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Ford Reveals the Maverick LoboWhy the Jaguar XJ220 is the ‘90s Forgotten Supercar
It set a world record and looked like a spaceship, but the Jaguar XJ220 supercar still struggled to find buyers back in the 1990s. Here’s why.
Over Promise, Under Deliver?
Building a halo car can be a dicey proposition. Automotive history is littered with the best laid plans for game-changing cars that, while impressive, failed to achieve the basic benchmark of profitability. Loss leaders, those cars that burnish a carmaker’s image and draw customers to the brand without making money, can ultimately prove their worth over time, see the Lexus LFA or Porsche 959 as examples. Failing to achieve either profitability or durable prestige is something of a worst-case scenario, one that helps explain why the legacy of the Jaguar XJ220 has become obscured over time.
It’s not like the Jaguar XJ220 doesn’t have things going for it or didn’t back when it debuted in 1992. Not only is the car enduring gorgeous, but it was also, for a brief interval, the fastest production car in the world. Earning the esteem of car nerds and supercar collectors, however, requires more than just beauty or historic achievements. They say reputation is everything in business, so when Jaguar failed to deliver on its grandiose promises for the XJ220 supercar, the hit to the car’s reputation outlasted its production run as unsold units languished at dealerships through the late 1990s.
So, how is it that the stunningly designed and incredibly fast Jaguar XJ220 so spectacularly failed to meet expectations? It has everything to do with how high those expectations were set.
Jaguar Sets a High Bar for the XJ220
Back in the middle 1980s, Jaguar was experiencing a brief interval of full independence, having shaken off the yoke of British Leyland and not yet under the wing of Ford Motor Company and decades off from its Tata stewardship. As an independent marque, Jaguar improved profitability and continued to be a major force in European motorsports under the auspices of TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing). The only problem, as Director of Engineering Jim Randle saw it, was with TWR taking the lead in racing, Jaguar’s production cars and racing cars did not have much overlap.
It was this effort to regain street cred for Jaguar’s production cars that led to the XJ220’s curious origin, Group B rally racing. Randle wanted to build a new Jaguar capable of tackling racing’s most prestigious of titles, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But without the funds or official sanction, he was left with the option of a skunkworks project for Group B. The XJ220 prototype from Randle’s “The Saturday Club” (so named for their off-hours work) and TWR was justified as an exercise in R&D, but the mid-engine, all-wheel drive V12-powered stunner clearly had potential for success both on and off the track. The XJ220 name hinted at the ultimate prize for the new Jag, a targeted top speed of 220 mph, which would, if achieved, make it the fastest production car in the world.
The XJ220 prototype debuted at the 1988 British International Auto Show to wide acclaim from the gathered press and quickly generated enough buzz for Jaguar to start taking £50,000 deposits from potential buyers (and speculators) for one of the limited 350 built slots. Jaguar had a potential hit on their hands. And then the compromises began….
Jaguar XJ220 Meets Reality
Inevitably, the Jaguar XJ220 was destined to see numerous modifications in its transition from prototype to production car. This has long been and continues to be par for the course. Concepts and prototypes are often conceived and built with specs and designs that far exceed what’s scalable for a full-on production car and the XJ220 proved no exception to this rule.
First of the major changes for the XJ220 involved the jettisoning of the planned V12 engine. The V12 could deliver the desired power but was not capable of doing so while meeting emissions regulations. Thankfully, Jaguar’s engineers already had a suitable alternative engine: the Austin Rover V64V V6. Once modified and turbocharged by Jaguar and TWR, the new 3.5L V6 made a promising 542 horsepower and 475 lb.-ft. of torque routed through a five-speed manual transaxle to the rear wheels.
Which brings up the second change from the prototype, the elimination of all-wheel drive which was deemed too complex and expensive to implement (as was the promised rear wheel steering). The V6 had the added benefit of being smaller, thus allowing for the sizeable length of the XJ220 to be shortened by eight inches (down to a still substantial 194 inches with a 103.9-inch wheelbase). Even the butterfly doors, a supercar staple, had to be axed. The one major design feature that was retained from the prototype was the XJ220’s Alcan honeycomb aluminum monocoque chassis.
All these modifications, while practical, irked reservation holders, especially those hoping to flip the hot new supercar for profit. Some attempted to renege their deposits which prompted Jaguar to file legal actions to force reservation holders to honor their purchase commitments. The supposed bait-and-switch obscured what was still a remarkable achievement from Jaguar. The XJ220 as built was just as fetching as the prototype, and arguably better proportioned, and it was proper fast. Not only did it offer a zero to sixty sprint of a mere 3.5 seconds, very quick for 1992, it achieved a new production car top speed record of 217 mph (with a catalytic converter delete), just three mph shy of its stated target.
The Jaguar XJ220 Ages Gracefully
In many ways, coming up just shy of that 220-mph figure is a microcosm for the XJ220 as a whole, good enough for a world record, but missing its stated target. It’s a trick of human psychology that the gap between expectations and reality, no matter how narrow, can invariably feel like a yawning chasm. Disappointment in the XJ220’s reality, no matter how objectively impressive the car truly was, proved an albatross on sales and Jaguar only ended up building 278* units of the planned 350 during a three-year production run from 1992 through 1994.
And yet…the Jaguar XJ220 has become in the thirty-year interim more properly appreciated for what it did accomplish than what it may have failed to deliver on back in the day. Like many of the best car designs, the XJ220 looks both of its time and timeless. The car’s low profile and steeply raked windscreen blend with UFO curves and sculpted intakes culminate in a uniquely striking and memorable supercar. The XJ220’s world record speed of 217 mph was shy of its namesake target figure, but the title of world’s fastest production car still impresses, then and now.
