Jaguar may be sitting out of the supercar arms race of today, but it is all too easy to forget that in the early 1990’s they were responsible for building the fastest car……. in the world.
The Jaguar XJ220 was originally designed as a V12 engined, all-wheel drive monster with a targeted top speed of 220mph, however the version which eventually made it to showrooms was a little bit different. The production version was fitted with a 3.5L twin-turbo V6 and rear wheel drive, but it still went on to set a new record for the fastest production car after reaching 213.478 mph.
Sadly, Jaguar’s decision to drop the V12 and all-wheel drive from the production version angered some of the 1,500 customers who had placed deposits on the car, and combined with the collapse in the price of collectible cars brought about by the early 1990s recession resulted in many buyers choosing not to exercise their purchase options. A total of just 275 XJ220’s were produced, each with a retail price of £470,000 in 1992.
In the video below, Jay Leno checks out one of these rare and highly collectable supercars, after it spent the last 12 years on the 37th floor of a Tokyo office building.
1 comment
Ahhh, xj220, most beauty thing on wheels ever.