We don’t hear much about Lister in the United States, but the UK company is alive and kicking. You’ll find no shortage of tuned Jaguars wearing the company’s green and yellow badge, but 32 years ago, there was the Lister Storm. Powered by a meaty Jag V-12, the limited-production supercar rivaled Italy’s best exotics. Three decades later, a successor is in the works. But UK emission regulations might kill it before it has a chance to live.
Taking to social media, Lister shared a statement regarding the impending zero-emission mandate that is currently set for 2035, but could switch to 2030. The issue isn’t so much the mandate itself, but whether it will apply to niche, low-volume companies like Lister.
As mentioned in the statement:
“In the past, small volume British Car Manufacturers, such as ourselves, Morgan, Caterham, Ginetta, etceterea, have been exempt from emissions demands, because we produce less than 1,000 cars per annum under the IVA or SVA Type Approval. However, so far, the UK Government has yet to state if this exemption will continue.”
According to Lister, if the new requirements do apply to small companies, it will effectively end plans for a new car. Those plans are already on hold, pending further clarification from the government.
Details of the proposed car are unknown, aside from it obviously not being an EV. Back in 2018, Lister CEO Lawrence Whittaker teased a radical supercar using a Jaguar-derived 7.8-liter V-12. The airwaves have been silent since then, and with Jaguar’s impending all-electric future, a new Lister with the F-Pace SVR’s supercharged V-8 could be a fitting sendoff. The tuning company already has this engine tuned to 666 horsepower in the Lister Stealth, a tweaked SVR with a claimed top speed of 195. Dropping that into a smaller supercar could be epic.
It all depends on where the UK lands regarding emissions. If the timeframe is bumped to 2030 and doesn’t have exceptions for low-volume companies, this new Lister supercar could be dead on arrival.
Source:
Lister Motor Cars