Now then! I’m Lee, the face of Lee’s Listers YouTube Channel. This actually really started in May 2024 when I was starting my restoration of the 1920 Lister Q type engine. I was looking for a different way of recording the restoration, rather than just taking hundreds of photos to never look at again and just post the odd Facebook post with every time I did something, I thought why not give YouTube a go and see where it ends up!
But before all that started, I was just known as a lad from Yorkshire who collected a few Listers.
So, where did it all start? Well, August 2003 I was given my first Lister D by an old family friend and it all sparked from there. Snowballing over the next 3-4 years to a collection of about 30ish small engines, I decided that I wanted to narrow down my collection and focus more on just 1 range of engines, and I set my heart on the Lister H-R range of engines and really wanting a L type, why not? L for Lee! I bought this off eBay in 2007 as a complete wreck but having its original trolley it really drew me in! From there my obsession for the range really grew.
I started from that point wanting to get the H, L and R together and then I would have the smallest, middle and largest engines in the range… not too many years later, 2013 I think it was, I had finally gotten these 3 and then was offered a P type, the rest from that point on just took off….
I now owned an J, M, P and Q type and had nearly completed my collection, I just had a correct, blind head, style 2 vaporiser and flick magneto K type to find to finish the collection. I managed to get this collected in 2019 (just before the whole world went mad) and then this finished off my collection for having the full set of Lister H-R range of engines from 1915-1922!
All these engines are blind cylinder head, style 2 vaporiser, flick magneto (and correct as the H type has both types of magnetos fitted) and all the 9 all to be mounted on original trolleys at some point… they were all also in various states of repair. The Q type had been sat under a shelf (yes it was a big shelf) in a complete stripped state, every part of that engine was in pieces! The K type was completely seized and in very rough condition, the M and P type needed mounting up to trolleys, and cooling systems making for them, so plenty of work to do!
The collection in my eyes was marked as “complete” in May 2024 when I finally got the whole set of 9 engines done, mounted up on trolleys and running!
What I feel really did make my collection really turn a corner was when I managed to get the first photo of the whole set of the H-R together of my specific set (cylinder heads, vaporisers, magnetos and trolleys) together and also get the 9 engines together at 1 rally and all running together all at the same time all under the same ownership! This was done at Newby Hall rally in North Yorkshire in June 2024. I believe this to be the first time that this has ever happened in history! I must admit, it was sodding hard work! I did say “I’m never doing this again” but I tell you what, I loved it, and I would do it again tomorrow given the chance!! To get my last 16 years of hard work together all at the same place, all running at the same time was amazing!
So, as I said at the start of this before I started going off-piste with everything, “Lee’s Listers” really began in May 2024 with the restoration of the 1920 Lister Q type engine. What I plan on doing is writing a few articles on the restoration and during this I will talk about the technical parts of the restorations along with the highs and lows.
What I will also write about in the future is the differences between each engine and version of the range as I often get asked questions like “What are the differences between N and R type? As they just look the same?” so I will dig my engines out, get them side by side and tell you what are the same and what are different with snippets form parts manuals and photos from the actual engines.
Along with the H-R range I do have a few different ones but mainly from the H-R era. I currently at the time of writing this (November 2024) own the full H-R range, all Blind Cylinder Head, Style 2 Vaporiser, Flick Magneto all mounted on original trolleys. A Lister RH, a Lister TM that I am currently restoring, a Lister NC and a Lister X & XO. I believe to be the only person in the world to own both a X and a XO… while on the subject of these… I am looking for as much information on the X & XO engines. I have currently 10 on the record with information on 9, the one I am missing was photographed in Spain around 6 years ago in the SEM Issue 505. I am looking for the numbers and spec of this to add to the list.
If anyone knows of any more X or XO types and/or has any information or literature that they are willing to share with me to add to my portfolio it would be appreciated! I would like to be the “go to” person on these engines! As the information available for anyone is so few and far between!
Anyways, tag along and keep coming back to follow along with what’s happing in the world of Lister! Lee
The Full Lister H- R set. The photo that Lister never got….
Lister H Type 1916, J Type 1917, K Type 1918, L Type 1917, M Type 1921, N Type 1918, P Type, 1918, Q Type 1922, R Type 1922
The 1920 Lister Q Type. This is a very rare engine in the UK as very few made it into preservation and the very few that are still owned, are rarely rallied. When this first came into my ownership it was a full pallet of parts which had sat for many years under a shelf.
The 2nd “Big Lister” that I bought was this 1918 Lister P type which I bought from Allan Grieve. The engine is mounted on its new original trolley and made 1st outing since mounting up at Newby Hall 2024. Picture above of me and Allan with the P type at Newby Hall 2024.
My First Lister XO. This engine was made in 1926 and converted back from patrol paraffin in its working life in 1929 to a straight petrol.
Newly purchased 1928 Lister X Type. This is the second of my Lister X/XO’s. This engine started off life as part of a direct coupled compressor set. Unfortunately, it has had a very hard life and has spent many years outside and now looked very sorry for itself! This engine is a X so is correct with it being a straight petrol. It has a lot of different features compared to the XO.
I will write more details on the X and XO’s at a later date.
Check out Lee’s Listers on Youtube HERE
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