Man Maths: Jaguar XJ220

The short version is this – Jaguar unveiled the show car at the British Motor Show in 1988, promising V12 power and four-wheel drive. By the time it reached production, the engine had lost half its cylinders but gained a pair of turbos, and it powered the rear wheels only. The asking price had been hiked upwards too, and in the midst of a recession, which upset a great many depositors. Some of those tried to back out, leading to an unedifying situation in which Jaguar took legal action against its own customers.

Nevertheless, the XJ220 did make it to production (around 275 were built; you’ll find conflicting numbers all over the place) and it did deliver on the promise of its badge – or near enough. In June 1992, Brundle saddled up and recorded a top speed of 217.1mph on the eight-mile bowl at Nardo, enough to make the Jaguar the world’s fastest production car, at least until Gordon Murray and Andy Wallace had other ideas.

I’ve never driven one, but I have been driven in one. I was struck by how enormous the car felt from within (and it really is vast, an inch narrower but fully 15 inches longer than a Bugatti Chiron), and how fast it was once those turbos were blowing a gale. I couldn’t imagine trying to hustle one along a narrow British B-road.

But I love the XJ220 most of all for the way it looks. At the recent Sunday Scramble, several XJ220s were lined up inside the hangar as part of Bicester Motion’s Tom Walkinshaw Racing 50th anniversary celebrations (TWR developed and built the car alongside Jaguar under the JaguarSport banner). I wandered around those cars astonished once more at the XJ220’s presence, its sheer size, how low and wide it is and for the fact that from certain angles, it doesn’t look like a car at all – low down and head-on, it’s more like an alien craft.

Just this week, ex-Stig and occasional Ti contributor Ben Collins announced he’d bought one (you can watch his YouTube video here). He describes the XJ220 as his dream car and I’m sure he bought his for the right reasons, but he would never have done so if he thought values were about to crash. I suspect they’re about to do the exact opposite.

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