Jaguar XJR-9LM

© Copyright by Wouter Melissen at www.ultimatecarpage.com

Designed for ... Group C of 24h Le Mans Teams Tom Walkinshaw Racing Silk Cut Jaguar Country of origin Great Britain Introduced in 1988 Chassis Designer Tony Southgate Engine Type 60º V 12 Horse Power 750 bhp / 560 KW @ 7200 rpm Torque 828 Nm / 611 ft lbs @ 5500 rpm Weight 881 kilo hp/kg 0.85 bhp / kg Engine Displacement 6.995 liter Engine Aspiration Naturally Aspirated Engine Fuel Feed Zytek Fuel Injection Engine Location Mid, longitudinally mounted Engine Valve Train 2 valves / cylinder, SOHC Drivetrain March/TWR 5 speed Manual, Rear wheel drive Recommended Movie The Jaguar's Roar

Jaguar won five victories in seven years at Le Mans in the 1950s. Rule changes left the highly successful D-Type obsolete after the 1957 season. Although the Works team would not field a racing car for many years, the racing department did develop the Lightweight competition version of the E-Type and the V12 engined XJ 13. After a heavy accident the XJ 13 project was halted, but the V12 engine was further developed and used in Jaguar's road cars.

In the 1970s racing was left to privateers, although some did receive factory support.

In the early 1980s two of the most successful Jaguar privateers made plans to bring the marque back to Le Mans. Both Bob Tullius' US based Group 44 and Tom Walkinshaw's Britain based TWR had vast experience with the latest version of Jaguar's V12 and felt it could be a strong competitor in the newly created Group C class. This was a great challenge as the Porsches have dominated Le Mans form 1980 to 1987.

In 1988, Jaguar was finally able to beat Porsche and took home the overall victory even with having raced the last laps in 4th gear only as the whole transmission was actually broken...

When I went to Le Mans for the first time in 2008, it was exactly 20 years after that victory and Jaguar prepared the Silk Cut again in order to race some laps during the "Classic Race" on Saturday Morning!