SOLVED: Djetset #182 - Lester-Bristol c.1956-60

[Carnut]

Emery?

You never actually answered this question Djetset?

[Djetset]

Sorry Carnut; missed that one, but no, it's not an Emery.

[Carnut]

Nothing to do with Tom Killeen I suppose?

[Djetset]

Not that I know of.

[Carnut]

Has anyone tried Healey yet?

[Djetset]

I don't think they have, but it's not one of his creations anyway! 

Correction, just checking back, you suggested Healey some time back Carnut.

[faksta]

Are there any names not mentioned in this thread yet? 

[Djetset]

You've got me worried now Faksta, so I am just going to read through the frive pages again to make sure I haven't missed it!  Astonishingly though I still think the correct name has not been mentioned!

[Carnut]

ERA?

[Djetset]

Nope!

[faksta]

I don't remember whether I have already asked that, but did the guys build any other cars?

[Carnut]

Have we tried HWM?

[Djetset]

Carnut; not an HWM.

Faksta; yes this person did build others cars.

[faksta]

Of a similar type? I mean, one-off sportscars?

[Djetset]

He built a small number of sportscars of various types, but I believe this was the only one with a Bristol engine.

[barrett]

Some similarities with my recently solved Jehu-Riley, so I may as well ask if John Horridge was involved?

[Djetset]

No, not to my knowledge.

[faksta]

I think Lester has never had Bristol engined car, but worth a try, I believe. So, maybe a Lester?

[Djetset]

At last, we finally got there!  Bravo Faksta.  

Lester was of course far better known for his MG-based sportscars, but he did build one Bristol-powered car;this one.  As you have tried so hard on this puzzle, and it has taken so long to solve, I am happy to now award you two points.  Well done, and now you will be able to sleep at night!

Some parts of the car still exist today, owned by a gentlemen in the Gilbern Club.  He hopes to fully restore the car one day soon.

BTW: in a momentary lapse of concerntration, maybe you can now see why I stupidly said yes to Pal N when he suggested Lister!!

[woodinsight]

Well done Faksta!
Now we can all sleep peacefully at nights again.

Does anyone have a better image of this Lester-Bristol?

[Djetset]

I have the Gilbern chap's contact details somewhere, so I will get in touch to see if he has any other images and more details about the car. Watch this space...

[faksta]

Finally!

And thanks for an extra point 

[Otto Puzzell]

Great work, faksta!

[faksta]

I have just found a mentioning of seemingly the same car - 1957 SCCA race at Cumberland, driven by John Norwood in FMod class. Seems the car has been imported to the USA and then brought back to UK, as the photo is from a British hillclimb, as you have said. Or, maybe, there was another one?

Probably, though, it is a typo, as the next race he drove a Lister-Bristol...

[Allan L]

Once again, I find it hard to accept that the answer is in fact correct, and in this case that's based on memory for several things (therefore unreliable) such as not remembering Harry Lester ever making a Bristol-engined car. In another place we had a long discussion on a Riley-engined Lester which undoubtedly did exist, but we had no evidence that it had been built with a Riley engine. If this one is indeed a Bristol-engined Lester, maybe it was not built as one - if there is a known registration number, more may be revealed of course.
I also think 1960 is a bit late for any Lester: about 1955 at the latest, I'd say.
Without seeing this car or a better photo of it I still say (as I did in a very early post (no 35 over a year ago)) that its bonnet doesn't seem tall enough to house a Bristol engine.
The other bit from memory is that I don't recall a Lester with a front body looking like this - nor do I recall a proprietory body like this either. This is more the Lester I remember: