Tuesday 17th January 2012

Spotted: Jaguar XJ220S

Flamboyant supercar plus racy adjustments equals one very desirable (and rare) oddity

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As outrageous supercars go, the Jaguar XJ220 is already up there with, er, the outrageous-est. And although it never had the V12 or all-wheel drive that was once hoped for, its 550hp twin-turbo V6 made it firmly a member of the 200mph club.

It's not, in short, the sort of car you would look at and immediately draw the conclusion that it needed to be faster. And yet this is what Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) did with the XJ220S.

TWR (who, it should not be forgotten, did much of the development work on the XJ220 in the first place) took nine of the original XJ220s, converted three to XJ220C racing car, and six to XJ220S spec.

In order to do this they stripped the car of its aluminium body work, leaving only the door skins in place, and replaced it with carbon fibre. Next they added an adjustable rear wing and a new front splitter.

The result was a kerb weight chopped by 400kg to just 1080kg, which was complemented by a power boost for the 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 to 680hp and 526lb ft of torque.

This particular car, due to go under them hammer in Arizona next week, also has a full TWR titanium exhaust and fresh new ECU software, giving it around 700hp. Not slow, then.

The only downside for the purist (apart from getting it over from Arizona, should you be reading this from Towcester rather than Tucson) is that it's not quite an original-condition car. Its paintwork has been redone in the grey hue of a Lamborghini Reventon, and new projector lights from an Infiniti have been fitted. But it's only done around 1200miles in the past decade and, come on, it's a lightweight, 700hp XJ220. So perhaps you'll forgive it its mild modifications.

If you fancy it, the big Jag is expected to fetch $225K-$300K (£147K-£196K) at the RM Auctions sale. Which doesn't seem bad at all, given that this non-S (and thus horribly common) Jaguar XJ220 is up on the PH classifieds for £174,950, which is pretty much bang in the middle of that auction estimate...

[Stew2000]

Am I the only one who loves that interior?

[Lord Flathead]

Absolutely stunning!

Don't let Gulzar get hold of it

[knight]

Ooh yes please, that looks rather tasty

[jagnet]

wibble

[PascalBuyens]

As much as I like a "standard" XJ220, I'll pass for this one...

[JDMDrifter]

XJ220S is one of the best cars ever made , it's a savage looking beast !

[anonymous-user]

Can we have a large version of this for Pic Of The Week please?

[Justayellowbadge]

There's a few more around now, I believe.

Don Law does the conversion.

That is a bit tasty though.

[Fire99]

I think it's brilliantly ridiculous. :-) Wheels look rather small by today's standards. Could probably get larger diameter on a current Corsa!

[Codswallop]

Wow! That looks very imposing. Not as pretty as the original, but it certainly has presence. The weight saving is incredible too

[mikEsprit]

Codswallop said:

Wow! That looks very imposing. Not as pretty as the original, but it certainly has presence. The weight saving is incredible too

I generally like spoilers, but this one looks bad.

I generally don't like matte paint and this is another reason why.

[PascalBuyens]

mikEsprit said:

I generally like spoilers, but this one looks bad.

I generally don't like matte paint and this is another reason why.

Thanks. Thought I was going to be the only one who doesn't like the car, exactly for those two reasons...

The rear spoiler just ruins the beautiful lines of the XJ... and matte paint is like it's still in primer...

[Laughingman21]

Nyphur said:

Can we have a large version of this for Pic Of The Week please?

No, the top picture is best.

[DanGPR]

1080kg

600+bhp

That would be a handful when it comes on song! Crackers car, looks much more purposeful than the standard car.

[benzito]

Nt sure about the respray colour, the interior is also average but the xj220 is one of the greatest cars ever, even in stock form its one of the fastest.

reducing weight by 400kg and boosting power will make this comfortably faster than a veyron I reckon

[Dave Hedgehog]

rear wing sits odd on the car

bonkers bonkers car lol

Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Monday 16th January 20:30

[*Kosta*]

Isn't there a yellow one on the forum? Was at a recent Sunday Service?

[TrivsTom]

if i had a house to sell, i would gladly purchase this.

[NismoGT]

I don't like the look of the standard XJ220.

This is how the car should have looked.

[Wedgepilot]

Want. Really, really want.....even if the dash looks like it's been lifted from an old Metro