The Jaguar XJ220 was introduced to the public in 1988 at the Birmingham Motor Show. Sir John Egan, the director of Jaguar, had overseen the project along with Tom Walkinshaw. Walkinshaw, along with his company Tom Walkinshaw Racing, had experience in racing and winning. Walkinshaw had won the Group 'C' World Championship with Jaguar - and Jaguar had won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1988 with their XJR9LM. The list of accomplishments between the two is extensive and their union to create a road going supercar was a successful one.
One of the goals was to create a car that could challenge Ferrari's F40. The result was a 542 horsepower monster matted to a five-speed transaxle and sitting atop an aluminum-honeycomb chassis. An gorgeous aluminum and composite bodywork finished off the design. The engine used was a V6 with help from twin-turbochargers. Zero-to-sixty for the 3500 pounds vehicle took just over four seconds while speeds of 220 mph was obtainable.
With help from TWR, the Jaguar XJ220 won the 1993 Le Mans GT class. This had been the vehicles first attempt at winning this glorious honor.
The silver example shown was offered for sale at the 2006 RM Auctions held in Monterey, California where it was expected to sell between $200,000-$250,000. It was offered without reserve. It is one of only a few XJ220's that has been granted EPA and DOT certification by the state of California. It has been garage kept most of its life and has seen very little road time. At the conclusion of the auction the lot had been sold for $214,500. | |
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