By Dean Larson

The shape used by the Beck Lister and Lucra LC470 is one of my favorite modernish designs. The curvy open-air roadster is undoubtedly a classic, but the shape somehow keeps reinventing itself. Mount a set of Halibrand Kidney Bean 5s like this car has, and you’ve got a roadster that clearly tips its hat to the Lister Knobbly and the Scarab Roadster, (in a way) but change up your wheels and trim, and you’ve got a thoroughly modern-looking GT car like the LC470. With mid-mounted Chevrolet engines and Corvette suspension components, the design is no slouch either.

The car offered for sale here on BringaTrailer.com is the more classic-looking Beck Lister. Apparently only a handful of these early Lister tributes were built at Beck around 2000. The chassis and bare fiberglass body were purchased from Beck in 2002 and the car was finished using a 1986 Corvette donor. The C4 Vette only mustered 230 bhp from its L98 350, so engine modifications are a nice bonus. The block was bored 0.060,” balanced and finished off with 9.9:1 pistons, Flo-Tek heads and an upgraded cam. 

The Beck-Lister was finished in an agreeable shade of yellow with a single black stripe to accentuate the bulging hood. The Halibrand wheels look right on car, but we think some true pin-drive wheels would take the appearance up a notch. The interior is accurately summarized by the term “spartan,” with black upholstery throughout and an almost too simple gauge panel.

We’re quite interested to see what the Beck sells for in this auction. The car has great looks, but is held back a bit by its overall condition. With 26,500 miles on the clock, it’s clear the car has been enjoyed. The Beck’s underside suggests that it has also seen some spirited driving, with scuffs on several parts of the lower body and stone chipping throughout. The angled scuffs on the underside of the rear definitely suggest some tail-happy fun was had. It also looks like some welding was done to repair the transmission bell housing, surely a crack from low ground clearance.

We did a little digging as well and found a similar Beck that sold on BaT last year for a bargain at $27,000. The car had just 1,400 miles, appeared to be in fantastic condition and was finished to a very high degree. This Beck has a high bid of $15,678 with five days remaining in the auction. At this rate, this Beck could make the 2016 sale look like the bargain of the year.