Description
Lister Jaguar BHL 20 – 442 PPP
A survivor with an uninterrupted history.
Among the rare Listers built between 1954 and 1959, the BHL 20 chassis occupies a singular place. Hailing from the last generation of the “little Listers”, sold bare in 1959 to Officer James MacKreth, it was initially fitted with MG power and registered 442 PPP on 7 October 1960.
Three years later, its destiny changed: David A. Knobbs replaced the modest MG engine with a 3. 4‑litre Jaguar six, entrusting the preparer Ken Eaton with the chassis’s metamorphosis. Under his expert hands, BHL 20 shed its delicate looks to become a proper Lister Knobbly Jaguar, ready to compete with the big names.
Competition soon left its mark on its bodywork: by the late 1960s a road incident severely damaged the car, relegating it to rest for a time. But in 1974, Jeremy Broad, a well‑known figure in Jaguar XK circles, undertook its resurrection. Entrusted again to Ken Eaton, it received a Jaguar 3. 8‑litre Type E engine and returned to the circuits. In 1976, at Prescott Hillclimb, misfortune struck again: Broad struck a tree, badly bending the chassis.
That long, enforced slumber, punctuated by a succession of bodies — some dubious, others authentic Williams & Pritchard — never altered the car’s continuity. The arrival of a genuine factory shell, revealing the original colours beneath its stripping, finally anchors BHL 20 in its identity.
In 2005, Broad finally ceded the car to Trevor Groom, a close friend of Norman Dewis and a well‑known figure in the Jaguar racing circle, who undertook a meticulous restoration to its ultimate configuration: Lister Jaguar Knobbly, with its original chassis, authentic components (fuel tanks, Girling brakes, Dunlop wheels, dashboard) and its official papers, including the precious “buff log book” from the era.
It would then pass into other hands to join France under our care, where it would pass through several owners, all of whom entered it in, among other events, the Le Mans Classic.
The latest owner undertook a meticulous restoration of the bodywork to revive its lines and give it the lustre it wears today. Fully refreshed ahead of Le Mans Classic 2025, she is ready to take to the track.
Today, BHL 20 is unanimously recognised as the only chassis legitimately bearing this number, its history confirmed by Doug Nye himself and clarified in the face of confusion by some authors.
It features among the regulars at the most prestigious historic grids: Le Mans Classic, the support race for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and FIA championships for 1950s sport‑protos.
Un disputable pedigree
• Original BHL 20 chassis with registration 442 PPP
• Jaguar conversion by Ken Eaton from 1963
• Successive owners: James MacKreth, David A. Knobbs, John Harper, Jeremy Broad, Trevor Groom, current owner in France.
• Notable accidents and documented rebuilds (late 1960s, Prescott 1976)
• Knobbly Williams & Pritchard bodywork with factory paint traces
• Period documents (log book, modern V5C, FIA/ MSA passport)
• Regular presence at the grandest historic events
Conclusion
The Lister Jaguar Knobbly is more than a car: it is a symbol. A symbol of British audacity in the face of the major manufacturers, a symbol of a golden age of motorsport where creativity and courage could beat financial resources.
And as long as it rises from a cloud of dust at Woodcote’s braking or roars in the night of Le Mans Classic, we will know that this little English machine with big teeth has never truly left the race.
More than a mere racing car, BHL 20 is a living witness to the Lister venture: a chaotic yet continuous journey, punctuated by crashes and renaissances, which today makes it one of the most authentic and legitimate examples in the saga of the Lister Jaguar Knobbly.
