Yahoo Autos The Jaguar XJ220 Deserves All the Love and Care
1988's V12-powered XJ220 concept car wasn't supposed to enter production, but since it was absolutely fantastic, Jaguar and Tom Walkinshaw Racing decided to do it anyway. So, after replacing the V12 with a twin-turbo V6 on the blueprint, TWR set off to build a Ford Transit van to develop the drivetrain, while Jaguar figured out how to build 300 of them. The resulting XJ220 hit the market in 1990, with deliveries starting two years later.
Despite being the fastest car on the planet for a brief period, the market wasn't kind to Jaguar's beautiful supercar. People were missing those six extra cylinders, the sticker price got much higher due to taxes, and those few who could still afford such a car after the financial downturn were lured away by fresh competitors like the Bugatti EB110, the McLaren F1 or the final evolutions of the Ferrari F40.
Don Law was racing a V12 XJS before buying one of the pre-production XJ220s and several other cars through TWR to keep the team on track. When they ran out of parts, they carried on by making their own. Jaguar didn't provide much support, mostly because the XJ220 project burnt enough of their money already. When their ten year obligation regarding the family's black sheep was off, they sold all their remaining parts to Don Law Racing, including the full-sized wooden model and the press tooling for the aluminum body panels.
Since then, Din Law bought that special Ford Transit from TWR as well, building a database of all XJ220 while keeping them alive all over the planet. Justin Law is a regular guest up the hill at Goodwood, while him and his father are responsible for such special versions as the one-off V12 XJ220 or the LM, tuned to produce over 800 horsepower.
With Bridgestone cooking up a new tire just for this car, the XJ220's story continues, mostly thanks to one family in England.
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