​Jaguar XJR-6 LM-385

The XJR-6 was reworked for 1986 and featured a number of improvements over the previous year. 

The V12 engine had been upgraded from 6.2 litres to 6.5 litres along with many other mechanical and bodywork changes. The British racing green livery made way for Silk Cut sponsorship, which would go on to become iconic in Group C racing.

The LM spec featured a sleek aerodynamic long tail, lower down force wing, and rear wheel spats. These changes all worked to reduce drag and ensure that the XJR6 was competitive with the blistering top speed of the Porsches on the Mulsanne straight.

At the pre-race test session for Lemans things were looking positive for chassis 385, Schlesser managed the second fastest time of the session with the first going to Eddie Cheever in XJR6 LM-286. The XJR6 also clocked the highest speed down the Mulsanne of 221mph.

After qualifying in 14th place, the car battled up to 8th place within the first hour and maintained a consistent pace going into the night. It had passed a number of the race favourite 962s and 956s and was sitting in 4th place with 15 hours left to race. However, not long after midnight disaster struck, a broken driveshaft with Win Percy at the wheel ended the race for car number 53. Although the Jaguars had the pace to trouble the mighty Porsche’s, the reliability was proving to be an issue. Not a single Jaguar finished the race this year so it was back to the drawing board.

This car has not raced again since this disappointing result at Lemans, however many lessons were learnt which took Jaguar one step closer to being back on the top step.

In recent times this car was displayed at the Silverstone Classic Group C celebration. The driveshaft has never actually been repaired from Lemans 1986 so this car is limited to static displays.