1991 Jaguar XJR-15

Chassis No. XJR-15 005
At the end of a racing season, after the champagne is sprayed, and the racecars are packed in their transporters, there are decisions to be made, typically less exciting than those made on the track. Budgetary questions loom about investments made in racing and the rewards in either technology transfer or marketing. At some point, most racing programs end and the cars and the technology resulting from them sit at a dead end. However, after the XJR-9 program achieved the ultimate success of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988, Jaguar Cars along with Tom Walkinshaw, who headed the Jaguar Sport racing program, had a different idea. They commissioned the development of a prototype called, “R9R'' and, in essence, created a road-legal racecar capitalizing on the successful technology developed by the XJR-9 racing program – and it certainly wouldn't hurt if Walkinshaw and Jaguar made a few quid in the process.
To develop the vision, a crack team was assembled and, along with Peter Stevens, best known as Chief Designer of the McLaren F1 while at McLaren Cars, began making modifications to the XJR-9 chassis design by widening the carbon-monocoque and raising the roof slightly. The team developed a scale model within a few short months before the designers shifted to a clay model for the final form. By the time the prototype was revealed, Jaguar Sport, with a number of deposits in hand, announced a limited-run of 50 road-legal production cars now called XJR-15. During production, the XJR-15 project stayed true to the edict that Walkinshaw and Jaguar Sport had laid out, succeeding in putting a genuine, bona-fide racecar on the road. Jaguar's new supercar featured, as did the prototype, a modified carbon fiber tub from the XJR-9, carbon fiber bodywork, and a lightly detuned version of the 1988 Le Mans winner's V12 engine. With the V12 mounted directly behind the cockpit the XJR-15 even featured a pair of radio headsets for the driver and passenger to communicate while traveling.
This XJR-15, chassis number 005, has traveled approximately 675 miles, or the equivalent of only 80 laps of the Circuit de la Sarthe, home of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Finished in Mauritius Blue over a Savile Grey leather interior, little is known of its time between production at Jaguar Sport in Bloxham, Oxfordshire, UK, and the present, it is suspected that it did not take part in the 1991 Jaguar Sport Intercontinental Challenge, a one-make, three-round series more famous for calamity than high-quality racing. As such, the car was spared any on-track incidents or race wear. As per the consignor, it is believed the car spent time in Japan, possibly between two different owners. More recently, in its limited time on the road, it has been worked on by a group of individuals, well-versed in the ability to not only keep this road-legal racecar in excellent running condition but to improve it as well. In November 2021, 005 arrived at Fast Cars Ltd. of Redondo Beach, California to receive recommissioning work in advance of consignment with Broad Arrow Auctions. Invoices show that a new fuel bladder, pumps, and filters were purchased from marque and model experts, Don Law Racing of Newcastle UK. These new parts were installed along with a fully modern air conditioning system upgrade. While functional air conditioning may seem like an extravagance on a street-legal racecar, the roof and surrounding window greenhouse is, just that, a greenhouse. While it may be possible to run without cockpit cooling on an overcast day in the UK, this is a welcome addition in most climates. This XJR-15 also benefits from another modern convenience, a front and rear axle lift system. This enhancement is surely a welcome addition to this XJR-15, increasing the driver's ability to further enjoy piloting their XJR-15 on something less than a billiard-table smooth racetrack.
While it may be the childhood dream of any car enthusiast to pilot a road legal racecar around town the reality is often different. Racecars can be hot, noisy, and notoriously low, difficult to navigate over the smallest obstacles that wouldn't faze a normal family sedan. Of course, no one would ever apply the word “normal” to an XJR-15 and to that end, thanks to the fastidious nature of the consignor each of these road-going racecar issues has been addressed. It's clearly now time for a new caretaker to enjoy, not only the recent technical improvements, but the work carried out by the brilliant minds at Jaguar Sport that were able to take a Le Mans winning design and put it on the street.