Lister Knobbly

Those of you who have an interest in cars, motorsport and historic racing will be aware of the recent news about Lister Sports Cars. The story is real hero stuff, proper plucky Brit takes on the world, and wins. The book Archie and the Listers is a fascinating read for racing fans and Cambridge folk alike. I see the blue plaque on the side of his old house on Hills Rd most mornings.

So being nosey I asked if I could go and have a look at the factory. They very kindly said yes so I popped over for 20 minutes after I dropped the children off at school this morning.

The first thing that hit me was the smell of engineering, I spent a year at college trying to be an engineer and spent a lot of time in workshops learning to weld, use lathes and generally how to make a lump of metal into a differently shaped lump of metal. Engineering has a great smell.

The car build is well underway and the quality of the engineering, as you would expect from a company that has been doing it for well over 100 years, is exceptional. The bodywork (which you can see) is formed by hand, those curves are made by skilled people with very little mechanical help. It is a fantastic thing to see.

I'm hoping to be able to go back when the car is nearly completed and get some pictures of a finished but unpainted car, I've started reading up on studio lighting!

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