Jaguar XJ220 was British’s most popular road car in the 1990s. But a small number of supercars raced at 24 Hours of Le Mans. Auction house RM Sotheby’s will sell one of these XJ220 Le Mans cars on November 19 at Circuit Paul Ricard in France.
The 1993 Jaguar XJ220 C LM Jaguar XJ220 C LM was one of the three cars that participated at Le Mans in that year. A fourth vehicle, however, was not built and raced. Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) prepared the race cars. TWR was heavily involved with development of the XJ220 street car. TWR was the Jaguar factory team that won Le Mans in 1988 and 1990, with the XJR-9LM prototypes and the XJR-12.
The 3.5-liter twin turbocharged V-6 used in the racing version of the XJ220 was also used in the road car. TWR also raced the engine in the XJR-10, XJR-11 prototypes.
1993 Jaguar XJ220 C LM Photo via RM Sotheby’s
This car—TWR serial number 003—was driven by Jay Cochran and Paul Belmondo, as well as Andreas Fuchs who was behind the wheel when a tire failed at high speed on the Mulsanne Straight. Fuchs, despite spinning the car and hitting something with it, was able cover it without crashing into anything. He then limped back from the pits. The self-destructing tires caused severe damage and forced Fuchs to retire the car after 176 laps.
Serial number 002 was the first GT class car to cross the finish line (and the 15th overall), but it was later disqualified due to not having catalytic convertors. Jaguar’s XJ220 didn’t make it back to Le Mans, however serial number 003 saw a privateer entry in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans. The engine died after 135 laps.
After the accident, the Jaguar Club of Japan member sold it to another Jaguar Club member. Jean Guikas was able to repair the damage with Don Law Racing (XJ220 specialist). The car is being sold along with Guikas’ other collection and will likely sell for $1.1 million to $1.6 million.
