The Ex - Peter Mould, YOB 575,

Heralded As The Most Original Lister Jaguar Knobbly

1958 Lister Jaguar ‘Knobbly’

The final Lister ‘Knobbly’ completed during the 1958 production run, supplied in kit form ahead of the 1959 season and representing the culmination of the model’s original development period.

Chassis BHL120, frame number 5944, retaining its original chassis and aluminium bodywork, a combination rarely encountered among surviving examples.

Exceptionally successful period competition history, including numerous podium finishes and an outright victory at Silverstone in October 1959 during its first season of competition.

Outstanding early results record, achieving 32 awards from 39 starts when campaigned by first owner Peter Mould, underlining the car’s success in period.

Remarkable level of originality and preservation, still accompanied by its original buff logbook and widely regarded as the most original surviving example of the Lister-Jaguar ‘Knobbly’.

Freshly prepared by Jaguar specialists Pearsons Engineering, including a new 3.8-litre engine in 2024, and offered with FIA HTPs valid through December 2026, ensuring eligibility for the world’s most prestigious historic racing events, including the Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic.

Lister and the ‘Knobbly’

Established in Cambridge by engineer Brian Lister in 1954, Lister Cars quickly became known for building compact, highly-developed racing cars of exceptional effectiveness. Operating with limited resources but considerable ingenuity, the marque earned its reputation by consistently challenging far larger manufacturers in period competition.

It was within this context that the Lister ‘Knobbly’ emerged, the model that would become the marque’s most widely recognised and enduring creation. Debuting in February 1958, the ‘Knobbly’ embodied Lister’s pragmatic engineering approach in a compact and highly effective sports-racing car. Its distinctive nickname derived directly from the muscular, curvaceous aluminium bodywork, which was shaped around the mechanical package beneath with little concession to stylistic convention.

At its core, the ‘Knobbly’ employed a highly-developed tubular spaceframe chassis, noted for its rigidity and balance. Carefully considered suspension geometry endowed the car with exceptional agility and traction, attributes that proved particularly effective on tighter and more technical circuits. Lister’s pragmatic approach extended to engine selection, with the ‘Knobbly’ able to accommodate both the Jaguar XK straight-six and, in later form, Chevrolet’s bulletproof small-block V8.

In period competition, the Lister ‘Knobbly’ proved itself across a wide range of events, from national British meetings to major international sports car fixtures. Examples were entered for some of the era’s most significant races , including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Tourist Trophy, the 12 Hours of Sebring and long-distance races on the Continent, where the Knobbly’s pace and robustness were frequently evident even when ultimate results proved elusive.

Central to Lister’s reputation was works driver Archie Scott-Brown, whose performances for the marque remain among the most remarkable of the period. Racing at the highest level despite significant physical disabilities, Scott-Brown’s achievements played a defining role in establishing Lister as a serious force in international sports car competition.

This car - ‘YOB 575’, chassis BHL 120

Chassis BHL120 holds a particularly significant position within Lister production, being the final ‘Knobbly’ completed during the 1958 build run. Supplied in kit form, as so many were in order to avoid purchase tax, ahead of the 1959 season to Peter Mould and engineer Mario Deliotti, the car was assembled and prepared by its first owners and numbered by them with frame number 5944 (said to be the pair’s phone number), a marking the chassis still carries today. Equipped with a 3.8-litre Jaguar XK straight-six engine and finished in dark green with distinctive yellow flashes adorning its nose, BHL120 was registered for road use as ‘YOB 575’ as detailed within the original Buff road registration logbook which remains with the car.

From the outset, YOB 575 enjoyed a highly successful competition career. Campaigned extensively throughout 1959 by Peter Mould, the car quickly established itself as a front-running entrant in British sports car events, achieving an exceptional record of results.

Following its competition debut at the British Empire Trophy Meeting at Oulton Park in April, the car would race across the UK in Mould’s capable hands appearing at circuits such as Aintree, Snetterton, Goodwood, Mallory Park, Brands Hatch and Silverstone.

Period documentation records 32 awards from 39 race starts, including numerous podium finishes and an outright victory at Silverstone in October 1959. Another highlight came at the following year’s British Grand Prix, when Mould drove YOB 575 to fifth overall and a class victory in the sports car support race, finishing ahead of other Listers, a rapid Aston Martin DBR2 and D-type Jaguars.

This success places YOB 575 firmly among the most effective of the privateer Knobbly-bodied Lister-Jaguars, demonstrating both the inherent capability of the design and the quality of its preparation.

The car continued to compete well into the decade, passing through a small number of knowledgeable hands. Notable custodians included Gil Baird in 1960, followed by Alan Eccles, for whom the car was raced by Gerry Ashmore in 1961, and subsequently John and Patricia Coundley in 1962. Its next owner, Tom Fletcher, then campaigned YOB 575 in national events with some success from his purchase of the car in 1963.

As with many Listers, YOB 575’s competition life reflected the pragmatic, evolving nature of the model, yet crucially it avoided the significant structural or cosmetic alterations that would later compromise the originality of many comparable cars, during a time when re-bodies, replacement frames and substantial updates were commonplace.

By the mid-1960s, YOB 575 had been retired from frontline racing and entered a period of long-term preservation, including ownership by famed Jaguar expert John Pearson from 1976. Although it was repainted red during a period in the late 1970s while in continental Europe, the car notably retained its original chassis and original bodywork, factors that underpin its reputation today.

Subsequent custodians returned the car to its correct green livery, and its remarkable state of preservation has led to it being widely regarded as the most original surviving Lister-Jaguar ‘Knobbly’. Other notable collectors and historic racers to own YOB 575 include Stephen Bulling, Nigel Corner and Dr Julio Palmaz, before being purchased by its current owner in 2021.

In recent years, YOB 575 has benefited from careful, expert preparation and maintenance rather than any full-scale intrusive restoration. Most recently, the car has been entrusted to Pearsons Engineering (the firm founded in the early 1960s by former owner John Pearson), where it received highly knowledgable mechanical attention, including the rebuild of its engine and gearbox over the winter of 2024/2024, ensuring both reliability and competitiveness.

Accompanied by an extensive history file, including its original buff logbook, the car is presented today in outstanding condition. Its FIA HTPs remain valid through December 2026, further underlining its readiness for immediate use at the front of the world’s best historic racing grids.

Eligible for the most prestigious historic racing events – including the Sussex Trophy at the Goodwood Revival, Le Mans Classic, the discerning Peter Auto Gentleman Trophy series, and leading MRL Stirling Moss Trophy grid – YOB 575 represents a blue-chip example of the legendary Lister ‘Knobbly’, combining a highly successful period competition career with being perhaps the most original of the Jaguar engined Lister Knobblies.

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