good, though the weather forecast is casting some shade on Wakeman’s hopes. “The car doesn't really do very well in the wet because of this very unique rear suspension setup. It's quite a loose car, so the rear end steps out quite easily.

“It's very, very pointy in the front end, but in the wet it's tricky and it's very light and it's quite stiff, so it's not the ideal car in the wet.”

After Friday’s Official Practice, Wakeman and Priaulx will be lining up fourth on the grid for the RAC TT Celebration, ready to chase down Tom Kristensen and Mike Whitter’s defending TVR Griffith 400, the Jaguar E-type ‘semi-lightweight’ of Rob Huff and Andrew Bentley, and pole sitters Olly Bryant and Darren Turner’s AC Cobra. Wakeman named the E-types as “the stiffest of our competition” because “they always do really well in the wet, but hopes the anticipated rain will act as an equaliser.

“The field is really, really, really tough. Every car has got somebody who's very capable of winning this. Particularly in the wet I think there's a little bit of a more level playing field between some of the more high-powered cars and the more agile cars.”

While Wakeman is looking forward to “participating with all of my mates in the TT and also all of the professionals — and this year is unique in that it has some very, very accomplished pros,” he admitted a podium finish would be “fantastic”.

But will he and Priaulx get one? This RAC TT Celebration promises to be a standout race of the Revival with a spectacular roll call of drivers, which makes it simply unmissable viewing on Sunday afternoon.

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Photography by Pete Summers, Joe Harding and Charlie Brenninkmeijer.