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The Big Cat That Hunted the Germans: How Jaguar Reclaimed Le Mans Glory
The Jaguar XJR-9: How Tom Walkinshaw and a V12 Roared to Victory
If you were an engineer in the 1980s with a penchant for big engines, long straights, and making Porsche nervous, chances are you would have worked on the Jaguar XJR-9. Born from the brilliant mind of Tony Southgate, the XJR-9 was Jaguar’s answer to Group C racing—a category dominated by the German efficiency of the Porsche 962. Jaguar, of course, had other ideas.
At its heart was a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated V12, an engine that could trace its lineage back to the road-going XJ-S but had been injected with a cocktail of performance wizardry by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). With 750 horsepower, the XJR-9 was built for one thing: high-speed endurance. And in 1988, it delivered. The XJR-9 claimed victory at Le Mans, marking Jaguar’s return to the top step of the podium at Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time since 1957.
The car was a masterpiece of aerodynamic slipperiness, a vision sculpted for pure speed. With its sleek, purple-and-white Silk Cut livery, it looked as fast as it was—so fast, in fact, that it could hit 394 km/h (245 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight before those pesky chicanes were installed. The sight of Martin Brundle, Jan Lammers, and Johnny Dumfries hustling the XJR-9 around Le Mans was enough to send shivers down any petrolhead’s spine.
But it wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. The XJR-9 went on to dominate the World Sports Prototype Championship, proving that Jaguar’s approach—big engines, clever aerodynamics, and a refusal to let the Germans have all the fun—was a winning formula.
In the end, the XJR-9 wasn’t just a car; it was a statement. A statement that Jaguar, once the king of Le Mans in the 1950s, was back.
" To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble in the boundary of disaster. "
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Stirling Moss
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British racing driver 🇬🇧
The Jaguar XJR-9 embodied this philosophy. It was a machine built for the edge—designed to push boundaries, defy German dominance, and bring Jaguar back to the pinnacle of endurance racing. At Le Mans in 1988, it didn’t just win; it roared back into history, proving that calculated risk and bold engineering could conquer even the longest of races.
Your Turn Behind the Wheel: What Do You Think?
Jaguar XJR 9