One of the Rarest Jaguars Ever is Available For Sale
Expect to pay well over a half-million dollars for this 1-of-53-made supercar.
While Jaguar has a long and storied tradition of building great performance cars, the British automaker has only made two models that really classified as supercars: The XJR-15 and the XJ220. The XJ220 is the better-known of the two, having featured its own racing series in the United States. It was also sold in much greater numbers (275) than the XJR-15. Only 53 examples of the XJR-15 were produced from 1990 through 1992, making this car the rarest of the Jaguar supercars, and one of the company’s most-limited models ever built for road use.
Getting ahold of a Jaguar XLR-15 these days is nearly impossible, but if you have deep enough pockets, car number 44 is up for sale from DD Classics in Surrey, England.
The Jaguar XJR-15
If you aren’t familiar with Jaguar’s first supercar, here is a quick rundown.
The XJR-15 was developed by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, who was tasked with producing a road-going version of the popular Jaguar XJR-9 race car. The entire body and chassis of the XJR-15 are comprised of carbon fiber and Kevlar, making this the first-ever road car made completely of those lightweight materials. The popular McLaren F1 followed suit in 1992. As a result of using these high tech composites, the XJR-15 weighs just 2,315 pounds.
In addition to the unique body and chassis design, the Jaguar XJR-15 has a cockpit that is three inches wider than the XLR-9 race car. It’s elevated roofline offers a little over an inch-and-a-half of extra headroom. This road-going Jag still has the integrated race bucket seats, so while it was made for road use – it lacked the premium niceties that you get from other Jaguar road cars. It does, however, have built-in headsets for the driver and passenger to communicate in the carbon fiber-lined cockpit.
The key feature of the 1990-1992 Jaguar XJR-15 is the 6.0 liter V12 engine, delivering 450 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. By today’s standards that doesn’t sound like much power, but keep in mind that this car only weighs 2,300lbs, so with a power-to-weight ratio of 5.144 pounds per horsepower, this car has a considerably better ratio than the 650 horsepower C7 Corvette Z06.
Incredible car with an incredible price
Unfortunately, DD Classics isn’t listing a price for the 1991 Jaguar XJR-15, but we know that one of the 53 supercars appeared at an Australian auction last year. The bidding for that car climbed up to the $540,000 mark, but the reserve as not met. With that in mind, anyone who is seriously planning to buy XJR-15 #44 in Mauritius Blue should be prepared to pay at least $600,000, if not more.
Source: Motor Authority