Back in the big cat

Thirty years ago, Jaguar unveiled the fastest road car it had ever made. Three decades later, it still is. Then it was also the fastest car in the world, and by some margin. The queue of customers was predictable, the fact they were all pointing in the wrong direction – towards the exit door – perhaps a little less so.

The Jaguar XJ220 had been signed off in June 1992 but by the time production was fully underway that autumn Britain was in recession, Black Wednesday on September 16th had forced a disorderly exit from the European Exchange Rate mechanism and spending over £400,000 on a supercar no longer seemed such a great idea.