One of the most illustrious names in sports car racing history, the Lister-Jaguar, designed by Brian Lister, swept almost all before it during its first full racing season in 1957, and in recent years cars bearing the Lister name have been a major force in GT racing worldwide.

From the early 1980s the name has also graced some of the world's fastest road cars, following agreements first with BLE Automotive and then Laurence Pearce's WP Automotive.

Pearce's new company, Lister Cars Ltd, offered converted XJ-S models that were marketed as Lister-Jaguars.

In creating what would be known as the 'MkIII', Lister Cars increased the engine size, installed a five-speed Getrag manual gearbox, up-rated the suspension with Koni dampers, and fitted a muscular looking body kit featuring widened wheelarches, front air dam and a rear spoiler.

Lister badges replaced those of Jaguar on this extensively re-engineered car, which at around £55,000 in 1988 (including the donor XJ-S) was as expensive as ...