The £1m Lister Knobbly Special Edition

It's a little-known fact that when Brian Lister started making and selling aluminium-bodied Listers to other drivers and teams in the Fifties, he kept back two works cars for his drivers, including Stirling Moss, and these cars' body shells were made from magnesium alloy, giving them a weight saving of 33 per cent over the standard Listers that the company was selling to competitor racers.

The car unveiled today is one of 10 Stirling Moss Editions that will be made; no matter how many further orders are received, assembled guests at the RAC were assured no more would be built, due largely to the complexity and cost of building cars out of magnesium.

All 10 cars will be built to the exact, original specification of the Lister Jaguar that Sir Stirling raced and won with at Silverstone in 1958. That means an engine sump and gearbox clutch casing manufactured from magnesium alloy, a lightweight tubular chassis and Jaguar's 3.8-litre D-Type racing engine, producing 337bhp at 5,000rpm and 295lb ft of torque, linked to an original-specification four-speed D-Type gearbox, both produced by Crosthwaite and Gardiner. Acceleration is 0-100mph in under 9.9 seconds and a top speed of 184mph.

The price tag starts at £1m, but for that you get a solid silver numbered plaque signed by Sir Stirling, a personal letter and dinner with Sir Stirling to welcome you to your new Lister, a day's training on the track with Tiff Needell, race preparation by Lister race experts CKL Development, a spares package to include an extra set of wheels and tyres, ignition system, lubricants, fan belts and bulbs; bespoke Lister indoor car cover, 12 months' parts and labour warranty and, finally, a year's entry into the Stirling Moss Trophy Race Series.

Each car is finished in classic Lister green and yellow paint to match the original car.

Given the very limited nature of this limited-edition Knobbly, the car will, as Sir Stirling pointed out at the launch "be quite a collector's car", with the initial price no doubt soon looking like a bargain.

And if you'd never realised that the Fifties Lister works Knobblys weren't built using aluminium, you'd be in good company: "I had no idea I was driving a magnesium car, not that I'd have known what that was", Sir Stirling said at the launch. "I suppose he [Brian Lister] didn't tell me, in case it fell to bits."

Thankfully it didn't, and the continuation car unveiled today is testament to one of the greatest racing cars ever built.