​GT1 & GT2 » ​1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002

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​1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002

​​​​At the 1993 Le Mans 24-Hour race, this Jaguar XJ220C 'Lightweight' carried its outstanding driver trio to Jaguar’s final LM victory podium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaguar XJ220C at Le Mans 1993 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 for sale 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 rear view 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 side view 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 side view 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 front view 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 headlight details 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 windshield emblem 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 grille and Jaguar badge 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 front bonnet 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 wheel detail 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 side view 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 Goodwood FOS sticker TWR Racing spoiler on 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 Unipart decals on 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 Brabham, Nielsen and Coulthard names on 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 Cooling system on 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 Interior of 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 Racing seats in 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 cockpit 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 interior Le Mans entry sticker 1993 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 TWR Chassis plate on 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 Decal on 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 Engine bay of 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 24 Heures De Mans Categorie 4 sticker on 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002

  • Overview

    Jaguars’ final Le Mans ‘win’, this time in the upcoming GT class and at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 14th overall, prior to being famously disqualified because of “being out of time” for lodging an appeal re a minor technicality

    Driven by David Brabham, John Nielsen, and future Formula 1 star David Coulthard

    Vanishingly rare; one of just four bespoke XJ220-C chassis constructed

    The starting point of the iconic road going based GT1 era cars

    Retains many original features, having been retired from racing shortly after competing at Le Mans, its sole race

    The two sister Le Mans entries sold and raced by privateer team PC Automotive in the GT1 class at Le Mans in 1995, when the McLaren GT1 entry famously won overall

    Formerly owned by the Sultan of Brunei, acquired from TWR after Le Mans

    Eligible for Peter Auto and Masters Endurance series and Stefan Ratel’s GT1 Sports Club Europe

    New clutch, timing belts and tyres just fitted and includes two sets of wheels

    Potential to consider conversion for road use, as per a number of McLaren F1 GTRs and Porsche and Mercedes GT1 ex race and now road going GTRs.

  • 1993 Jaguar XJ220C-002 - No.50

    Jaws understandably hit the floor when the Jaguar XJ220 was first unveiled at the 1988 British Motor Show. Not just for its lithe and otherworldly streamlined shape, but for a spec sheet that promised no fewer than 12 cylinders, 6.2 litres, and four-wheel drive. 

    Enthusiasm inevitably cooled when the road car was finally revealed, having lost half its cylinders, almost half its capacity, and two driven wheels to the production process. But despite rationalisation of the ambitious design, performance surpassed all expectations: the supercar could reach 100 km/h in less than four seconds, with a top speed of 343 km/h. The XJ220 became—for a moment, at least—the fastest production car on earth.

    Its creators—Jaguar and Tom Walkinshaw Racing—saw in the XJ220 the potential for competition success. Off the back of a winning partnership that had produced no fewer than two outright and almost three victories at Le Mans, the XJ220 was duly prepared to take on Porsche Carrera RSRs and Venturi 500LMs in the GT category—which would become the ever-popular GT1 class—for 1993. Three of the newly dubbed XJ220-C were created to race as a works backed car at Le Mans and which were very different to the cars that ran in the contemporary GT domestic series.

    The race-prepared machines also differed considerably from their roadgoing counterparts, being some 400 kg lighter. Each was fitted with a fully detachable composite nose, tail, and body panels, rather than  the  aluminium of the road and GT racers. The panels could quickly be removed for access to the car’s mechanical systems. The interior was a stripped-out affair that made extensive use of carbon fibre and was furnished only with a Kevlar racing seat, while the twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre V-6 was uprated to reportedly produce as much as 850 horsepower, sadly restricted under Le Mans regulations. Each car was prepared to FIA/IMSA Le Mans specification, enabling the model to be campaigned on both sides of the Atlantic. 

    While a comfortable GT victory marked the model’s race debut at Silverstone on 9 May 1993, its greatest challenge would come at the Circuit de la Sarthe where, after qualifying strongly, a team of three XJ220-Cs took to the grid. Chassis 002—the example offered here—would be driven by David Brabham, John Nielsen, and future Formula 1 star driver for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing, David Coulthard, contesting his first – and only - Le Mans 24-Hour race. David confessed that: "Before I came here I had the usual single-seater attitude, that they are the best and that's where the world is, but my eyes have been opened. I underestimated just how difficult Le Mans is. I've now got a lot more respect for all the guys who race here...".

But long before the starter flag dropped, drama began to unfold.   While testing, ACO officials raised concerns about the legality of the XJ220 C’s exhaust, which was a free-flowing arrangement with no catalytic converters—unlike that of the road car. Though correct for the IMSA category regulations in which the cars were entered and the fact that no rival machines in the GT category ran catalytic converters, the argument rumbled on before the Jaguars were reluctantly allowed to take the start under appeal.   

TWR’s challenge began to falter almost immediately, as the sister car of Win Percy, Armin Hahne and David Leslie suffered catastrophic head gasket failure after just six laps. The British team’s fortunes soon turned though, as Hans-Joachim Stuck’s leading and works entered Porsche 911 Turbo S LM suffered an early throttle problem, tumbling down the standings while it was repaired. In an effort to get back into contention, Walter Röhrl pushed too hard, striking a back marker and forcing his own retirement.

The Jaguars duly assumed the class lead until the early hours of the morning, when a fuel leak in chassis 002 forced Brabham into the pits for running repairs. Andreas Fuchs continued the charge in chassis 003 until lap 176, when a tyre blow-out threw his car into the gravel trap, enabling Brabham to dramatically work back through the field to retake the class lead and to cross the finish line in 14th overall finish and 1st in class. Sadly, the celebrations would prove short lived. A month after their famous victory, the three Jaguars were disqualified on a second technicality: their appeal, which the FIA had supported and upheld, had apparently not been lodged in time.

Following its historic outing at Le Mans, chassis 002 returned to Tom Walkinshaw Racing before being sold to Brunei. It returned to the United Kingdom in 1999, remaining  in a significant private collection for over 15 years, before being acquired by the consigning owner in early 2018. The Jaguar has notably participated in numerous demonstration events, including the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2000 and 2011. According to the consigning owner, as the road-going XJ220 S was closely derived from ex race cars and a number of GTR McLaren, Porsche and Mercedes race cars are now road converted, potential road registration in select countries might be possible without too many major modifications.

A Jaguar legend of immeasurable significance, chassis 002 represents the last occasion that the British manufacturer would taste victory at the Circuit de la Sarthe. This highly original and much celebrated example would be eligible for GT1 celebrations, Endurance Racing Legends and major concours.