V12-ENGINED CARBON FIBER SUPERCAR HAS RECENTLY SPIKED IN VALUE
The Jaguar XJ220 may get most of the attention when it comes to recounting the wild supercars of the early 1990s (supercars that were planned in an economic boom, only to come to market by the time the bubble had burst), but Jaguar had one other car that adorned the bedroom walls of Generation X.
That car, of course, is the Jaguar XJR-15, and in just a couple weeks, one of these rare beasts will be coming up for auction in the U.K. at RM's London sale. Here's what these are all about.
Despite the fact that Jaguar's model range remained relatively stolid throughout much of the 1980s, their racing efforts led by ETCC racer Tom Walkinshaw were anything but. It's easy to forget, but during this time, Jaguar won Le Mans in 1988 and 1990, and also won the World Sportscar Championship in 1987, 1988 and 1991. The warm economic climate of the late 1980s allowed Jaguar to dream a bit (about giving Porsche a bloody nose, to be specific), and the company went on to create the Jaguar Sport division specifically for the purpose of building supercars. Along with the XJ220, Jaguar Sport set to work on project R9R, a V12-powered carbon fiber two-seat supercar.
Jaguar Sport announced the XJR-15 in November of 1990. The car would use a lot of the technology developed for the XJR-9 and XJR-12 race cars, but wrap it in a much more user-friendly package. The XJR-15 would be powered by a 450-hp, 5,993cc mid-rear mounted Group C-specification V-12 engine that would feature Zytec electronically controlled sequential fuel injection. Power would be sent to the rear wheels via a Tom Walkinshaw Racing-built five-speed manual transaxle. The XJR-15 would feature four-wheel double-wishbone independent racing suspension, in addition to four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. The body would be made almost entirely of carbon fiber, built around a central monocoque "tub" used in the Tony Southgate-designed XJR-9 race car. Peter Stevens is credited with the design of the XJR-15, and he would later go on to work on the McLaren F1, which went on to become nothing short of a modern icon.
Jaguar completed only about 53 examples of the XJR-15 from 1990 to 1992, with this particular example being number 21. It was modified with upgraded hinges and locks for the hood and engine covers--this is still very much a race car underneath the street-legal-looking exterior, and it's not immediately obvious that a lot of the bodywork has to come off in order to gain access to the engine. RM notes that these hinges make accessing the engine bay easier. Other than that modification, this car is said to be in original condition as delivered, and shows a claimed 1,400 miles from new.
The XJR-15 is very much a road car, though knowing what the U.K.'s auto insurance scene looks like, it may well be best to register it as some sort of classic. Virtually all XJR-15s are low mileage cars because...well...many of their owners are shy about driving them down to the pub or to the post. Many of these have stayed in the U.K., and many have been used very sparingly, not to imply that there are a lot of opportunities to really open them up on the U.K.'s speed camera-infested roads. The XJR-15 has become an interesting companion to the XJ220 in the collector car world, and many marque experts often lament that the XJ220 could have really used the 6.0-liter V12 found in the XJR-15.
This example, chassis no. 021 and engine no. 026, is estimated to fetch between £180,000 and £250,000 on auction day, which translates into approximately $298,000 and $414,000. There are only a couple on this side of the Atlantic, and unfortunately the XJR-15 won't be easily registrable in the U.S. until 2015 when they turn 25. We should point out that auction prices for the best examples of the XJR-15 have hovered around $300,000 until last year, when they spiked up into the low $500,000 range with little warning.
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