1993 Jaguar XJ220

The story behind the Jaguar XJ220 is an inspiring one. Professor Jim Randall, the head of Jaguar's engineering department, started the ball rolling by sketching out some ideas whilst on a Christmas holiday in the 1980s. It was the stuff of fantasies - V12, 4WD, slippery body with ground effects. Together with colleagues in the 'Saturday Club' at Jaguar (so called because they met out of hours and at weekends to work on unofficial pet projects) they toyed with the concept until Jaguar started getting genuinely excited by the idea and official plans were put in place to build what was to be the fastest ever road car.

The Birmingham Motor Show in 1988 saw the unveiling of the powered concept with the design featuring a V12, fuel injected, 48-valve 530BHP engine delivering its output to all four wheels. Ultimately, the use of the V6 allowed the chassis to be shortened, although the proportions of this car are still truly impressive. The engine sits behind the two seat cabin, with a tiny boot available behind that. The styling is heavily influenced by the need to cool the highly tuned engine and also to provide sufficient downforce to keep the car steady at the 217mph top speed.

To say this is an incredibly special Jaguar is somewhat of an understatement. We are told by the vendor that chassis no 2207773 was built by TWR Jaguar in Oxford in 1992/3 before being dispatched to Jaguar Dealer Nellemann in Denmark. The car covered very little mileage in intervening years and is now ready to come back to the UK. At 24,000km, and befitting of a car of this nature, the car then became the property of flamboyant Caps Dealer in Denmark who sold it to our vendor in the Danish Jaguar Club. There's no doubt about it, this car's visually striking aesthetic is matched by its power and drivability. It may be 20 years old but this Jaguar looks like it's ready to take on a McLaren P1! Having owned this car for a substantial period of time, the vendor informs us that the driving experience of this car is totally addictive. Turn the ignition key, hit the starter button and behind your head the Group C derived V6 bursts aggressively into life. Harsh metallic whips of sound lash wildly from the engine bay - it's a noise straight from the Le Mans pit lane. Once up to speed it becomes addictive to lift off the accelerator and listen to the frenetic mixture of turbo waste gate chatter. Continuing to feed power through the gearbox only results in more drama as it reaches the limits of its abilities before the brace of mighty turbochargers reach full compression and the seductive noise dissipates into an aeronautical gale of vast quantities of air being manipulated both around the high-downforce body and through the engine.

Presented in its original colour of Jaguar Ice Blue, this car has the looks to match the impressive drive. The car benefits from upgrades all made by XJ220 specialists Don Law of Staffordshire (who also serviced the car), including an engine upgrade (now 680 bhp), upgraded brakes and upgraded suspension. The end result is a car that drives and handles far better than the day it left the TWR factory.

Sold more than ready to go and tested by our consignor, the car will pass any MoT/Tüv the world over. One of only 281 of these iconic supercars ever built, this car cuts an impressively exciting figure when compared with today's standard of supercar. With prices rising, don't miss the opportunity to buy one whilst you still can.