The Jaguar XJ220’s silhouette would possibly’ve been a bed room wall mainstay, however the automotive itself wasn’t fairly the article promised. A twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 advanced from the MG Metro 6R4 was a neat speaking level for a supercar, nevertheless it was no V12. The swap from all- to rear-wheel drive, ostensibly to maintain weight down and scale back complexity, got here throughout unambitious within the wake of the Porsche 959. And regardless of these compromises within the curiosity of packaging, the XJ220 was nonetheless overly lengthy and extensive and never described by many as a nimble handler.
But it had the present automotive’s appears, proper? Truth be advised, for a child that worshipped on the altar of the McLaren F1, Ford GT90, Lamborghini Calà (we’d like a narrative on that one), Isdera Commendatore 112i and a lot of the Need For Speed II roster, it by no means fairly did it for me. The factor all the time regarded heavy and bulbous with extreme overhangs. It was like somebody at Jaguar subjected Ford’s unpopular Ovoid design ideas to an industrial press. Besides, Pininfarina did it higher a few yr after the XJ220 ended manufacturing.
If you haven’t seen the Turin design home’s stab at Jaguar’s late-’90s flagship, that’s seemingly as a result of there are perhaps 5 pictures of the ultimate end in web circulation and a handful extra taken throughout improvement courtesy of Paolo Garella, who labored on the venture. Exactly one was made for — you guessed it — the Sultan of Brunei and his brother Prince Jefri.
As such, we all know a couple of issues about it, however not as a lot as we’d like. Pininfarina contracted coachbuilder Coggiola to make the physique panels and engineering agency Italtecnica to provide the XJ220 with a Williams-built paddle-shift gearbox, energy steering and higher cooling, in line with Supercar Nostalgia. Those constituted pretty a lot all of the technical alterations. Meanwhile, the cabin noticed a a lot bolder design befitting of a recent idea automotive of the day. It didn’t look so clearly an assemblage of off-the-shelf elements because the collection manufacturing automotive’s, that’s for certain.
The exterior is what wins me over, although, since appears had been primarily the XJ220’s bag anyway. Whether this model is bodily extra compact or not, it comes off that manner. The entrance finish is now decrease and leaner; the aspect sills not slab sided however now tapered in, accentuating the nook haunches. There seem like a pair of channels that flank the engine cowl and exit beneath the double rear wing, a uncommon sight on manufacturing vehicles of the time. A wing cut up by a three-dimensional heckblende, dowdy Rover 200 clusters be damned. This is the sort of lighting innovation we’re solely seeing out there immediately, on a one-off from about three many years in the past. Exquisite badging completes the look.
The Pininfarina Speciale, because it was referred to as, fully shedded the common XJ220’s extra and ungainliness. The solely element that I reckon ought to’ve been carried over from the unique, or no less than achieved a bit in another way, rests with the headlights. The items on this automotive appear a bit extra generic than Jaguar’s drop-down covers and recall to mind a complete technology of Koenigsegg merchandise. That’s actually not the design home’s fault; nonetheless, they considerably muddy the automotive’s character all these years later.
The lamps aren’t horrible by any means, although, and I can forgive them. Much like how Italdesign penned the best-looking GT-R for the reason that R32 and the one lovely Corvette for the reason that ’60s, right here Pininfarina outclassed the in-house design crew and created one thing that spared no expense, that actually regarded as futuristic as Jaguar wished individuals to imagine the XJ220 was. Unfortunately, these would possibly simply be the one footage any of us ever see of it.
Source: jalopnik.com