Jaguar XJ220

Cars Mania Blog

Auto Car | Jaguar XJ220 | The story behind the XJ220 is an inspiring one yet a sad one too. Professor Jim Randall (head of engineering) started the ball rolling by sketching out some ideas whilst on a Christmas holiday back in 1980s. It was the stuff of fantasies - V12, 4WD, slippery body with ground effects. Together with colleagues in the 'Saturday Club' at Jaguar they toyed with the idea on an unofficial basis until Jaguar started getting excited by the idea properly and official plans were put in place to build what was to be the fastest ever road car.

The Birmingham Motor Show in 1988 saw the unveiling of the V12 powered concept with the first V6 production cars hitting the road three years later in 1991 (the same year Jaguar recorded one of its greatest Le Mans results with three V12 engined XJR-12's finishing second, third and fourth).

The original idea was to use a TWR developed V12 inspired by Jaguar's racing successes but financial constraints forced the team to use a V6 unit and to drop the four wheel drive. It was no ordinary V6 though - with twin turbos and huge intercoolers the 3.5 litre unit was good for 540bhp! Sadly at low revs the V6 sounds positively awful, not singing until much higher in the rev range when the turbos kick in.

The use of the V6 allowed the chassis to be shortened, although the proportions of this car are still truly monstrous. The engine sits behind the two seat cabin, with a tiny boot available behind that. The styling is heavily influenced by the need to cool the highly tuned engine and also to provide sufficient downforce to keep the car steady at the 217mph top speed. It briefly held the top speed record for a production car until the awesomely engineered McLaren F1 stole the title.

The cars were built at a new site at Bloxham near Oxford. Three hundred and fifty were to be built at a cost of £400,000 each. There was trouble ahead. The market for exotic cars crashed and many speculators had taken punts on the new Jaguar becoming an instant classic. Buyers refused to proceed with their orders and many a legal wrangle ensued with cars being sold below list price as a result and only two hundred and eighty-one making it out of the factory gates.

So where are they now? A very rare sight on the roads in the UK, you're more likely to see one on a race track. Many were made in left hand drive, and incredibly there are some still to be found with delivery mileages only, in specialist car dealers around the UK. So sad that such a milestone in Jaguar's history is so rarely seen. XJ220 owners - whip off your dust covers and share those beauties with the rest of us!

Specification

Make: Jaguar
Model; XJ 220
Year: 1994
Country of Origin: England
Type: Supercar
Class: A
Engine: V-6, Twin Turbochargers, 3,498 CC, Gasoline
Horsepower: 542 BHP @ 7,000 RPM
Tourque: 475 LB FT @ 4,500 RPM

Redline: 7,500 RPM
Brakes: Cross Drilled Ventilated Aluminuim Discs all round, 4 pot calipers,
Wheels: 17 inch alumunium alloy Hubcaps
Handedness: Right
Dials; All Analouque
Readout: MPH
Transmission: 5 Speed H pattern Manual
Driveline: M/R Mid Engined, Rear Wheel Drive
0-60: 3.8 Seconds
Top Speed: 217 MPH

(www.pistonheads.com)