This is a gorgeous 1992 Jaguar XJ220, car number 331, chassis number SAJJEAEX8AX220876, engine number 6A 10240 SB, and body number 25. This example is finished in the most wonderful shade of ‘Silverstone Green’ over a sand leather interior. Jaguar Director of Engineering at the time, Jim Randle, was the one who laid the groundwork for the XJ220 project, and it was the talented South African designer by the name of Keith Helfet who is responsible for the cars styling under the direction of Randle. The Jaguar XJ220 was the result of a collaborative effort between the Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) team and Jaguar themselves. In the earliest day’s, the XJ220 project idea was brought to life by an informal group of Jaguar 12 engineers and designers working in their spare time, known as the ‘Saturday Club’. The XJ220 was produced under a subsidiary known as ‘JaguarSport’, and was originally planned to used a V12 engine developed by TWR, however, once production began, the cars were equipped with a twin-turbocharged V6 instead. Ultimately, only around 290 or so examples of the production XJ220 were built and sold for the entire world. Despite the major changes, the XJ220 would still go down as the fastest car in the world (top speed) from 1994-1999, officially declared by Guinness World Records. In comparison to a production XJ220, the concept had a slightly longer wheelbase, smaller side intakes, slightly different rear view mirrors, smooth body panels, and most notably, scissor style doors, alongside a chassis, V12 engine, braking and drivetrain based on the Jaguar Group C racing cars, with the addition of a prototype four wheel drive system all developed in conjunction with FF Development.
How many made? Approximately 297 chassis were manufactured (291 known completed cars)
Debut: 1988 British International Motor Show
Engine: 3.5L twin-turbocharged Jaguar JRV-6 - 542hp
Top Speed: a slightly modified XJ220 achieved a Guinness World Record of 217.1mph which was reported in the 1994 to 1999 editions of the Guinness Book of World Records.
0-60mph: around 4.1 seconds
Photo Credit: @classictorque
Research: @rarecarsonly