Posted date: 31-10-2014
It's impossible to make a list of 1990s supercars without including the Jaguar XJ220 on that list. The swoopy, expansive, and decadent rear-engined coupe captured the imaginations of millions of car fans around the globe, its posters replacing those of the Ferrari Testarossa on many fans' walls even if the overall story of the car itself was a little bittersweet. Regardless of Jaguar's financial health at the time -- we'll blame the recession of the early 90s -- the XJ220 remains an icon, commanding respect at every event and gathering it attends. And next month, Silverstone Auctions will be offering a low-mileage example which was originally supplied to the royal family of Brunei. Yes, that royal family.
But first, a refresher on the XJ220.
Jaguar was experiencing solid success in the 1980s, and beginning to back serious track car efforts despite the fact that its coupe and convertible lineup, which essentially consisted of the XJS at this time, was turning stale. But a group of company engineers led by Jim Randle at Jaguar were dreaming big, and their dreams looked like an aerodynamic, V12-engined all-wheel drive coupe whose footprint would dwarf the XJS. Jaguar backed the engineers' pet project, and it wasn't long before the company started hinting publicly that something big was in the works. In 1988, the company showed a concept car that was to have a 530-hp V12 engine, clothed in a futuristic body. By the time rolling prototypes started being built, the plans were downgraded to a V6, though a 200 mph-plus top speed was still promised.
Jaguar and motorsport outfit Tom Walkinshaw Racing had a business relationship at the time and the task of sorting out the assembly of the XJ220, which was not initially intended to go into production until the enthusiastic reception it received at the 1988 British International Motor Show, fell to TWR. The XJ220 would end up using a 542-hp 3.5-liter twin turbocharged V6 engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox driving the rear wheels, as opposed to all four wheels as originally envisioned.
Between the time that the XJ220 debuted to the public in concept form and the time that it went on sale, the economic climate had changed dramatically, dooming many smaller supercar manufacturers along the way. Still, at its debut in 1991 the XJ220 managed to rack up enough orders for the production at the purpose-built factory to keep moving, even though the XJ220 was effectively upstaged by Jaguar's own XJR-15, a V12-engined track beast that debuted around the same time. Around 275 XJ220s would end up being built from 1992 till 1994, far short of the number that Jaguar had hoped to build, but a modest success in a difficult time for all luxury and supercar manufacturers.
This particular example is said to have first been supplied to the Brunei royal family, living there until 2002 when it came back to England showing just 1,412 claimed miles on the odometer. Finished in metallic green, this XJ220 shows 5,562 miles on the clock and is being offered by its third owner. Silverstone Auctions says that the car received an expensive glass-out repaint in 2007 due to essentially having endured the climate of Brunei, which is known to be pretty atrocious to cars that aren't kept in climate controlled storage. The car is also said to have received an interior retrim around the same time, which is not an unusual thing to happen to cars that have been sourced from the Brunei royal family's collection, once again because of the climate. After a repaint and a retrim, this XJ220 has been reportedly looked after by Don Law of Staffordshire, one of the foremost authorities on the XJ220, while accumilating very modest mileage.
