Lister Storm GT

[BSchneiderFan]

OK, so the Lister is a proven race-winner, and won the GT Championship, in 2000. So why are there so few customer Listers? Creation Autosportif are running one this year, but I can't think of any other customer Listers in the FIA series. There was, I believe, one in British GTs a little while back, but that too disappeared. Why won't people buy them? Are they too expensive?

[Aysedasi]

I must admit I don't know the answer to the question but ignorance (probably) leads me to wonder if the design isn't getting just a little old in the tooth? I remember first seeing a Storm at Le Mans in, when? 1995 was it?

[cybersdorf]

There aren't that many, and all of them have so far been campaigned by the factory.

[Osella]

most GT teams are from mainland Europe, and I bet an ORECA Viper is cheaper. If you were trying to sell sponsorship space on a car, I'd imagine a well-known, successful US brand of car makes the job easier.

Anyone who has ever watched one of these things through a corner at Silverstone and Donington (eg the only plcaes I've seen them run)could only conclude however that they are very fine racecars!

If the early testing pace of the LMP is anything to go by, these folks are on the up in racecar design!

[jase]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
OK, so the Lister is a proven race-winner, and won the GT Championship, in 2000. So why are there so few customer Listers? Creation Autosportif are running one this year, but I can't think of any other customer Listers in the FIA series.

They are very expensive as a road car, so think what the race version would cost! All the Storms are run from the factory, even the Creation car will have factory support.

There was, I believe, one in British GTs a little while back, but that too disappeared.

Try last year, the team pulled out because of the restrictions being applied to GT class cars for 2003

[BSchneiderFan]

Yes, but wasn't there also a customer Storm in British GTs? I think Tiff Needell won a race in it; can't remember the team, but they had previously run a Viper, I think.

And, yes, the Storm is getting old, but so's the Viper. And it still seems to be quick.

[jase]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
Yes, but wasn't there also a customer Storm in British GTs? I think Tiff Needell won a race in it; can't remember the team, but they had previously run a Viper, I think.

It was leased from the factory for 3 races at the end of 2000

[TVRfan]

what i heard is that the factory didnt like have privateer teams. and fair enough. when your that succesful might aswell keep the glory to yourselves

[BSchneiderFan]

Really? That surprises me. I thought I remembered hearing Laurence Pearce say a few years ago that he was hoping to sell more customer cars. Ah well...

[jase]

Laurence Pierce is extremely protective of the Lister brand and doesn't want it damaged by a team running the car badly. Bycontroling the cars, he can control the entries.

[BSchneiderFan]

Ironic, isn't it? He's protective of the brand, but he puts Nicolaus Springer in his car...

I know, I know, Springer has oodles of cash and aprt-owns Lister. But still. He can't drive. It was painful to see them putting him in the car for the minimum allowable stint and then relying on JCW to claw back the deficit.

[cybersdorf]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
Ironic, isn't it? He's protective of the brand, but he puts Nicolaus Springer in his car...

Does he still?

[BSchneiderFan]

Not in the Storm, no. Springer has stepped down for Nathan Kinch. But NS will be in the prototype at Sebring. 'Cos he proved his speed in a GT, so prototypes are the obvious next step (!).

[Garp]

I always wonder what makes a good GT car. The tech of the Viper is ancient and the Lister tech to. But they are still victorious. What other kind of cars have the better basics to build a racecar from.I think it's up to the FIA which car is the best. They provide the restrictors. On weight distribution the Viper basics are real bad as well as the aerodynamics. The Lister is much better balanced with a great engine but the Viper seems more succesfull than the Lister while the Lister completely purpouse built as a racecar. So shouldn,t such a rear engined all plastic car like the Esprit win al the races. Problem is if a new car like the Prodrive ferrari enters the championship with to great speeds they instantly get a restrictor penalty. In my opinion a big mistake from Prodrive to give the engine max power in the first race. a lot of money down the drain.

In the end it's all to the FIA who like to see the Viper winning more than the Lister. So why buy a Lister if the FIA favours you in a Viper.

[CFD-9]

The Espirit is based on an even older steel 'backbone' chassis and has pretty unsophisticated aero. Lotus never had the money to develop it themselves, but there was a fairly successful version built by Lotus and then modified by Will Gollop (I think) a couple of years back.

The Lister has 20 years of Jag V12 engine tuning to work with, Lotus never had time to sort their V8 properly - With a new chassis and a well developed engine, all requiring a big budget, the Espirit could win races!

[Splatz the Cow]

I thought the Lister didn't sell because not many people bought the road cars and consequently Lister could not really afford to increase production later, and consider selling race cars. I think they are US$450,000 as a road car according to my referencing. Also they are difficult to comply with the rules.

[Garp]

I don't think the selling numbers of the racecar are related to that of the roadcar. The reason the roadcar doesn't sell is that it's to ugly. It's just a racecar with an interior. Probably never intended to sell for the road.

[lowieracing]

there was also one (Lister Storm) entered in th spanish GT championship for a few races...