Parker Time Capsule

[Kevin McCormack]

Hmmmm...Jag with a Corvette motor....ever hear of a Lister Corvette? They used to race them near here at the Marlboro Motor Speedway in the late 1950s-early '60s. Once a month beginning in April the NSCCA would have qualifying races for mostly (then) amatuer drivers who could race anything they could keep on the track. Roger Penske would drive down from Media PA with a snappy little Porsche 550 on a trailer, and another guy from Bala Cynwyd PA would drive down a Ferrari California, change the rear end in the pits, race it all weekend, and change out the rear for the trip home on Sunday evening. A local dentist, Dick Thompson, was a Corvette fanatic and showed up one weekend with a Lister Corvette - sort of a cross between an Allard and an AC Bristol body with beefed up suspension and a massive 427 Corvette engine. Guys like Penske and the Ferrari driver would always beat Thompson into the corners, cutting inside him at the last minute and diving into the turns to overtake him. When they came out of the corners, nothing could stay with that Lister Corvette - the acceleration was something you had to see to believe. Best times were the late Fall semi-final races - nothing like coming home to homework on Sunday evening reeking of Castrol and burnt rubber! Those were the days - Now its Hoppes No.9 and burnt 700X - not a bad trade!

PS - The guy at the head of the block just put his 1954 Corvette roadster out in the front yard with a big "4 Sale" sign on it. Completely restored to new. Asking $68K for it -hell, you can't even buy a AAHE 28 ga. for that kind of money!! (Well, maybe a nice Del Grego restoration.....).