A racing version called the XJ220C was also made. The XJ220C, driven by Win Percy won its first race, a round of the BRDC National Sports GT Challenge at Silverstone. Three works XJ220C's were entered in the 1993 Le Mans 24 Hour race, in the newly created Grand Touring Class. Two of the cars retired but one XJ220, driven by John Nielsen, David Brabham and David Coulthard took the checkered flag to take a class win. This, however, was revoked two weeks later, when the XJ220C was disqualified for a technical infringement.
An XJ220 would also be used in the Italian GT Championship in the early 1990s, although this car had no factory support.
[edit] Pininfarina-designed version
During the mid-nineties, the Sultan of Brunei and his brother Prince Jefri secretly bought hundreds of sports cars and had them custom appointed by various companies. One of these is a custom Jaguar XJ220 that has been heavily modified by Pininfarina. Modifications included fixed headlights, replacing the pop-up versions originally installed, and a redesigned double-vane rear wing.[2][3]
[edit] Speed record
In 1992 at the Nardò Ring, Martin Brundle drove an XJ220 to 212.3 mph (341.7 km/h). The car's catalytic converters sap the engine of an estimated 60 bhp (45 kW), the catalysts were later disconnected and the rev limiter was increased from 7200 rpm to 7900 rpm in a quest to enable the XJ220 reach a higher top speed. On a later run with the modifications, Brundle took the XJ220 to 217.1 mph (349.4 km/h) (the equivalent to approximately 223 mph (359 km/h) on a straight road).[4
Sunday, June 20, 2010
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