1991 Jaguar XJR-15

A rare and highly original example of Jaguar’s XJR-15, delivered new to Japan, and one of only 27 road specification examples.

Brought back to the UK in 2014, 021 still bears details such as the original delivery sticker on the right rear quarter window and 021 painted across the inside of its body panels.

Road registered in the UK, 021 shows just 1,362 miles.

Subject of a recommissioning in 2018, at which time a new fuel cell, fuel pumps, engine belts, brake seals, fluid lines and more were fitted along with a new set of Pirelli P Zero tyres.

021 was invited to the 2021 Goodwood 78th Members’ Meeting to be part of the XJR-15 celebration and was also featured in a video review with Henry Catchpole.

The first road car to feature a carbon fibre monocoque and carbon bodywork, the XJR-15 predates the McLaren F1 and boasts a production output half the size.

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Price: £POA

Chassis Number: 021

Registration Number: H990 LJO

Jaguar’s affinity with racing

The concept of enjoying driving a Le Mans 24 Hours winner on the road was the norm from the French Grand Prix d’Endurance’s birth in 1923 to Jaguar’s pomp in the 1950s, when C-type evolutions of its XK120 sports car and subsequent aerodynamically packaged D-types won the great race five times in seven years.

It was not so far fetched a decade later either, when JW Automotive Engineering’s Ford GT40 Mk1s triumphed twice running in 1968 and 1969. Beyond that, pecunious enthusiasts would have to scroll forward a quarter of a century to 1994 and 1995, when Dauer Sportwagen’s take on Porsche’s 962 and McLaren’s F1 GTR triumphed at La Sarthe. Or would they?

From 1990 to 1992, Jaguar Sport - a subsidiary of Tom Walkinshaw Racing - evolved the XJR-15 roadburner from the Group C XJR-9 which in 1988, driven by Scot Johnny Dumfries, Dutchman Jan Lammers and Englishman Andy Wallace returned the hallowed Jaguar name to the top step of Le Mans’ podium 31 years after Ecurie Ecosse’s D-type duo Ivor Bueb and Ron Flockhart earned the crowd’s adulation for a second time.

Covering a record distance, they repeated Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson’s 1956 victory and completed a hat-trick for the Malcolm Sayer-packaged model, Bueb and Mike Hawthorn having taken the chequer in 1955. Scot David Murray’s Edinburgh-based Ecurie Ecosse enjoyed factory blessing incidentally, as did TWR.

Coventry-born like Jaguar-founder Sir William Lyons marque, Tony Southgate’s XJR-9 design was the first carbon fibre chassised car to win at Le Mans. This resounding triumph and innovative technical achievemeng promoted Southgate to the highest pantheon of motorsport engineering.

His CV thus became unique, for he also penned Dan Gurney’s AAR Eagle-Offenhauser aboard which Bobby Unser won the 1968 Indianapolis 500 and the Formula 1 BRM P180B in which Jean-Pierre Beltoise won the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix. His Jaguar XJR-12, evolved from the XJR-9, also won Le Mans in 1990.

Walkinshaw commissioned the renowned Peter Stevens to design the XJR-15 around the six-litre Jaguar V12 engine and running gear of the XJR-9. Having widened the two-seater racecar’s accommodation for practicality and accessibility, he shrink-wrapped the monocoque exquisitely in a super-sleek composite shell. Behind the tub’s flat bottom, he maximised the size of the underbody venturis shrouding the gearbox to generate downforce without recourse to a massive rear wing which would have compromised its aesthetics.

Powered by a six-litre Jaguar V12 engine detuned to produce an ultra-tractable and reliable 450bhp, the first ‘hypercar’ to feature chassis and body moulded entirely from carbon fibre and Kevlar weighed just 1050kg - little more than a Ford GT40 25 years earlier. This package culminated in a top speed of a staggering 215mph.

An ambitious production run of 50 Jaguar XJR-15s was envisaged, for sale at £500,000 apiece. Eventually 53 were made between 1990 and 1992, most finished in lustrous metallic blue reflecting Walkinshaw’s Scottish roots. 16 privately owned examples were prepared to populate the high-profile Jaguar Sport International Challenge race series supporting the 1991 Monaco, British and Belgian Grands Prix.

Briton Derek Warwick won on the streets of Monte Carlo, Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio II - nephew of the five-time F1 World Champion of the 1950s - dodged the carnage in an unruly Silverstone bout and German Armin Hahne scooped the $1 million jackpot for aceing Spa’s finale.

This car, chassis number 021

The XJR-15 offered today, chassis number 021, is one of the 27 road specification cars produced by Jaguar Sport. Built in 1991, 021 received the custom options of the five speed synchromesh gearbox along with a slightly raised ride height.

Once completed, 021 was shipped new to Japan and its first owner. Having remained in Japan until 2014, 021 was shipped back to the UK. 021 received attention from Automobiles Gilet in Belgium who fitted a motor assisted lift modification to the engine bay bodywork in order to ease the opening procedure.

In September 2014, 021 passed through the RM Sotheby’s London auction, at which point it was showing under 1,400 miles, and entered new ownership. With 021 likely to have been undriven since the RM sale, it changed hands again in 2017 and was road registered in the UK. With that completed, 021 was sent to Forest Customs and Classics for an extensive yet sympathetic recommissioning.

With a full photo documented report within the history file, 021 was treated to an engine out service with the front-mounted engine belts being replaced, front crankshaft oil seal replacement by Neil Brown Engineering, water pump rebuilt, the fuel cell removed and replaced with new foam fitted, fuel pumps replaced, brake callipers and master cylinders rebuilt by AP Racing, flexible aeroquip hoses replaced, a new fire extinguisher fitted, air-conditioning charged and a new set of Pirelli P Zero tyres.

Having had the works completed, 021 was invited to be part of the 2021 Goodwood 78th Members’ Meeting where a huge line up of XJR-15s, road and race, were featured and took part in on-track demonstrations. In April 2022, 021 was subject of a track test and feature with Henry Catchpole as part of the Carfection channel on Youtube.

In August 2022, an inspection of 021 was carried out by Chris Holley of the Light Car Company. The accompanying report details 021 in close proximity, summarising as “A solid car in very good order with very little to do. Good paint, fantastic engine. Enough said.”

With no road miles accumulated in the current ownership, 021 remains low mileage with just 1,362 miles showing today.

Rarely brought to market in recent years, exclusivity and engineering brilliance are still the watchwords for this beautiful machine, spiritual successor to the turbocharged XJ220 and the work of Le Mans legends Tony Southgate, Peter Stevens and Tom Walkinshaw.

The predecessor of the McLaren F1, the XJR-15 was the first road car to employ both a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and carbon bodywork. The racing XJR-9 derived XJR-15 was produced in far fewer numbers than the McLaren F1, with only 27 road specification cars produced.

1991 Jaguar XJR-15 chassis number 021 is a highly original example of Jaguar’s Group C derived ultra-low production V12 supercar, hailed by some as the first hypercar, and an exciting prospect for road or collection.