Thursday 13th November 2014

Jaguar XJR-9: Time For Tea?

Jaguar's Daytona winner goes to auction soon; here's every detail on its history

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Certain racing cars, especially older ones, are inextricably linked with individual liveries. Rally Lancias are almost always seen in Martini, same with Rothmans Porsches. And a T16 Peugeot just looks best in a Pioneer livery.

So seeing a Jaguar XJR-9 in anything other than the Le Mans Silk Cut colours is rather bizarre. This Castrol car (another great colour scheme though, don't you think?) won the Daytona 24 Hours in 1990 and is being sold by RM Auctions next March in its Amelia Island sale.

Chassis #388 was built in 1988 and was upgraded to XJR-12 spec by the time of the 1990 victory. It had also racked up 12 podiums during the 1988 and 1989 IMSA championships.

This video features RM's Max Girado (as seen in the 250 TdF vid) and Martin Brundle. Even while talking about the Jag in a fairly subdued fashion, the latter makes the XJR-9 sound like a hugely intimidating race car; up to 240mph down the Mulsanne, blipping every single downchange, monitoring the dials and all the time managing that huge V12 lump behind.

And there are some lovely details too. That gorgeous Momo wheel, the big chunky switches and the impossibly delicate driver's door. Walkaround videos aren't usually the most engaging but we'll make an exception for this. It's terrific.

See the video here.

 

[Image: Tim Scott for RM Auctions]

[Ved]

I remembering pestering my mum to buy a can of Castrol just because they were giving away a matchbox model of it. Stunning thing.

[Fartgalen]

IBTT.

[sebhaque]

I remembering pestering my mum to buy a can of Castrol just because they were giving away a matchbox model of it. Stunning thing.

[fatboy18]

Would be nice to see that at the Le mans classic

So the question is How much? How about a PH Team group buy? Ile throw in a Fiver, But can I give it a go around the track first please

Some great pics on the Auction website
http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1071...

Edited by fatboy18 on Friday 14th November 08:17

[Cotic]

I'm really hoping Jaguar themselves pitch in for this, and add it to the Heritage Drives at Fen End...

[Digga]

The XJR9 is one of my favourite racing cars ever, XJR12 is not far behind. The 7 litre V12 is epic. The battles between these and the Porsche 962s were a golden era of motorsport IMHO.

Edited by Digga on Friday 14th November 09:18

[British Beef]

That RM auctions chap, with the continuous stupid grin - both distracting and annoying.

Still a stunning car!!

[Oz83]

British Beef said:

That RM auctions chap, with the continuous stupid grin - both distracting and annoying.

Still a stunning car!!

This.

For the MD of a classic car auction company he didn't seem all that clued up about cars.

Great to hear Martin talking about his experience. Braking hard from 240mph, manual box, rev matching to protect the gears. Seriously talented guys. I often wonder if a modern day F1 driver would have the required skillset to race a car such as this.

[soad]

Somehow, Castrol livery reminds me of a certain Toyota...



And the Le Mans winner.

[chevronb37]

The fact that it's shortly to be auctioned will explain why Meaden and Harris were driving it recently...

[JaguarsportXJR]

I had a Scalextric one of these, in full Castrol livery. Working headlights and brake lights, along with "Magnatraction" to help keep the rear end in check on the bends. Doubt it was, but I'd have sworn it was faster than all the other cars I had!

[RobinBanks]

sebhaque said:

I remembering pestering my mum to buy a can of Castrol just because they were giving away a matchbox model of it. Stunning thing.

Thanks for your input.

[Ved]

sebhaque said:

I remembering pestering my mum to buy a can of Castrol just because they were giving away a matchbox model of it. Stunning thing.

Wow are you my annoying split personality?

[belleair302]

Am looking for ward to being at the auction and seeing what it sells for. Roll on March and Amelia Island Florida.