29 Facts About Jaguar XJ220

Jaguar XJ220 is a two-seat sports car produced by British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar from 1992 until 1994, in collaboration with the specialist automotive and race engineering company Tom Walkinshaw Racing.

The XJ220 made use of engineering work undertaken for Jaguar's then current racing car family.

Jaguar XJ220 had started to provide factory support to racing team Group 44 Racing, who were using the Jaguar XJ220-engined XJR-5 in the IMSA GT Championship, supplying V12 engines from 1983 onwards and supporting a Le Mans entry in 1984.

Tom Walkinshaw and Jaguar XJ220 agreed to enter the FIA Group C World Sportscar Championship and developed the XJR-6, which was powered by the same Jaguar XJ220 V12 engine used by Group 44 Racing.

The poor fuel consumption of the Jaguar XJ220 V12 combined with new rules restricting refueling during races, forced the replacement of the V12 engine in the successors to the XJR-9, the XJR-10 and XJR-11.

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Name Jaguar XJ220 was chosen as a continuation of the naming of the XK120, which referred to the top speed of the model in miles per hour.

The XK120, like the Jaguar XJ220, was an aluminium-bodied sports car and when launched was the fastest production car in the world.

Jaguar XJ220 had little experience with four-wheel drive systems at the time, having previously only produced rear-wheel drive cars.

Tony Rolt had a long involvement with Jaguar XJ220, winning the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans with the factory works team driving the C-Type.

The car received an overwhelmingly positive reception by public and press and a number of wealthy Jaguar enthusiasts handed over blank cheques to secure a purchase option should the XJ220 concept go into production.

Use of the shorter V6 engine design allowed the wheelbase of the Jaguar XJ220 to be shortened and its weight to be reduced; the V12 engine was definitively ruled out when it was determined it would have difficulty at simultaneously meeting emissions legislations.

In contrast, the Jaguar XJ220 saloon having the smallest engine of the time, the XJ6 3.

The Jaguar XJ220 was one of the first road cars to intentionally use underbody airflow and the venturi effect to generate downforce.

Additionally, the Jaguar XJ220 could be ordered with optional BBS wheels for improved brake ventilation and aesthetics.

JV6 engines used in the Jaguar racing cars were produced by Swiss engineer Max Heidegger, but delivering the number of engines required for the XJ220 program was considered beyond his capacity.

The JV6 engine used in the Jaguar XJ220 featured little commonality with the engines Heidegger built for use in the XJR racing cars, being specifically engineered to meet performance and in particular, the European emissions requirements, which the race engines didn't have to meet.

The last Jaguar XJ220 rolled off the production line in April 1994; the factory was then transferred to Aston Martin and used for the assembly of the Aston Martin DB7 until 2004.

What's really incredible about the Jaguar XJ220 is its ability to provide such performance in a way that never, ever intimidates.

Jaguar XJ220 had intended to produce up to 350 cars, but production ceased in 1994 with 281 production cars produced, not all of which had been sold; some left-hand drive examples were still available in 1997.

Jaguar XJ220 customers attempting to withdraw from their contracted purchases were given the option to buy themselves out of their contracts, but by 1995, the issue had resulted in legal action as buyers claimed the specification changes rendered any contracts void.

Jaguar XJ220 produced evidence clearly demonstrating that the vehicle specification shown in the contract matched the vehicle that was delivered and the presiding judge, John Donaldson, quickly ruled in Jaguar XJ220's favour.

Jaguar XJ220 appeared in later motoring press articles; Evo journalist David Vivian, writing a head-to-head test between the Jaguar XJ220 and the Lamborghini Murcielago in 2009, commented that "going ludicrously fast seems trivially easy" and acknowledged that the decision to change the V12 engine for a turbocharged V6 engine "would garner more acceptance now".

The Jaguar XJ220-C driven by Win Percy won its first race, a round of the BRDC National Sports GT Challenge at Silverstone.

Three works Jaguar XJ220-Cs were entered in the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans race, in the newly created Grand Touring Class.

However, the class win was revoked when the Jaguar XJ220-C was controversially disqualified for failing to run with catalytic converters.

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Jaguar XJ220 won their appeal but were nevertheless disqualified, as the ACO confirmed that the appeal had not been lodged in time.

Lightly-modified road-going Jaguar XJ220 was entered in the Italian GT Championship in 1993, although without factory support; where it raced in Martini livery.

Jaguar XJ220-C was promoted in the United States in the-made-for-TV "Fast Masters" racing series at Indianapolis Raceway Park, airing on ESPN in the summer of 1993 and featuring invited drivers over 50 years old in an elimination format.

Jaguar XJ220 Pininfarina is a special XJ220 built in 1995 for the Sultan of Brunei and his brother Prince Jefri, who commissioned a number of rare and one-off heavily modified cars based on expensive luxury cars.