Lister Storm
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The Lister Storm was a homologated racing car built by Lister Cars of the United Kingdom beginning in 1993. Called by some a supercar, the Storm used the largest V12 engine fitted to a production road car since World War II, a 7.0 L (6996 cc/426 in³) Jaguar unit based on the one used by the Jaguar XJR Sportscars that competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Due to the high US$350,000 price of the vehicle, only four examples were produced before production of the road-going Storm ceased. Only 3 Storms survive today. The Lister company continues to maintain racing models to this day.
The bored and stroked 2-valve Lister V12 produced 407 kW (546 hp) and 790 N·m (580 ft·lbf) of torque. The front-engined rear-wheel drive car weighed 1664 kg (3668 lb), and was capable of sprinting to 60 mph (97 km/h) in just 4.1 seconds. And until recently, the Storm was also considered to be the fastest 4-seater in the world. That title is now held by the CLS-based Brabus Rocket.
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[edit] Racing
[edit] Storm GTS
The Lister Storm GTS initially debuted at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans as a competitor in the GT1 class, going up against established supercars such as the McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, Jaguar XJ220, and Porsche 911 GT2. The car, driven by Geoff Lees, Rupert Keegan, and Dominic Chapell unfortunately did not perform well, failing to finish due to gearbox trouble after a mere 40 laps.
In 1996, the team decided to give the Storm an early test for Le Mans by participating in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Unfortunately, the lone Storm failed to finish. Even with this letdown, the team pushed on towards Le Mans with the Storm GTS. The car was able to improve on its disappointing start by actually finishing the race in 1996. Unfortunately the car finished a distant 19th place, 59 laps behind the winner. Lister decided after Le Mans that they would enter the Storm GTS into the BPR Global Endurance GT Championship, debuting at the 5th round at the Nürburgring. Unfortunately, every race that the Storm GTS entered for the rest of the season failed to result in a finish.
[edit] Storm GTL
For 1997, Lister realized that the Storm GTS was much too slow in comparison to some of the newer GT1 class competitors, such as the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and Porsche 911 GT1. The Storm was therefore redesigned, with a longer and more aerodynamic front end added to the existing car. This car was referred to as the Storm GTL. The car debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where it managed to take 19th place overall and 4th in its class. Later that year for Le Mans, two new Storm GTLs were entered. Unfortunately, both cars were unable to finish, with both cars out of the race by lap 77. Later in the year, a storm GTL would travel to United States to participate in the final two rounds of the FIA GT Championship at Sebring and Laguna Seca. The car failed to finish both races.
1998 saw the team again attempt Daytona, but again suffered problems early on and did not finish. With these difficulties, the team was not selected for entry in that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the team did not compete anymore that year, instead concentrating on redesigning the Storm.
[edit] Storm GT
For 1999, the Storm reappeared. The car had lost the aerodynamic bodywork seen on the GTL, instead using a more stock front end. The team announced they would participate in the full FIA GT Championship season under the new GT2 class rules. After an initial bad start, the team managed to take 4th place at Hockenheimring, a mere two laps behind the winning pair of Chrysler Vipers. This was followed by a 3rd place at Zolder, and finally a 2nd place Donington, with the Lister finishing a mere 26 seconds behind the winning Viper. These successes brought Lister into a tie for 5th place overall in the teams championship at the season's end.
Going into 2000, Lister was more upbeat about their possibilities. Chrysler-Oreca had officially left the championship, eliminating a challenge from a factory team. Thus Lister would face competition only from privateers. With this, Lister proved their capabilities by winning the first race of the season at Valencia. Lister would follow this up with four more wins during the season, all claimed by drivers Julian Bailey and Jamie Campbell-Walter. With these victories, Lister claimed the teams championship. At the same time, Lister competed in the British GT championship both as a factory team, as well as with a customer car for Cirtek Motorsport. The two teams were able to take nine victories.
Returning as champions to FIA GT, Lister continued into 2001 with two factory cars. Although Lister was able to take four victories over the year, the team had to settle for 3rd in the teams championship, being beaten by Larbre Competition and Carsport Holland's privateer Vipers. A similar situation occurred in 2002, with Lister managing three victories but only able to take 2nd in the teams championship, again beaten by Larbre.
In 2003, Lister was joined in FIA GT with a customer Storm, run by Creation Autosportif. The Lister factory team managed only a single win, yet were still able to take second place in the teams championship. Creation was not far behind with a 4th place finish in the championship. At the same time, Lister began work on a new project, the Storm LMP which would bring the marque back to Le Mans. This was therefore the beginning of the decline for the Storm GT.
For 2004 Creation Autosportif would take over as the main competitor in FIA GT, with the factory squad appearing only at select races. Creation managed to take only 8th in the teams championship, while the factory squad was only able to score a single point all season. Lister would continue to attempt to campaign the car into 2005, but were only able to gather enough points for 10th place in the teams championship. Following 2005, the factory officially retired the cars to attempt to concentrate on the Storm LMP.
In 2006, French squad Red Racing would purchase a Storm for the FFSA GT Championship. The team would make one attempt at the FIA GT Championship, but failed to make it beyond seven laps in the race at Paul Ricard. As of 2007, there are currently no Storms racing.
[edit] Specifications
- Engine: Jaguar V12
- Displacement: 7.0 L (6996 cc/426 in³)
- Compression: 10.5:1
- Power: 407 kW (546 hp) at 6100 rpm
- Torque: 790 N·m (580 ft·lbf) at 3450 rpm
- Weight: 1664 kg (3668 lb)
- Wheelbase: 2590 mm (102 in)
- Length: 4547 mm (179 in)
- Width: 1981 mm (78 in)
- Height: 1320 mm (52 in)
- Top speed: 335 km/h (208 mph)
- Coefficient of drag: 0.35
[edit] References
- 1993 Lister Storm. Supercars.net. Retrieved on June 13, 2005.
