Jaguar, the carmaker, has been Jaguar, the race champion, almost too many times to count. In the 1980s, the company backed Bob Tullius and Tom Walkinshaw Racing at IMSA and the World Sportscar Championship, racking up wins at Daytona and LeMans as well as multiple WSC team championships. Of course, the centerpiece of this competence was its engine, a phenomenal V12 that it produced in a variety of sizes, including a 6.0-liter used at LeMans. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jaguar’s chief engineer and design team were brewing up a road-going supercar that could make use of that spectacular engine. The effort turned out a complicated, high-performance machine called the XJ220. When potential customers caught sight of the prototype in 1988, checkbooks opened up. At that point, Jaguar wasn’t even committed to production, but as its coffers filled with down payments – £50,000 per copy to be specific – the company decided to build 350 examples. In the end, practicality forced substantial changes to the mechanicals and the design, and orders evaporated. A few more than 280 XJ220s were produced, and a few of those languished without owners as a brutal recession hit in the early 1990s. Here on eBay is one of these collectible cats, a 1993 XJ220, listed at $599,900, or best offer. The car is for sale with Daniel Schmitt & Co. in Saint Ann, Missouri.
I mentioned the V12 motor. Yes, well, the best-laid plans. Jaguar soon discovered that mounting a V12 midship, coupled with the originally conceived four-wheel drive system – including rear-wheel steering – the car was way too ponderous. It wouldn’t fit into parking spaces and it was so heavy that it ran through tires like nobody’s business. Jaguar didn’t even know yet that the V12 would be banned from US shores entirely due to emissions concerns. Fortunately, its racing endeavors had also produced a nifty twin-turbo-charged V6 based on a Cosworth design that was lightweight but still powerful. That’s the engine you see here. Dry sump lubrication, fuel injection, electronic engine management, mostly aluminum components – it was good for over 500 hp, especially sans catalytic converters. The transaxle was modified to rear-wheel drive – another weight savings – and it incorporated a limited slip diff. You would think that no one would complain too much about the resulting 4.5-second zero-to-sixty time and 210 mph top speed, but folks with big deposits awaiting a 4WD V12 Group B car for the road were crestfallen.
The interior is well-appointed, but it makes for limited visibility. Note the gauges set into the driver’s door panel and the left-hand hand brake. This particular car has traveled only 4308 miles and is billed as indistinguishable from new. The condition report might be aided by the $170,000 spent over the last seven years to keep this big cat running. Parts such as the fuel tank bladders and composite materials degrade with time, not miles; no doubt refreshment of these items was part of that bill. Aside from the cubic dollars required for maintenance, complaints about the car’s driveability include its heavy steering and inadequate brakes. Too, these cars were never federalized for US import, and owners have reported difficulties obtaining titles.
Though scissor doors were yet another element that ended up on the cutting room floor, the car’s breathtaking design is its strong suit. That, plus aluminum sheet metal incorporating ground effects and set on a honeycomb aluminum chassis, the car’s rarity and the aforementioned performance assures that the XJ220 will catch the eye of at least a few collectors. Examples sell in the $500k to $600k area, making this asking price close to market.
Beautiful. Jaguar XJ220 the video game was available for the Sega CD when the car was new. A friend and I played it quite a bit, really made the car more special at the time. I never expect to see one in real life, but it is a true work of art.
I remember reading about this car in MotorTrend when I was in middle school in the early 90’s. I couldn’t eat to see one going down the road lol, I’m still waiting. That Alpine cassette deck I’ve had in a few cars though. Nice write up
As always ,I was at my favourite auction ,McCormick’s in Palm Springs ,maybe 10 years ago,and clearly remember discussing one of these with Dan Schmitt,the current consigning dealer.We were both wondering how much longer these would be so cheap as the high bid was just under $100k.Rumour had it the reserve was 120.We were trying to goad each other into buying it .Perhaps this is the same car,as there aren’t many.To my eye,it looks better now than it did then ,graceful aging.Gotta go book my flights ,that auction is next weekend !!
Google “Fast Masters” and you’ll find that in the early 90’s an exhibition racing series of retired older NASCAR and Indycar drivers used these in a made for TV entertainment type racing series. I remember cringing watching it whenever one got wrecked.
I had no idea they climbed this high in value.
They ruined a lot of those cars. The invited drivers went beyond just NASCAR and IndyCar. Famed offroad racer, Walker Evans, was a regular. Herb Adams and his son, Matt (both competent road racers, having driven together in several series including IMSA Firehawk) coached Walker on the finer points of pavement racing.
A number of years ago I was in the UK on business for Glaxo and, over the weekend I trained down to the New Forest where Lord Montague’s estate is and the Beaulieu (pronounced in the UK as buuulee for some strange reason) Auto Museum resides as part of the estate. Lots of really interesting cars, trucks, and busses there, including the Lotus Esprit from the Bond “Moonraker” film (apparently there were several made) as well as an XJ220. It was roped off but you could still get very close. There was also a D-Type there. Cool museum.
I saw a TWR engineer being interviewed by the press back when; one of those glorious interviews when a real tech-head who knows what’s up is up against arguments that make no sense to them. (I was a software engineer at Motorola in the 90’s and early 2000’s and saw a number of these as “what works best” bashed heads with “what sounds cool” to marketing departments).
Poor guy was so proud of being able to pull more horsepower out of less cubic inches in order to create a car that accelerated and cornered so much better than what had been rolled out years earlier for the prototype using the latest TWR racing technology. The engine out of the XJR-11 and MG 6R4 did make it the fastest car in the world until the McLaren F1 rolled out. He just couldn’t understand why so many people cancelled their orders once they lurned that the V12 had been dropped. It made no sense to him. Lovely automobile. Both a high and low point for Jaguar. (It’s my favorite big cat.)
While working for Collier Jaguar in Orlando FL I had the opportunity to see and although short drive one at the dealership. We had it on display and needed to move the car and Semi that brought it there. Since I had a Class A CDL I volunteered. All I can say is WOW.
This is not gonna bring anywhere near that price.
In the company at the time, the “Fast Masters” series was derisively called the “Crash Masters” as the ridiculously short circuit was ill-suited to a car like an XJ220 and the otherwise professional drivers drove like giddy idiots. The XJ220’s were treated as poorly as were C-Types and D-Types decades earlier and, again, history shows that great cars will eventually be appreciated.
Beautiful car! I recall back in the day that Sir Elton John owned one.