Ownership history shows that this XJ220 was originally purchased from JaguarSport Limited in Oxon, England. The first owner worked for Kawasaki motorcycles, and had an extensive collection to which he added this XJ220.

Residing in Switzerland, he was only allowed to obtain a permit to test drive the XJ220 to obtain a registration, and from that point it was on display and not driven for 17 years.

This 1994 Jaguar XJ220, finished in Silverstone Green over a tan leather interior. It is powered by a 3.5 liter, twin turbocharged V6 engine that produces 542 hp, running through a five speed manual trans misssion to the rear wheels. This example has 26 original miles on the odometer.

In October of 2015, the car was sold to another collector, who never drove or registered it - which became a pattern, as it was sold in 2016 to a collector in Germany, who was forbidden from bringing it into his home country due to customs regulations that forbade it.

And… as a result, the car languished, preserved and looked after but essentially homeless, at Lutziger Classic Cars in Switzerland, stuck in registration limbo for years.

Finally, in 2021, the opportunity arose for someone to purchase the Jaguar, and that’s when Bruce Canepa stepped in. Old enough to be legal for importation to the United States, Mr. Canepa bought it and brought it to the US that year, where it has been ever since.

Maybe it was the result of the booming economy of the 1980's, but something in the air at the time seemed to inspire some of the world's best automakers to build their interpretation of the ultimate sports car. Porsche’s 959 and the Ferrari F40 raised the bar with their distinct takes on the form - Porsche with leading edge technology, Ferrari taking the barely tamed race car approach with power and carbon fiber construction.

Jaguar was later to the party in this category, but they intended to make up for it with sheer speed and style. The plan was for a car that would qualify for the FIA's Group B racing category - something that could take on the 24 hours of LeMans, yet was still street legal. Initiallt the concept included all wheel drive and a V12 that could ensure a top speed of 220 mph, justifying the name, and development had begun.

Sadly, since timing is everything, the project had two major hurdles to clear. The first was the recession of the 1990's, which saw declining auto sales particularly in the luxury sector, and the second was the recent purchase of Jaguar by Ford Motor Company - whose corporate suite found the XJ220 project to be completely unnecessary, especially given the shrinking economy. But thanks to the evening and weekend dedication of some stubborn and enthusiastic Jaguar employees, work continued.

Still, some concessions had to be made on the specification, as the car moved from design study, to concept, to reality. Instead of a V12, a Ford V6 became the engine of choice. Four wheel drive eventually became two wheel drive. But the one bright spot was the decision to have the Jaguar Sport division handle the development process, in part led by Jaguar racing icon Tom Walkinshaw, whose company had massaged plenty of production Jaguards into proper competetive racing shape at the time.

His involvement is probably the most critical part of the XJ220 story. There is no denying that the XJ220 suffered many stumbles along the way to reality, and the presence of the V6 and no all-wheel drive meant that strictly by the statistics sheet, many potential buyers were disappointed. But the guiding hand of Mr. Walknshaw should have reassured people that the end product would not disappoint.

And it really didn't. Even with tempered expectations, the Jaguar was a proper supercar, well balanced with incredible handling - and while it couldn't hit 220mph in street form, it could top 200 mph, making it faster than either the Porsche 959 or the F40, and in fact secured the production car top speed record at its debut, achieving 217.1 mph.

This example has been cared for, with Mr. Canepa's facility keeping it in proper shape. It's an incredible car that would be at home in any collection.

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