666bhp Lister Thunder priced from £139,950

666bhp Lister Thunder priced from £139,950 British firm famous for its Knobbly Jaguar racers of the 1950s returns with 208mph sports car based on the Jaguar F-Type

The new Lister Thunder will be produced in 99 examples with each priced from £139,950, the Cambridge-based company has confirmed.

Lister Cars is famous for its Le Mans-racing Jaguar ‘Knobbly’ D-Types of the 1950s and has returned to new car production with a high-performance version of the Jaguar F-Type.

The supercharged 5.0-litre V8 has been extensively reengineered so it produces 666bhp. Rory McDonnell, head of sales and marketing at Lister, told Autocar that the car is capable of accelerating from 0-62mph in 3.2sec, to 100mph in 6.8sec and a will have a top speed of 208mph. This comfortably beats the quickest series F-Type on sale, the SVR, which has 567bhp and completes the 0-62mph sprint in 3.7sec.

The Thunder's modifications include a new suspension setup to enhance its agility and a flashes of Lister green paint on its exterior. McDonnell confirmed that the car will also get a more luxurious interior with Nappa leather-wrapped seats, as well as bespoke bodywork. Lister offers several options including a carbonfibre kit that will cost from £19,950.

CEO Lawrence Whittaker said that the car is the first of several Jaguar models from the brand. He said “Like Brabus and AMG with Mercedes and Alpina with BMW, we are hoping to become synonymous once again with tuning Jaguar vehicles, giving customers new enhanced, bespoke performance and design alternatives to Jaguar’s acclaimed model programme.

"Although we are not directly affiliated with Jaguar Land Rover, Lister has a Jaguar tuning heritage dating back 65 years. Our new Lister Thunder is the fastest and most powerful Lister ever created. I am utterly proud of what we have achieved, and the Thunder is just the beginning."

The Thunder continues Lister's increasing activity after the company returned to building cars with a continuation Knobbly racing car in April 2014. This was described as “all-new and factory-approved” and is eligible for entry into FIA/HTP Appendix K historic racing. Earlier this year Lister launched a road-legal version of the Knobbly, of which 10 examples were to be produced, priced from £225,000.

Whittaker is also eager to develop an all-new Lister model. Autocar has previously reported his plans for a Lister hypercar to be capable of a sub-3sec 0-62mph time and top speed of 250mph. The new Thunder is understood to mark the brand's first steps towards its goal of becoming a new car maker.

Lister, a company that was born out of motorsport, last produced a new model when the Storm racing programme was born. In 1993, the brand created the Storm homologation road model that used a reworked version of the Jaguar XJR’s V12 engine, before taking it racing at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Storm raced in the event’s top GT1 category against models including the McLaren F1 GTR and Ferrari F40 LM through the late 1990s with limited success, but it later became a race-winner in the FIA GT and British GT championships from 1999.

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