Life with an XJ220

[f1nn]

confucuis said:

SimonTheSailor said:

Imagine my surprise when I turned a corner and saw this in Majorca a couple of years back.

Complete with luggage rack - this guy used his car !!

Actually this picture makes me think:

If driving at motorway speed and they have the luggage on that rack, is that going to block the air from getting through the wing and destabilizing the whole car?

At legal (UK) motorway speeds, the wing will be doing the square root of FA, so I wouldn’t expect there to be any issues.

[justice.]

Praise be!! Thank you chaps!

[keo]

I had 2 posters of the yellow TWR one of these on my bedroom wall growing up. I saw that car on the A50 I still remember it now must be well over 15 years ago.

I have seen a couple on the road and showrooms. There was one at a pistonheads Sunday service at bruntighthorope as well a few years ago.

[justice.]

At the peak of his boxing powers, this would have been quite the sight at a petrol station!

[Bright Halo]

That’s an impressive looking beasty..................and the XJ220 is pretty good as well.

[LetsTryAgain]

Bronx born Tyson a United fan...!?

[Terminator X]

Read the whole thread. Kudos to the OP, great car for sure + the many others he also has!

TX.

[McGee_22]

Great thread OP, similar to the BMW M1 thread where a similar enthusiast reveals the secrets of that supercar.

[rev-erend]

I've seen a few XJ220's at my mates paint shop.

There were 2 of them there the last time I popped in, along with a Cobra, Ferrari etc..

[justice.]

LetsTryAgain said:

Bronx born Tyson a United fan...!?

Good spot!

[IanUAE]

For those who don't know, RSPhil owns and runs Caffine & Machine venue

[Col 666]

Sorry for the horrible blurry shots but thought I'd share these.
These were taken by me in 1992 in Pitlochry, Perthshire before the XJ220 was publicly released. I was out on my bike and cycled like a mad man back home to get my camera! The driver was caught speeding the next day on the A9 heading towards Inverness. The paper reported he was an executive with Jaguar, not sure why it was running French plates.

[Usget]

Col 666 said:

not sure why it was running French plates.

"Erm... je ne comprends pas, monsieur l'agent... qu'est-ce que c'est le speeding??"

... I imagine, anyway.

This tactic was successfully used by the Japanese chap who tested his Top Secret Supra up to 197mph on the A1.

Edited by Usget on Tuesday 21st April 10:01

[Benmac]

I’m another who lives just down the road from The Law’s place. Only 220 I’ve seen locally was the car at the centre of this thread. Followed it out of Stone, up the A51 at some point last year. It was a safe bet where it was heading and I was proved right.

[justice.]

IanUAE said:

For those who don't know, RSPhil owns and runs Caffine & Machine venue

Just checked that out, what a place!! Cheers for the info.

---

DEC. 14, 1989
FROM REUTERS, LONDON

British luxury car maker Jaguar said today that it will produce a new 200-m.p.h. sports model to compete with Ferrari and Porsche. The Jaguar XJ220 will have a price tag of about $587,000 and production will be limited to an initial 220 cars, or at most 350 if there is enough interest.

Jaguar’s chairman, Sir John Egan, announced the new car just two days after the $2.6-billion takeover of the company by Ford Motor Co. was finalized. Jaguar unveiled a prototype of the XJ220 last year, but executives at the firm feared that it would never go on sale because flagging profits would prevent production.


Customers are asked to put down an $80,000 deposit, and they will have to wait until 1992 before the models roll off the production line. The wait could be worth it. The Times of London estimated that collectors will be prepared to pay $1.6 million because of the tiny production run.

Edited by justice. on Wednesday 22 April 00:03

[Cloudy147]

LetsTryAgain said:

StuntmanMike said:

I live about 2 mile from this place.
I’ve never seen a XJ220 in the flesh

It'd be nice if they did 'factory' tours every now and again.
Even once a year.
Probably more hassle than it's worth for them but the genuine enthusiasts would absolutely relish it.

I contacted them as I was after a seat or a wheel for one (preferably rear) and they weren't able to help.

I think they do private 'tours' and meets at their workshop occasionally as I've been to one. It's a big workshop - don't be expecting production lines! - but a very fascinating place with plenty of historic cars to see. If I recall at the time he had the original moulds and.sich from the xj220 and enough of the original brand new parts to create a genuine box fresh brand new xj220! I think they said it was just a case of finding the time as they were so busy with other work and projects. Very knowledgeable set up.

[LetsTryAgain]

Be nice to see XJR-15's and 220's like.
But they never seem overly responsive when I've been in touch in the past.

[justice.]

Curious to know the rough annual running costs on these, assuming regular use and putting on some respectable miles?

If they are mostly being serviced in one place (Don Law Racing)?

[wibble cb]

justice. said:

Curious to know the rough annual running costs on these, assuming regular use and putting on some respectable miles?

If they are mostly being serviced in one place (Don Law Racing)?

I know of one that isn’t:



This one lives somewhere around Toronto, I thinks it’s a stripped out sport edition

[justice.]

Was this the one up for sale on Bring-a Trailer? IIRC one of the members of the team who built the XJ220 set a few people straight (rightfully so) due to spouting false information. This magnificent car has been a victim of a lot of falsehoods, particularly that Jaguar changed the car to a V6 after buyers handed over deposits for the V12 in the show car. As far as I am aware everyone who placed a deposit knew it was going to be a V6 as the order information stated as such. The V6 was then used as an excuse to try to get out of buying the car when the market crashed and the speculators panicked. The other bit of misinformation is that the deposit holders sued Jaguar (even repeated on Leno's Garage), nobody mentions that Jaguar won all the cases.

There are one or two that I know of in/around LA. I read on a forum recently that the servicing abroad may be a little problematic, especially getting parts as Don Law weren't keen on shipping parts and preferred the cars to be sent back to the UK. Parts aside, I'm sure a competent exotic specialist could handle it.