What is it about the XJ220 that doesn’t put it in the same league as the Ferrari F40 or Porsche 959 in terms of desirability or current value – let alone the McLaren F1? They were the ultimate supercars of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, but the Jaguar eclipsed its Italian and German rivals in many performance categories, most significantly by managing 217mph (on six cylinders) while the other two ran out of steam around the two hundred mark. Only the McLaren outshone it in terms of performance, not least when taking the maximum velocity crown and passing through 240mph in its 1993 test.
The road going 959 inherited its competition DNA from the Group B rally cars that came 1st and 2nd in the gruelling Paris-Dakar, while examples of the others were only subsequently modified for the track and serious endurance racing. Notwithstanding McLaren’s dominant debut at Le Mans in 1995, I witnessed there was also much support for the three Ferrari F40 LMs and a home grown, almost religious, following for the pair of Jaguar XJ220s. Englishmen; Win Percy, James Weaver and Tiff Needell were certainly crowd favourites among the drivers, too.
Only 281 Jaguar XJ220s were produced, making it much more exclusive than the red cars from Maranello, of which over 1,300 hit the streets. These big cats, built at Bloxham by TWR, were an impressive sight to watch as a spectator, whether that be on the world stage in France or even at club level. Perhaps even more so in the ‘just for fun’ category as I reminisced with others at Race Retro. Roger Bowman owned one of the cars competing in the original spec. ‘Intermarque’ Championship and Richard Culverhouse was the AMOC Comp. Sec. who made everything happen. Yes indeed, amongst lightweight DB4 Astons, Cobras, various 911s and a mixture of Ferraris, were three very amply proportioned felines.
Don Law was, and still is, the man we should thank for maintaining and preparing more XJ220s than anyone else in the world, and one of his flock was being offered at the Silverstone Auctions’ sale, a major feature of Race Retro weekend. This car, 123rd off the production line, was a particularly good prospect, having covered just 24,000 kms (less than 15,000 miles) while spending nearly all of its life in Denmark. When returning to the UK, Don Law Racing breathed on the 3.5 litre engine to increase its power from a standard 540bhp to a whopping 680bhp, as well as fitting upgrades to suspension and brakes.
Auctioneers had estimated it fetching £165k to 185k – something of a bargain when set against £403,000 when new – but it was presented rather modestly, amongst much more mundane machinery. The latest custodian paid slightly over the higher figure for the privilege of driving it away, so perhaps this sale might herald a mini renaissance. That said, sums would have to treble, at least, before reaching the cheaper end of 959 and F40 territory…but then, they aren’t powered by V12s either!
Article by John Godley.
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