Tuesday 17th February 2015

Jaguar XKR GT3: You Know You Want To

Yes, a real racing Jaguar of the recent past with an incredible story behind it too

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Some racing cars just sound good from their names. Partly that can stem from racing success (Sierra RS Cosworth is a great name and a very successful car) and sometimes it's a brilliant name regardless of what it achieved. Who wouldn't want to race a Lancia Montecarlo Turbo?

It's even kept some chrome. Classy

And Jaguar XKR GT3 could surely be added to that list. There's the long racing heritage of Jaguar and then a very good GT car made into a GT racer. It's a tantalising prospect, especially with rumours of an F-Type GT3 continuing to circulate. And doesn't it look fantastic?

The XKR GT3 story goes back to 2007. A year after the launch of the road car, what better time to capitalise on that than with some motorsport success? Apex Motorsport was given factory approval to develop a racer, with four cars built between 2007 and 2009. This is the fourth of those cars, driven by names including Mike Jordan, Neil Cunningham and Phil Quaife. It even took fifth at Silverstone in a round of the 2008 European GT.

Tragically though the Jaguar GT3 project stopped following an air crash which killed five members of the team including test drive David Leslie. One of the cars is in the Jaguar Heritage Museum, making this car an even rarer prospect.

At the Autosport debut in 2007

Moreover, it is probably just an epic thing to drive. Look at the spec: over 500hp, around 1,200kg, big AP brakes, Hewland sequential gearbox, Intrax dampers. It's a bona fide racing car, one that simply hasn't received much use due to horrible misfortune. According to the ad it's still eligible for a few championships as well, meaning there's the chance for some real success that it never enjoyed a few years ago. And 'XKR GT3' is a name that's going to look and sound good all weekend.

The GT3 apparently cost £400K new and was double its (unpublished) list price a year ago. All guesses invited... It would be superb to see the XKR bought and raced in anger, although the temptation would surely be there to preserve it in a collection. Either way, a fascinating story is ready to be continued.

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JAGUAR XKR GT3
Price: £POA (original cost c.£400K)
Why you should: A very rare piece of motorsport history
Why you shouldn't: Too precious to use?

See the original advert here.

[Autosport pic: LAT]

[dukebox9reg]

Is it me or the first(main) picture a remote control replica? Doesn't look right.

[xRIEx]

dukebox9reg said:

Is it me or the first(main) picture a remote control replica? Doesn't look right.

What's wrong with it?

[soad]

dukebox9reg said:

Is it me or the first(main) picture a remote control replica? Doesn't look right.

Reminded me of 350Z for some reason, at the first glance.

Nothing wrong with it at all - a race car.

[rejn]

dukebox9reg said:

Is it me or the first(main) picture a remote control replica? Doesn't look right.

Agreed - something just looks odd in the over-size arches/wheel combo.

Sounds like a cracking car, though.

[LotusOmega375D]

How do you calculate <50% of POA?

I've forgotten my schoolboy algebra.

[unsprung]

Looks hugely involving. Probably a good thrashing for all the senses.

[RacerMike]

It's such a shame that this car never reached it's full potential. The GT3 rules allowed for that sequential transmission to be mounted as a transaxle (something the road car never had the luxury of), and there's no reason why, given the time and investment, we couldn't have seen a Jag win a GT race somewhere in the world again! Until there's anything confirmed about any type of F-Type GT3 car, I guess we'll have to dream.

There's another XK that has subsequently been developed by a separate team still racing in Europe, and it's had a fair bit more aero development. Well worth a read of the DailySportsCar article on it here: http://www.dailysportscar.com/2014/09/18/doing-thi...



Some footage of it from Spa here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XHz8ZbuQkM

[jamespink]

Gorgeous looking tool. Real schoolboy poster car looks. Love it.

[hazy]

Ive seen this car recently in the flesh and its stunning, pictures dont do it justice

[mikEsprit]

Rear spoiler too small for my tastes.

[X5TUU]

Far too subtle...it's got nothing on the Wakefield boy racers and their rear winged beats (read 99-04 corsa and fiestas)