Jaguar XJ220 (1993)

One of the most extraordinary and beautiful cars ever to reach production, the world's first hypercar (hitting close to 220 mph while the McLaren F1 was still climbing off the drawing board) was vilified at its birth in 1992 for not having the 500 bhp V12 engine, four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, and scissor doors promised in the concept.

It was also critiqued for its size; although it was 'compact' in comparison to the super-sized concept car, the production variant stood at 2 meters wide and 5 meters long, which lead to questioning if it was even suitable for British roads. However, history has proved that it was no mistake that it ended up with an even more potent (542 bhp) twin-turbo V6 with Group B heritage, and it's lighter and more analogue rear wheel drive configuration and lack of electronics suite - which disappointed compared to the pioneering concept car back in the day, although ironically the approach would have garnered much more acceptance in the present era.

The brainchild of a collaboration between Jaguar's so-called 'Saturday Club' - a skunkworks group of engineers, including engineering chief Jim Randle, who would get together after hours to develop special projects, and Tom Walkinshaw's TWR Engineering.

The genesis of the XJ220 formed around Randle's idea to make a lightweight, mid-engine two-seat Jaguar, that would eclipse the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959. From the startling attention the concept car achieved in 1988, when almost 1,500 deposits were placed, only around 280 XJ220s were completed between 1992 and 1994 against a projected production run of 350. The motoring press loved it, but commercially the XJ220 was not the success that the F40 had been. It was also the recession of the early 1990s that can be attributed to the reason of the smaller production run that Jaguar has hoped to achieve.

Please note, this vehicle is no longer for sale.

This exceptional example of Jaguar’s 1990's rocket ship finished production on the 11th of January 1993 and was delivered new to Masao Kosugi in June of that year. The car was specified in Spa Silver over a Smoke Grey interior, which is exactly how the car presents today, of course featuring the 5-speed manual gearbox mated to the potent twin-turbo V6 engine.

Mr Kosugi clearly took careful ownership of the XJ220, bringing it to TWR Jaguar Sport twice in 1993 for its 1,500 mile and then 5,000 mile service, despite having only covered 350 kilometers by mid-November that year. After this, the car was sent to Japan where it was to be enjoyed for a good portion of its life. During its time in the country, the car saw three services, one of which was a major service in 2014 with parts supplied by XJ220 specialist Don Law, of which has been confirmed by Don himself.

Later, in 2015, the car was acquired by Mr Gordon of London who proceeded to bring the XJ220 back into the United Kindgom and subsequently registered the car in November of that year. Mr Gordon would keep the XJ220 for only one year, when in late 2016 DK Engineering were given the car to sell. During this time, major works were carried out in our own workshop, totalling over 100 hours of work. The car would quickly pass to its current owner after works were completed and subsequently, in November of the same year, the car was delivered to its current owner. In June of 2023, the car arrived back at DK Engineering after the decision was made to sell the car.

During preparation for sale the car was sent to Don Law, the world-leading XJ220 specialist, who proceeded to carry out a major service and fuel cell replacement. Alongside the service, further works were also carried out that resulted in almost £35k being spent. This included, but was not limited to: a replacement clutch, replacement fuel hoses, replacement fuel pumps, a full suspension damper rebuild, brake caliper overhaul, multiple gasket replacement including the head gasket, replacement throttle cables, and the well regarded TWR coolant pipe upgrade.

Today, this car has covered just 5,350 kilometers from new and having been in careful ownership throughout its life and fresh from major works, is ready to be enjoyed by its new owner. This example is available to view by appointment, at our showrooms based just outside of London.