Video: The 8 best Jaguar racing cars ever

Jaguar is treading lightly these days. The road car side of the marque has gone quiet for a bit, while it plots a new course behind the scenes as a fully-electric and fully-luxurious rival for Bentley. And that’s something also mirrored in its present-day motorsport endeavours – Formula E is the only series you’ll find the Coventry cat competing in on official terms. 

And we think that’s a big shame. Jaguar’s pedigree on track is something many other car makers out there, still hustling to make a name for themselves in the world’s top-level competitions, can only dream of – the brand’s ill-fated and hideously expensive F1 flop in the 2000s aside.

So here, to recount some of the glory days of Jags on track, we’ve picked out what we think are the eight greatest Jaguar racing cars of all time, ranging from the car that got things started, to a dramatic F1-engined curtain call for the legendary Group C era.

But the cars aren’t the only stars – legendary drivers and teams can make a machine iconic too, and Jaguar’s back catalogue comes with some top-class names not just behind the wheel, but above the garage doors, too.