Broadspeed XJ12C: You Know You Want To

Yes, that is a quad-exit side exhaust and, yes, it is a genuine factory works car - come on!

Broadspeed XJ12. It's just one of those race car name associations that works brilliantly, both to say and to look at. Like Bastos M3, Rothmans Escort, Martini 935, that sort of thing. The Jaguar XJ12C Broadspeed - to give it its full name - is also conclusive proof that if you make a racing car look enticing enough, people will want it. Because you want an XJ12, don't you?

Of course you do, even if as a racing car the XJ12 wasn't tremendously successful. It raced only for two seasons (1976 and 1977), British Leyland's commitment to tin-tops short lived as the funding was cut. Moreover, while it proved fast enough to match the CSLs and Capris on Europe's tracks, it wasn't reliable enough to turn blistering qualifying pace into race victories. And qualifying results don't win you championships. Or get you girls and champagne.

Look at the race record for this very car in fact, the fourth and last car built by Broadspeed to 1977 'lightweight' spec. Three races, two front-row grid spots and three DNFs. The phrase 'untapped potential' could have been written for this car.

What is it that makes and XJ12 so appealing then? The noise must be a significant part of it, that legendary V12 making a vicious shriek out of that incredible exhaust arrangement. But then an XJS would have made a similar noise - indeed the later TWR XJSs did - and nobody gets quite as excited about those.

The incongruity helps too. Story goes that Ralph Broad, Broadspeed's founder, wanted to make an XJS touring car. It was the new car then, after all, and probably more suited to racing. But Jaguar wanted to sell more XJ12s, so this was the result. Even today it looks huge and properly imposing. How on earth must this have looked on a grid in 1977? That its competition life was cut short having shown so much potential is a big part of the Broadspeed XJ12 cult but the very fact it was built at all still seems astonishing.

And now you can own one! As mentioned, this is the fourth works car (both the '77 cars were dry-sumped too) driven by John Fitzpatrick and Tim Schenken. After racing it was placed in the care of the Jaguar Heritage Trust, who then sold the XJ12 to its second owner in 1997. They then sold it to JD Classics, who are advertising the car now. Sadly - is perhaps predictably - it's a POA ad, and how on earth do you place a value on something like this? If it's any point of reference, roadgoing CSLs like those the Jag would have battled on track are up past six figures.

If we could we would. Imagine getting it running properly, doing test days and maybe even competing in it. It was disappointing that the car never got the chance to properly shine in the 70s, but what an opportunity to make some amends now.

BROADSPEED JAGUAR XJ12C
Price: £POA
Why you should: As if you're asking
Why you shouldn't: This is the wrong website for you

See the advert here