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 First Generation XJR - XJ40 1989-1994 (TWR developed)
The story of the JaguarSport XJR starts with a company called TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing), who were already involved with the racing side of Jaguar Cars Ltd. TWR had also been producing modified XJS’s and XJ40’s under their Jaguar Sport brand. They offered body kits, wheels and modified power steering, none of which was available through Jaguar.
Jaguar wanted to enhance their image, which had become one of luxury cars likened by older drivers, and capture the younger market with a range of sportier cars. So in May 1988 they teamed up with TWR and formed a new organisation called JaguarSport, with the purpose of offering more performance orientated versions of the XJ6 (as the XJR) and the XJS (as the XJR-S), and also developing ideas for future models, such as the XJR15 and the XJ220.
1988 saw the first joint project unveiled at that years Birmingham motor show, and badged as the XJR 3.6. This model had a standard 3.6l engine but had extensive modifications to the interior, exterior and driveline. Basically, it was all the options TWR already offered (bodykit, wheels, modified power steering) with added interior and suspension changes and badged as XJR.
Body modifications included colour keyed front and rear fibreglass bumpers, door sill mouldings and a rear spoiler. The side mirrors are colour keyed and the front grille is finished in matt black. The car also featured quad style halogen headlamps.
The suspension had been uprated to improve the handling featuring special JaguarSport (re-valved Bilstein) dampers and an uprated, thicker anti-roll bar. In addition, the power steering was re-valved to offer greater feel and responsiveness and a limited slip differential was added. To complete the XJR package, the car also featured JaguarSport 16” Speedline wheels fitted with Pirelli P600 225/55 ZR rated tyres.
The distinctive interior was equipped with leather sports style seats with contrasting colour seat piping and stitching. The ‘Sport’ motif was embossed in the headrest centre panel. Leather trim is also featured on the door trim and armrests, and the car had the box inlaid veneer found in the Daimler. A special JaguarSport (Momo) colour keyed four spoke wheel was also added, again with the ‘Sport’ motif embossed in the centre panel.
The XJR 3.6 was only available in four metallic paints and two leather trims, and cost £38,500. (click here for 1988 specification)
Initially an XJR could only be ordered through the twenty official JaguarSport dealers. This was later increased and eventually changed to all Jaguar main dealers.
After ordering a JaguarSport XJR, a baseline Jaguar XJ6 would be shipped from the Browns Lane production line to the TWR factory at Kidlington where JaguarSport technicians would complete the build with all the extra JaguarSport modifications. These cars were initially intended for UK sales only, thought to be because of prohibitive legislation in countries such as the US.
The next version of the XJR was unleashed on the public in November 1989, replacing the 3.6l with the newly introduced 4.0l AJ6 engine. Apart from the engine, the car is almost identical to the 3.6. The main difference is the new engine and the performance modifications made by the JaguarSport engineers. These modifications bought about a 7% increase over the standard Jaguar engine, developing 251bhp at 5,250 rpm. JaguarSport had worked closely with Jaguars own project engineers on improving ‘top end breathing’ to bring about this subtle increase and they achieved this in a number of ways. To improve fuelling, a twin plenum intake manifold was developed along with a re-profiled inlet camshaft. Freer flowing exhaust components and a higher compression ratio of 9.75 to 1 were added too, and to compensate for these changes the digital engine management system was remapped. The XJR was available with either automatic or manual transmissions, and this gave a top speed of 147mph and 0-60 in 6.7 seconds with the manual or 146mph and 0-60 in 7.7 seconds with the automatic.
The ‘new’ XJR was still only available in a limited range of colours and trims but this had increased to six colours and five leather trims, and cost £39,950. (click here for 1990 specification)
This version of the XJR was only around for six months when, in August 1990, JaguarSport unveiled the new XJR they were to release in 1991. The car had undergone a comprehensive package of subtle styling changes to give it a smoother, sleeker shape for the Nineties.
The car was now fitted with the new styled square halogen headlights and the glass fibre bumpers had been replaced by more traditional standard chrome bumpers. At the front of the car, the changes included a new front spoiler incorporating the latest “projection” style fog lamps and brake cooling ducts. At the rear, the car had also been restyled to enhance the smoothness of its lines. The car was now fitted with neutral density lamp clusters and a new number plate surround panel, together with a discreet wraparound panel to blend the bodywork perfectly into the rear bumper. The rear spoiler had been deleted, although a newer version was available as a cost option, and the car had a new design of JaguarSport 16” Speedline alloy wheels. Black window frames were also added in place of the previous chrome ones and flared sills had been fully integrated into the body which now featured a full length body side moulding bearing the XJR motif.
The car was ‘enhanced’ by the fitment of catalyst exhaust systems, which were now standard equipment on all 1991 model year’s cars. Unfortunately, this robbed the AJ6 engine of some power and the JaguarSport 4.0 only produced 248bhp, although this was still 11% up on the normal Jaguar AJ6 engine. In manual transmission form, the XJR saloon achieved a maximum speed of 145mph and a 0-60 time of 7.2 seconds.
The price stayed the same as the previous model at £39,950. (click here for 1991 specification)
There were a few changes made to this car in the next couple of years, prior to the introduction of the X300 body style, but mostly they were cosmetic. These changes were probably due to the takeover of Jaguar by Ford, and their attempts to try and save some of the money that was haemorrhaging out of Jaguar. The introduction of driver and passenger airbags changed some of the steering column switch gear and caused the loss of the Momo designed steering wheel. The passenger glovebox also disappeared because of this. Under the bonnet, the air conditioning pipes were re-routed to try and stop them going porous from the heat of the exhaust manifold, the battery was relocated to the boot, the oil filler was relocated to the cam cover and the viscous fan was replaced by electric fans. The braking system was changed and there were other little changes to positions of relays etc, but these were the most obvious changes from the original 1991 model. By this time the price of a new XJR had risen to £43,800. (click here for 1993 specification)
The JaguarSport brand was dropped for the X300 cars in 1994 and the XJR production was bought in-house, but the legacy of the XJR lives on. Jaguar used the late XJ40 XJR’s to develop the supercharged engine for the next generation of the XJR, but most of these cars would have been destroyed after testing for tax reasons. Rumour has it that there may be one of these supercharged XJ40’s that slipped through the net and if this is true, that would be the rarest XJR of them all.
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