Tadcaster man spends 20 years amassing wacky collection of rare vintage engines
A wacky man has spent 20 years and thousands of pounds amassing an incredible collection of Britain's rarest vintage engines.
Lee Say, 34, has dedicated two decades of his life tracking down and restoring a complete set of Lister engines, built between 1915 and 1921.
Lister engines were widely used into the 1960s as a reliable stationary power source for a range of machinery, before the arrival of mains power.
Today, they are adored by vintage machinery enthusiasts such as Lee who has spent years building his bizarre collection - and he is still on the hunt for more.
He has a full set of nine Lister engines and his total collection of 16 engines includes two unique machines, which are the only known to have survived worldwide.
"It is the only set like it in the world, so I am not particularly planning on selling it.
"There are two or three more that I would like to buy from around the world to really finish my collection.
"A friend of my dad’s gave me my first stationary engine in August 2003, a 1937 Lister D.
"They were designed before electricity – if a farm needed power, whether it be a generator, water pump, corn mill, straw chopper or elevator. One of mine was used for 60 years in a cotton mill in Leicester.
"The last commercially produced one was well into the 1960s, so even the youngest is pushing 60 years old, and the oldest ones, we’re talking 1880."
Lee got the bug for collecting young – from his father and grandfather who collected engines and tractors.
He added: "My grandad started the East Coast run from Hull to Bridlington, he had a 1926 Leyland Lion bus.
"Then in the 70s and 80s they sold the buses and got into stationary engines and vintage tractors.
"As time went on I was offered some of the other models in the range and put out several adverts and ended up building up the whole collection."
The area sales manager, started off with a 1917 “L” model, before acquiring the largest of the set, the “R” and the smallest, the “H”.
He has spent years restoring many of the engines which he buys as "wrecks", and it usually costs him between £1,000 to £2,000 to bring them back to their former glory.
It also takes a fair amount of work to maintain them, ensuring that they are constantly oiled so that they don't rust.
Lee says his set, which he keeps on a farm, all have a blind cylinder head, flick magneto, and are mounted on their original trolleys.
He added: "I got the ninth in January 2020, and it took me five years to restore – I took the full set to Tractorfest in 2024.
“I enjoy the mechanical restoration side and the hunt and chase for trying to find models I don’t own and would like to own.
"A lot of people come and ask me questions at shows.”
R.A. Lister & Co, was founded by Robert Ashton Lister in Dursley, Gloucestershire, in 1867.
It manufactured a wide range of engineering and industrial products; including dairy and sheep shearing equipment, agricultural implements, and a wide range of petrol and diesel engines.
Moving the full set is, Lee says, a “logistical nightmare” but in 2026 he’ll be taking them along to Tractorfest at Newby Hall in Ripon, one of the UK’s largest vintage tractor and engine shows.