A 29-year-old Jaguar XJ220 S will cross the auction block in London on November 5, with the seller hoping to get between £850,000 and £1,100,000 out of the deal (U.S. $985,000–$1,300,000).
The reason for the exorbitant price expectation is that the car only has around 3,000 miles (4,800 km) under its belt and belongs to a production run of just five units.
Jaguar produced the original XJ220 in the early 1990s, and it quickly earned the title of the world’s fastest production car. In 1993, a racing version of it designed by TWR took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning in its own category.
To homologate that racecar, the company issued a batch of five street-legal cars with their specs as close to the original as possible. The similarities extended as far as the bodywork, which was nearly all-carbon instead of aluminum. As a result, the XJ220 S weighed in at just 1,080 kilos (2,380 lbs).
The 3.5-liter V6 also received its share of upgrades and ended up with 680 PS (671 hp / 500 kW). The original powertrain had around 136 PS (134 hp / 100 kW) less than that.
This particular vehicle was assembled in April 1993, but not sold until 1998. It then continued to change owners and continents, traveling to the United States and then back to Europe. The small mileage is partly explained by the fact that the ownership record lists only collectors, who are known for their reluctance to actually drive automotive exotics.
