1990 Jaguar XJ220 Development Prototype
Offered by H&H Auctions | Duxford, U.K. | April 17, 2013
The Jaguar XJ220 was an important car in supercar history. It was the fastest road car ever built at the time it went on sale in 1992. It was supposed to be a race car for the road – but of course it was not as successful as Jaguar thought it would be. In all, by the end of production in 1994, only 281 were built.
But if it didn’t go on sale until 1992, how is this a 1990? Well, that’s because it is a factory test mule – a development car used in early testing – it was used for high-speed testing and brake and tire work (driven by Andy Wallace). If I’m reading the chassis and engine numbers correctly, this car has the second XJ220 engine built in it (although it may have a race engine and not a production engine). That engine, by the way, is a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 making 542 horsepower. It was capable of 213 mph.
This car shouldn’t exist. Especially as a road car. After its testing work was completed Jaguar sold the car to a race team that was supposed to use it as a base car for an attempt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – with the guarantee that it would never be road registered. Things fell apart and they never made it to Le Mans.
The car then was involved in an extended legal battle over who rightfully owned it. Someone then tried to export it to the U.S. under the guise of an XJ-S with a body kit on it – which sounds like straight up smuggling to me. Then the car sat in storage for 10 years. It was overhauled in 2008 (at a cost of about $100,000). It was then road registered in the U.K. for the first time – making this the earliest road-legal XJ220 you can buy. It should cost between $225,000-$275,000. Click here for more information and here for the rest of H&H’s auction lineup.
