CLASSIC GARAGE: Jaguar XJ 220

The Jaguar XJ 220. Image from autothing.com.

The Jaguar XJ 220 was dubbed the fastest production sports car between the years 1992 and 1994.  It had a top speed of 217 mph, was co-designed with Tom Walkinshaw Racing and had a tumultuous upbringing.

Rear shot.

Originally designed to compete with the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959, the concept car had a V12 engine, all-wheel drive and weighed in at a whopping 3,439 lbs.  Unfortunately, there were many drastic changes that happened when the actual production vehicle was released, from a new V6 engine to only offering the car in rear wheel drive.

These changes, of course, upset many of the buyers at the time (taken from the Jaguar XJ 220 Wiki article):

Many of the initial customers were dissatisfied not only with the modifications to the original specification but the significant increase in delivery price from the original £361,000 to £403,000 ($650,000 USD). Another blow to potential sales was a global recession which took hold between the car’s original announcement and its eventual release. This caused many original speculators to not want to buy the car, either because they were no longer able, or because they did not think they could sell it on. Further complicating the issue was Tom Walkinshaw’s offer of the faster (by acceleration, not top speed), more expensive and more exclusive XJR-15 which was based on the Le Mans champion XJR-9. Some customers reportedly either sued Jaguar or threatened to sue; in any case, Jaguar gave the customers the option to buy themselves out of the delivery contract. As a result, many of the owners challenged Jaguar in court where the Judge eventually sided with Jaguar.

Fast forward to present day and the Jaguar XJ 220 is one of the most sought after collector cars on the market.  There were only a total of 271 cars built at the time and they now go for almost the same price they were originally sold for.

I’ll take mine in silver please.