Despite how Jaguar is performing at the moment, there is no doubt that its history has some actual beasts in it, just like this V12 supercar it produced in the ’90s, that’s sadly been forgotten to time.
The automaker dominated racing in the ’50s, particularly in endurance and came back in the ’80s to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
When the brand paired with Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) and JaguarSport was born, the collaboration very quickly birthed another Le Mans win in 1988.
Out of the collaboration, Jaguar released a race car for the roads, the XJR-15, a beast with a V12 engine that came hot on the heels of the iconic and deeply successful XJR-9.
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The XJR-15 is sad sadly forgotten
However you feel about the decisions and releases that have been lobbed at us from Jaguar recently, there’s no denying that the supercar automaker knows how to win endurance races.
Jaguar has a long history with the Le Mans race, winning multiple times, both alone and collaborating with Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR).
The collaboration birthed the XJR-9 which has most certainly been one of the automaker’s more successful releases.
But the forgotten V12-powered beast of our hearts has to be it’s spiritual successor: the Jaguar XJR-15.
The XJR-15 was created to be a road-legal version of the winning formula that came with the XJR-9.
But despite the Jaguar name being plastered on the supercar, the automaker had very little to do with the actual design.
What killed the beastly Jaguar V12 supercar of the ’90s?
The XJR-15 was released around the same time that the Mclaren F1 was released and it somewhat trumped the Jaguar.
Unfortunately for the brand, the McLaren F1 is one of THE supercars of the ’90s, and despite the Jag’s first-of-its-kind carbon fiber composite bodyshell and a 450HP V12 engine, it just couldn’t beat out the icon.
The XJR-15 was so fast that it should have been illegal and at the time had one of the best road car power-to-weight ratios.
It definitely deserved better and while it didn’t win out with sales over the McLaren F1, it certainly has won supercar of the ’90s in our hearts, and that’s what matters isn’t it?
RM Sotheby’s
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