XJ220

1995 Jaguar XJ220

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Enstone, U.K. | May 11, 2019

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

This is the fourth different Jaguar XJ220 we’ve featured – and the first, plain Jane road car. It’s listed as a 1995 model, though the last XJ220 rolled off the assembly line in May 1994. So that’s believable enough. Silverstone Auctions has another XJ220 in this same sale that is titled as a 1997 – with no explanation given. Which is weird.

At 212 mph, the XJ220 was the fastest production car in the world at the time of its introduction. Power is from a 542 horsepower, twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6. It features an aluminum chassis and body as well as a well-appointed interior.

Celebrities lined up to buy them when they were new, but they gained a reputation for disappointment over time, and I’m not sure why. Maybe the V6 wasn’t exotic enough. The prices sort of bottomed out and never took back off again like the McLaren F1 and Ferrari F50. This one is expected to bring between $420,000-$485,000 – a relative supercar bargain.

This car is finished in Le Mans Blue and was brought to the UK in 2015 out of a collection in Malaysia. Supercar collections in Southeast Asia are always interesting, and you have to wonder what kind of stories this car could tell. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $429,230.

Jaguar XJ220C

1993 Jaguar XJ220C

Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | December 1, 2018

Photo – Bonhams

For some reason, the Jaguar XJ220 is a car that people don’t love. I guess because it has a V6 or something, people think it’s an “inferior” supercar. But it’s still a supercar. It was the fastest car in the world upon its introduction. And, as you can see, it has racing heritage.

That’s right, for a brief period, Jaguar tracked these monsters with a factory effort. Well, factory in that the whole thing was run by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. But it was funded by Jag. Just four lightweight XJ220 competition cars were built. The racing history for this chassis includes:

  • 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans – 1st in class (with John Nielsen, David Brabham, and David Coulthard)

Well, that’s technically only partially correct. While they won their class, they were disqualified later on because of some weird appeal-filing timing mishap. A very bureaucratic disqualification.

The race-trim version of this car is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 tuned to 500 horsepower, which is actually less than the road car, but with all of the lightweight components installed, it was probably much quicker.

After staying in the TWR collection for a while, this car was sold to the Sultan of Brunei before coming back to the U.K. in 1999. It can now be yours for between $2,900,0000-$3,600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

XJ220 Test Mule

1990 Jaguar XJ220 Development Prototype

Offered by H&H Auctions | Duxford, U.K. | April 17, 2013

1990 Jaguar XJ220 Development Prototype

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.

Update: Not sold.

Update II: Sold, H&H’s Pavilion Gardens Sale (7/13) $111,384.

Jaguar XJ220 S

1993 Jaguar XJ220 S Coupe

Offered by RM Auctions | January 19-20, 2012 | Phoenix, Arizona

The Jaguar XJ220 was the fastest production car in the world at the time of its debut, topping out at 213 mph with a twin-turbocharged V6 engine. It was a sensation – a half-a-million dollar sensation with celebrity owners from Elton John to the Sultan of Brunei (of course). 281 cars were built.

Tom Walkinshaw Racing was there from the beginning to aid in development. They developed the XJ220C race car that competed at Le Mans in 1993 – where it won the GT Class with drivers John Nielsen, David Brabham, and David Coulthard. That win was later revoked because the car that competed didn’t have catalytic converters.

Anyway, TWR built 6 road-going versions of the XJ220C dubbed the XJ220S. Power was upped from the standard 542 horsepower to a staggering 680 bhp. Top speed also jumped, this by 15 mph to 228 mph.

There are only a few of these cars, so they don’t sell too often. The last one I can find was at a dealer a few years ago for $295,000. More info on this car is available here with more on the auction itself, here.

Update: Sold $230,000.