1993 Jaguar XJ220
When revealed to the public, the Jaguar XJ220 immediately became the star attraction at the Birmingham motor show. Ferrari brought a bright red F40 to the party, but it looked like a dinosaur next to the sleek new Jag.
Jaguar had absolutely no intention of selling the XJ220, but when a number of enthusiasts presented blank checks, attitudes changed.
The future was looking bright for the Jaguar XJ220, but behind the scenes it was turning into a logistical nightmare.
Jaguar lacked the resources to develop the car as its focus was on more mainstream models.
The crack team of engineers got to work and began to study competitors and it was quickly decided that all-wheel drive would be ditched in favor of a simpler rear-wheel drive layout. This saved weight and created less of a headache when it came to maintenance. Another big change from the original design came when the race-bred 6.2-litre V12 was replaced with a biturbo 3.5-liter V6 engine. This was done for multiple reasons, including weight, packaging and emissions. Such drastic changes from the original concept car resulted in many people cancelling their orders, then the huge financial crisis of the early 90s caused the exotic car bubble to burst and just a total of 271 cars were produced, notably less than Jaguar had intended, and it is reported that some remained unsold for years after.
However the Jaguar supercar held the record for fastest road car until the arrival of the McLaren F1 and on the Nürburgring set a lap time of 7:46 that made the Jag faster than any production car.
