Not loving what Jaguar has been putting down these days? Here’s a blast from the British automaker’s past transformed into something from the future – the XJ220 restomod you didn’t know you needed.
This reinterpretation of the classic Jaguar XJ220 is the work of designer Khyzyl Saleem. The same designer who helped create the XJS-based Supercat turned his focus on the long-maligned Jag and created something that would fit perfectly alongside any modern supercar and is arguably more elegant than the Ferrari F80, if no less outrageous.
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“For the last few months, I haven’t been able to really sink myself into a design that I truly enjoyed creating, that changed creating this. I did a few earlier variants which were a lot more simple, but I really wanted to push myself that bit further and see what I could do. I’m quite happy with the results!”
– Khyzyl Saleem a.k.a The Kyza
The designer, who is also the co-founder of body kit company Live to Offend and digital automotive studio Fuze, is aware that not everyone will like this re-imagining. It gives the XJ220’s classically simple looks more slats, more creases, bigger wings, and much more modern wheels.
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“Which is totally fine with me, the point of this was to create something I personally enjoyed making,” Saleem said. A great attitude to have whenever you’re bringing a passion project to the internet. We like the car’s looks, which are more muscular and up-to-date. It’s more, but not so much more that it’s going to look out of sorts in a few years, something modern low-volume cars can suffer from. Look at the concept Lamborghini Egoista, for one example, or the Bugatti Centodieci, for another.
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The Jaguar XJ220 has been experiencing an enthusiast renaissance over the last few years, even finally showing up in modern driving games. This will only help elevate that. It’s hard to overlook, though, why it was shunned in the first place.
The car was meant to be a V12-powered AWD supercar to race in FIA Group B competition. Four years after its reveal, the car finally came to production with the V12 replaced by a 3.5-liter V6. The engine was developed with TWR but originally from an Austin Rover. Even twin turbos, still a relatively new feature at that point (the supercar was manufactured from 1992-1994), couldn’t help the car. Horsepower was higher (at 542 vs. 500), but cachet was lower.
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All-wheel drive was also gone from the equation. The XJ220 drove its rear tires only. Jag had four times more buyers than it had cars planned to build, but when the production car arrived, those buyers ran. The automaker only finished 281 cars, and some of them sat around for years before finally selling at fractions of their original cost.
Even now, the cars are only beginning to reach their original price. Before inflation, of course. That makes production of an idea like this a lot more feasible than it would be for, say, a Ferrari F40. It’s sad, really. The XJ220 was briefly the fastest car in the world.
