Click here to see more images.

---

Footnotes

• Charged by its partner Jaguar with the task of turning the XJ220 concept car into a production reality, Tom Walkinshaw's JaguarSport company built a handful of pre-production prototypes commencing with chassis numbers 'XPO101' and 'XPO102', the latter car, which is offered here, being the sole survivor of the pair.
  The words 'supercar' and 'sensational' are often to be found in conjunction, and no more justifiably so than in the case of Jaguar's fabulous XJ220. Worthy successor to the multiple Le Mans-winning C-Type and D-Type Jaguars of the 1950s, the XJ220 grabbed the headlines, just as its illustrious forebears had done in previous decades, when it burst upon an astonished world at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1991. A limited production run of a minimum of 220 and a maximum of 350 cars, combined with an eventual VAT-inclusive price tag of nearly £403,000, only served to further ensure the XJ220's exclusivity. In the event, approximately 270 examples had been built when production ended in 1994.
  Planning for Jaguar's proposed 200mph supercar had begun in the mid-1980s - design proceeding mainly in the project team's spare time! - and finally bore fruit when the Keith Helfet-styled concept car was exhibited at the UK Motor Show in 1988. Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive feedback, Jaguar decided to press ahead with this most challenging project. The XJ220 survived Jaguar's take-over by Ford the following year but when it eventually entered production in 1992 was a very different beast. Gone was the show car's 6.2-litre V12 engine, replaced by a Cosworth-designed, 3.5-litre, twin-turbo V6 as used in the contemporary XJR-11 sports-racer, while other casualties of the need to simplify the design for production included the original's four-wheel drive and adaptive suspension.
  In the summer of 1990, the first two experimental prototypes were completed incorporating JaguarSport's design changes. Although they retained the overall appearance of the show car, they were shorter, narrower and prettier than later cars built. Lichtenstein-based specialist Max Heidegger had been commissioned to develop and manufacture a number of engines for the Jaguar sports-racing programme, and in the summer of 1990 the first two experimental prototypes (both right-hand drive) were completed using de-tuned race engines built by Heidegger Racing: 'XY001' and 'XY002'. With the turbo boost and cam timing coming on song simultaneously at around 4,000rpm, it was thought that this was all a little too exiting for a road car! Subsequent production models were built using another derivative of the JV6 engine, built in house, which shared no common components with the race engine.
  Chassis number 'XPO101', having been used for handling, brake development and general durability testing, was finally laid to rest when it was used for front and rear impact pre-certification (crash testing) in May 1991. Factory documentation of test schedules and press releases shows that 'XPO102' was initially used predominantly for high-speed trials, achieving 186mph at Bruntingthorpe in September 1990, and also for reliability testing, completing a 24-hour high-speed test at Millbrook in October '90. Later on its main duties were tyre testing and brake homologation.
  There are major 'updates' recorded: in October 1990, December 1990 and March 1991, when it is believed that the colour was changed from original silver to red. 'XPO102' was also used as part of the display at the official opening of JaguarSport's new Bloxham factory, with photographs existing of both the late Princess Diana and Tom Walkinshaw inspecting it.
  Its development role at an end, 'XPO102' was made ready to go into Tom Walkinshaw's private collection. However, having fallen out with TWR, Jaguar took possession of the car and put it into storage. In 1994 Richard Hassan - son of famed Jaguar engineer Walter - was looking for a car suitable for a forthcoming race in China and purchased 'XPO102' from the factory. In the event, the car could not be got ready in time so instead it was decided to enter the car in the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours. Although its entry was accepted, the anticipated sponsorship was not forthcoming so the car was withdrawn and put back into storage. To cut a long and convoluted story short, a few years later an attempt was made to export 'XPO102' to the USA, unbeknown to Richard Hassan, and after a protracted legal battle lasting many years the car was eventually sold. Having passed through the hands of a couple of collectors, it was purchased by the current enthusiast vendor in 2008.
  Reassuringly, the current custodian entrusted marque specialists JD Classics to re-commission and extensively overhaul 'XPO102' after its many years of storage and inactivity at a cost approaching £70,000, including making the car, which had never been registered, street legal. The only faults notified concern the air conditioning, which is not working, and an untrustworthy fuel gauge.
  Road registered and first MoT'd in 2009, it has covered a nominal 250 miles since and comes with Swansea V5C document and MoT to June 2012. Some of those miles were completed at North Weald aerodrome in Essex for an article that appeared in Jaguar World Monthly magazine (May 2010 edition). Journalist Paul Walton succeeded in winding 'XPO102' up to an indicated 150mph despite the limited space available, and found that its combination of 500-plus horsepower in a lightweight chassis made for breathtaking acceleration. 'It accelerates hard and fast, pushing me further and further back until I'm almost sitting on the engine. I shift it into second and the acceleration continues unabated... By third I'm nudging 100mph yet the car feels as if it's hardly trying and the speed continues to rise rapidly. Yet to drive it feels no different than (sic) it does at 50mph, feeling securely planted to the track.' Reassuringly, it was also found that the brakes were well up to the job of restraining the Jaguar's stupendous performance. He concluded: 'It truly is a spectacular car.'
  'XPO102' is an historically important link in the development of the XJ220. Uniquely, smaller and prettier than the production car, it is 18cm shorter, 15cm narrower, singularly powered by the Heidegger race-developed engine, and is the only XJ220 built with dogleg, wide-opening doors. It has exceptionally well documented provenance and, above all, is original except for the provision of a handbrake. Accompanying documentation includes test data and schedule; correspondence from the factory, Abbey Panels, marque authority Paul Skilleter and Jaguar Technical Director Jim Randle; sundry restoration invoices; facsimile service manuals; period photographs taken in testing in the UK and at the Nürburgring; and others with Princess Diana at the Bloxham facility.
  

---

Category: Motoring / Motor Cars

---

Auction terms and conditions