2022 05 31 Posting – CCC Blog Post, The Jaguar XJ220 – Disappointment and Eventual Rise
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2022 05 31 Posting – CCC Blog Post, The Downfall, Eventual Rise of One of Jaguar’s Most Unique Exotic Cars
The Jaguar XJ220 is a British sports supercar, a 5-speed manual rear drive British monstrosity . It was the fastest production car in the world in 1992-’93, with a top speed of 217.4 mph. However, Jaguar originally named the model XJ220 because its main goal for the car was 220 mph, which it never was able to reach. Even so, the Jaguar XJ220 is a true classic sports car, holding the title of world’s fastest production car, before being outdone by the McLaren F1. The XJ220 does the 0 to 60 mph run in 3.2 seconds. The original concept was unveiled at the 1988 Birmingham Motor Show, then it was at the 1992 Frankfurt Motor Show where a production model was shown. It lasted only until 1994 and was materially different from the concept model, frustrating many Jag aficionados.
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Promised vs Delivered
Given its anemic sales performance, the XJ220 is hard to find today. While Jaguar originally planned to produce 350 copies, it ended up selling 281. This is attributable to the differences between the original concept model and the production model. In 1988, the concept promised a V12 engine, all wheel drive and scissor doors, which differ from the production model. When production began, there was a twin turbocharged V6 driving the rear wheels with conventional doors that opened only 2/3 the path of a normal door hinge. These changes caused a significant burst of anger from many of the people who had pre-ordered them, based on the concept bill of goods they were pitched.
Unique Quirks
The exotic car that is the Jaguar XJ220 came with many features that made it unique to stand out from the rest of the supercar crowd. Some of those features included reverse pop up headlights and by we mean that rather than the headlights popping up, the headlight covers retracted into the car’s body to reveal the headlights. Next up on our list of unique quirks on this beautiful British car is its asymmetrical side view mirrors; on the driver’s side, the mirror is placed on a body panel ahead of the door; Conversely, on the passenger’s side, the mirror is placed on the car door. Another interesting quirk we found was an odd front trunk – by that, we mean that the front trunk of the car is unusable since it houses the coolant system fans – thus, placing anything in the front trunk will interfere with the operation of these fans and cause the car to overheat. The final quirk we’ll discuss the car is the windows. Unlike normal car windows which stop at the trim level of the door, the XJ220 windows travel past the water seal trim.
Wrap-up
All of these unique features and quirks make the car quite an interesting British automobile that was built for speed and cemented in history with high performance. In recent years this car has spiked in value, finally reversing the trend of devaluation it experience. It has gained value in collectors’ eyes for being a rare misfit British car that produces high speeds. Please let us know of any other unique features or facts about the XJ220 that we missed. Would you ever consider buying this unique Jaguar? Why would you buy it? Why would you not? And please let us know what car you would like us to profile in the future.
What do you think of the car? Got any hot takes?
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