Jaguar and supercar are not two words you’ll usually find in the same sentence. Sure, Jaguars have great performance, but not exactly supercar-type stuff. Jaguar even had a supercar in the early 90’s. Seriously! It was called the XJ220 and its name was derived from the car’s mind-blowing 220mph top speed.
In 1994, 220mph was the fastest you could go in a road-legal car. The XJ220 was a work of passion by a small group of Jaguar engineers who, on their own time, designed and built this awesome machine. Jaguar bosses were so impressed they immediately commissioned the car be built in production numbers. The cars were eventually built, but they were very expensive and didn’t sell well. After just two years, production stopped and they faded into past existence.
Well now folks, there’s rumors of a rebirth. British car magazine AutoExpress is reporting that Jaguar is hard at work on a brand-new, all-aluminum, 503-hp speedster possibly called the XE. That’s right, a new halo car for Jag! The engine is sourced from the XFR land speed racer that hit 225mph in the Bonneville Flats during a pass by racer Paul Gentilozzi last year.
While Jaguar is firmly denying this, AutoExpress says to look out for a concept model to appear in the auto show circuits next year. Whether or not this is the rebirth of the awesome XJ220 remains to be seen. One thing is for sure though, with that Bonneville racer’s engine, it might now be the XE225.
Source: AutoWeek
