This Jaguar XJR-15 took the spotlight at 75th Anniversary Sunday
A unique sight on this particular day at Goodwood was the Jaguar Sport XJR-15 that was in attendance at 75th Anniversary Sunday Breakfast Club in 2023. An incredibly rare beast of which only 53 were ever made between 1990 and 1992, this was as good a measure as any that this Breakfast Club was one of the most special we’ve hosted here at the Motor Circuit.
The XJR-15 was initially inspired by the design of the XJ220 concept. Under the stewardship of Tom Walkinshaw, it was decided that a road-going version of the Le Mans-winning XJR-9 would be developed, and it didn’t take long for demand to be such that production was a formality.
It was priced at a nice round £500,000 and sold to famed racers such as Derek Warwick and Bob Wollek, while even the Sultan of Brunei was on the order books. The overall process from concept to production took a little over two years.
Design was overseen by Peter Stevens, also known for working on the McLaren F1 and BMW V12 LMR, along with a host of road cars from Lamborghini, Lotus and Prodrive. His goal was to build a road-going racing car, sacrificing as little as possible from the XJR-9’s philosophy.
There were some usability tweaks: the cockpit was widened by 75mm, the roof was raised by 40mm. The entirety of the chassis and bodywork are composed of carbon-fibre and Kevlar, making it the first road car (just ahead of the McLaren F1) to be built with those materials.
It was powered by Jaguar’s 6.0-litre naturally aspirated V12, producing 456PS (336kW) and 569Nm (420lb ft) of torque, and from first-hand experience at the 75th Anniversary Sunday, it sounds absolutely spectacular. Its overall weight summed to 1,050kg, with 0-62mph taking 3.9 seconds on the way to a top speed of 191mph. There is no doubt this is a road car with serious racing pedigree, a fact accentuated particularly by this example decked out in a proper racing livery.
On this most special of days here at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, this Jaguar XJR-15 was one of our favourite cars to park up on 75th Anniversary Sunday.
Photography by James Lynch.
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