The only Lister-Maserati in existence has sold for £575,000

The unique Maserati-powered sportscar that Brian Lister built in 1956 for his star driver, the hugely popular Archie Scott Brown, was always going to be the racecar star of the Bonhams MM auction this year, and so it has proved even without the auction physically taking place. The 1956 Lister-Maserati 2.0-litre works sports racer has been sold for £575,000, including the premium – bang on its presale estimate.

The buyer has acquired an important piece of British motor racing history as well as – we sincerely hope – a car with plenty of motor racing left in it yet. As Bonhams says, the car is “an entirely fitting memorial to the wonderful 'little big man' of British motor sport.”

Why so special? Scott Brown’s extrovert driving style and Lister’s benign-handling cars proved one of the most entertaining motorsport combinations of the mid 1950s. The diminutive driver, handicapped from birth with only one hand, was a regular at Goodwood where his mastery of sideways driving made him a great favourite – even Fangio called him the “king of drift”.

He needed more power though, and in 1956 he got it. With a 2.0-litre twin-overhead-cam six-cylinder engine from the Maserati A6GCS nestled inside the Lister’s lightweight tubular steel chassis, Scott Brown and the spectacularly low and lithe car proved more successful than ever, achieving three first place finishes plus second places at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park. The Lister-Maserati set up Scott Brown for sports car domination in his next car, the Lister-Jaguar, but also ultimately a tragic end. Scott Brown was killed in a crash at Spa in 1958.

Only one Lister-Maserati, chassis BHL1, was ever made and that’s the car you see here, road registered in period as MER 303. As well as its period race history, the 2.0-litre two-seater has been a regular in historic racing, last appearing at Goodwood in the 2018 Revival. In 20 race starts in the past few years – from Laguna Seca and Silverstone to Le Mans – it is said to have finished each time. Showing how competitive it is in historic racing, in 2018 Ben Short finished second with the car in the Monaco Historique.

The car is fitted with a Maserati A6GCS engine rebuilt by Crosthwaite & Gardiner but also comes with its original engine as used by Archie Scott Brown, deepening the connections between a unique car and unique man.

Images courtesy of Bonhams.