The Jaguar XJR-12 is a 2-door coupé from Jaguar, built from 1990, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Under the bonnet: 6995 cc Jaguar 60-degree V12. Tony Southgate for TWR drew it.
The story
The Jaguar XJR-12 is a sports-prototype race car built by the Jaguar Cars-backed Tom Walkinshaw Racing team for both Group C and IMSA Camel GTP. The XJR-12 is famous for winning the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Weighing 900 kg and powered by a 7.0 L 60 degree SOHC V12 developing 730 horsepower / 545 kW @ 7000 rpm, and 579 ft lbf / 785 N·m @ 5500 rpm, the XJR-12 could hit 368 km/h / 229 mph. During the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans, the XJR-12 covered 4,882.4 km at an average speed of 204.036 km/h / 126.782 mph with a maximum trap speed of 353 km/h / 219 mph.
What is underneath
Power comes from 6995 cc Jaguar 60-degree V12. It weighs 900 kg. It shifts through a 5-speed TWR manual. The layout matters: the engine sits behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle, which puts the mass in the middle of the car and is why mid-engined cars change direction the way they do. The wheelbase is 2780 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Jaguar XJR-11; its successor was the Jaguar XJR-14. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Ford Explorer, the Honda NSX, the Renault Clio — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Jaguar catalogue sit the F-Type and the Vanden Plas.
What it costs now
EPA combined economy is 21 mpg, about $4,450 a year in fuel at the EPA's assumptions. Condition, mileage and specification move any single car a long way from a headline figure.