Estimated Price: £500,000 - £550,000
It was at the 1988 British Motor Show in Birmingham, appropriately, that the sensational Jaguar XJ220 concept prototype was first revealed to the public and, as expected, orders and the required £50,000 deposits flooded in from all corners of the world. The original concept was for a V12-engined car with a six-speed gearbox and four-wheel drive priced at just under £300,000. However, some four years later when production commenced, the XJ220 had become a two-wheel drive, twin-turbo V6 with a five-speed box on offer at £470,000. Predictably many of the 1,500 option holders tried to cancel their purchase blaming the massive change in specification but the collapse in values of collectable supercars at the time was probably more of a factor. Eventually, the car found 275 buyers and the others don't know what they missed.
Producing an impressive 549bhp at 7,000rpm and 473lb.ft at 4,500rpm and now slightly shorter by some ten inches courtesy of the smaller dimensions of the V6 engine against the bulky V12, but still with a not inconsiderable girth of six feet and six inches, the XJ220 proved more than capable of reaching its target maximum speed. In 1992, at the Italian Nardo test track, Formula One and sportscar ace, Martin Brundle, recorded 212.3mph around the banking in standard trim and 217.1mph with the catalytic converters disconnected, the latter speed equivalent to 223mph on a straight road. With 0-60mph acceleration in a brutal 3.5 seconds, the XJ220 was indisputably the fastest road car on the planet at the time.
Finished in Silverstone Green Metallic over a light tan interior, this immaculate Jaguar XJ220 was with its previous owner for nearly twenty-five years and has a service history second to none. It was collected annually by Jaguar Classic and serviced to the maintenance schedule requiring clutch changes and fuel cell replacements irrespective of mileage. XJ220s remain a familiar sight at Jaguar Classic's Browns Lane workshop, where they are serviced and – if necessary – repaired and restored by a team of skilled technicians. Jaguar is unusual in having an in-house department devoted to looking after its world-renowned historic vehicles.
The mileage is still only 3,277 and the car presents overall as virtually new. It's supplied with a substantial history file containing full details of its annual services, clutch and fuel cell replacement, a full set of manuals and its toolkit. The Cherished Registration, 220 C, will remain with the car.
Though it was once deemed a commercial failure and the "forgotten supercar," history has been much kinder to the XJ220 and today it is highly celebrated by automotive collectors as a masterpiece of 1990s engineering.
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