Saturday 12th August 2017

XJ220s at Silverstone Classic: PH photo gallery

A record breaking prowl of Jaguars met at the Silverstone Classic - here are the pics!

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At the recent Silverstone Classic, to celebrate 25 years of the Jaguar XJ220, more than 40 examples of what was once the world's fastest car gathered at the home of British motor racing. This was the largest recorded gathering of the 90s supercar anywhere in the world, and was certainly a sight to behold, particularly when the cars paraded the GP circuit!

The parade, which was organised by renowned specialist Don Law Racing, even included the #50 car that won its class at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans, only to be disqualified shortly after! David Brabham, who raced the car in 1993, was at the wheel during the parade. Cars even came from as far as Japan to join the celebration, which dwarfed any previous known gathering of XJ220s.

Notable cars include a silver V12 AWD prototype which I believe has scissor doors, the one-off V12 car converted by Don Law Racing, and a special order green car previously belonging to the Sultan of Brunei. However, most incredible of all was the Ford Transit van fitted with the XJ220 engine which was used as a test mule for the production car!

[ChocolateFrog]

That transit was on an old episode of Top Gear which was on DAVE last night.

Raced against a Maloo, never realised it was actually a test mule though.

[Dynamic Space Wizard]

There's a thread here with loads of really good photographs: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=16...

[AndyJStevenson]

Which ones got the v12? And what's the story behind it? I knew the prototype was v12 4wd but thought that was the only one.

[DP33]

Great looking cars - forgotten how good the racers looked - even in the unipart warp paint.

The V12 variant is intriguing - saw what I thought was the one and only on the NEC stand in 1988 - no idea that someone actually followed through...

[VR6 Eug]

The xj220 transit story is a good read. .worth tracking down....its only the van body stuck on the jag chassis. ..they used to use it as an actual daily driver to iron all the gemlins out preproduction. ..one guy tells a funny story hunting down a cosworth on the m25 and seeing his face as the rusty van blew him into the weeds but at that time the cosworth would of been king😊

[405dogvan]

AndyJStevenson said:

Which ones got the v12? And what's the story behind it? I knew the prototype was v12 4wd but thought that was the only one.

BIG 220 - burgundy with fixed headlights - is the V12 car - some people claim it's the show car but I don't believe it is??

The production cars are shorter and have a different wheelbase - fitting a V12 would be a challenge - the showcar was allegedly a non-runner anyway?

Don Law runs 220 racecars even now - my guess is someone found an engine and grabbed an angle grinder and the rest is - erm - whatever it is??

[J4CKO]

Is it me, or have these got better, looks wise with age ?

[j_s14a]

J4CKO said:

Is it me, or have these got better, looks wise with age ?

Almost all Jaguars do.

[Mr Tidy]

VR6 Eug said:

The xj220 transit story is a good read. .worth tracking down....its only the van body stuck on the jag chassis. ..they used to use it as an actual daily driver to iron all the gemlins out preproduction. ..one guy tells a funny story hunting down a cosworth on the m25 and seeing his face as the rusty van blew him into the weeds but at that time the cosworth would of been king??

I like that!

Some years ago I had a new kitchen fitted by a mate of a mate who'd got a chipped Cosworth engine in his Transit. That might have surprised the XJ220 Tranny - well until there was a bend! Last I heard (some years ago) he was racing an ex-touring car A4.

[smilo996]

Those TWR Unipart cars look so good.

[JeffreyLebowski]

Love these, such beautiful looking cars.
They were always my "poster car" whilst growing up in the 90s.

[200Plus Club]

saw the v12 one and wondered what had happened there, thought it had been shoehorned in!

[havoc]

Was great seeing them all in the flesh, but my god, what a big imposing beast - looks more in the Diablo category (sans sonorous V12) than in the F40/50/F1 category for a keen driver.


Also, can anyone comment on the suggestion I heard at Silverstone that Don Law have a monopoly on parts supply (or at least certain ones) and refuse to sell to anyone else, effectively giving them a monopoly on maintenance of these cars? Sounds rather dodgy if true...

[thegreenhell]

havoc said:

Also, can anyone comment on the suggestion I heard at Silverstone that Don Law have a monopoly on parts supply (or at least certain ones) and refuse to sell to anyone else, effectively giving them a monopoly on maintenance of these cars? Sounds rather dodgy if true...

I thought that they simply bought all of the remaining spares and drawings from Jaguar when Jaguar decided to stop supporting the car themselves, or something to that effect. I don't see how there's anything dodgy about it; it's no different to the manufacturer themselves having a monopoly on maintenance.

[johnxjsc1985]

j_s14a said:

Almost all Jaguars do.

that is so true. The XJS for many years was not at all considered a true classic but you try and buy a good one now and they do look well.
The Xj220's have always looked "special".

[thegreenhell]

405dogvan said:

AndyJStevenson said:

Which ones got the v12? And what's the story behind it? I knew the prototype was v12 4wd but thought that was the only one.

BIG 220 - burgundy with fixed headlights - is the V12 car - some people claim it's the show car but I don't believe it is??

The production cars are shorter and have a different wheelbase - fitting a V12 would be a challenge - the showcar was allegedly a non-runner anyway?

Don Law runs 220 racecars even now - my guess is someone found an engine and grabbed an angle grinder and the rest is - erm - whatever it is??

Not my photos, and I don't have any more details on the car, but google threw these up when I searched







and a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7PP-UK-rcs

[Bennet]

VR6 Eug said:

The xj220 transit story is a good read. .worth tracking down....its only the van body stuck on the jag chassis. ..they used to use it as an actual daily driver to iron all the gemlins out preproduction. ..one guy tells a funny story hunting down a cosworth on the m25 and seeing his face as the rusty van blew him into the weeds but at that time the cosworth would of been king??

Any story that involves overtaking someone and then "seeing the look on their face" should be treated with a healthy amount of scepticism.

[Gary29]

Bennet said:

Any story that involves overtaking someone and then "seeing the look on their face" should be treated with a healthy amount of scepticism.

....treated as fiction...I would've said.

[havoc]

thegreenhell said:

havoc said:

Also, can anyone comment on the suggestion I heard at Silverstone that Don Law have a monopoly on parts supply (or at least certain ones) and refuse to sell to anyone else, effectively giving them a monopoly on maintenance of these cars? Sounds rather dodgy if true...

I thought that they simply bought all of the remaining spares and drawings from Jaguar when Jaguar decided to stop supporting the car themselves, or something to that effect. I don't see how there's anything dodgy about it; it's no different to the manufacturer themselves having a monopoly on maintenance.

Ahh - that might make sense.

The difference with OEMs is they do not own both parts supply AND garage labour - they can decide how much to sell "OEM" spares for, as they have the IP on those parts (and boy do I know how silly they can make prices), but the servicing/repairs market is open to competition.

Don Law own both...and I've been told (happy to be proved wrong) aren't supplying parts to any owner who doesn't use them for labour. Not against the EU block exemption as they're not an OEM...

[thegreenhell]

Ok, I understand better what you were trying to say now. I'm neither an XJ220 owner, nor in a position to comment on how they run their business, but I would be quite upset if I couldn't just contact their parts department and order whatever replacement widget I needed for a spot of weekend fettling in my own garage.