Jaguar’s restored 1980s-era racer crops up on sale

RM Sotheby’s will hold an auction in Paris, France in early February dedicated to a rare Jaguar XJR-10. The prototype racecar was built in the late ‘80s for the IMSA GT championship in the United States, and managed to score two victories and four podiums. It has been fully restored since then, and is now estimated at €800,000–1,200,000.

The engineer behind the build is none other than Tony Southgate, the famous creator of the Le-Mans-winning Jaguar XJR-9 and the Ford RS200 rally car. He received assistance from Ross Brawn, also a renowned car constructor.

Model number 10 was envisioned as a lighter and more balanced vehicle compared to Jaguar’s other designs of the era. To that end, it received a relatively compact V6 TT instead of a massive V12. Southgate also insisted on giving it an original rear end – with sealed wheel arches, a giant rear wing and a short overhang.

Only three such prototypes were made for the IMSA championship. They scored six victories and nine podiums in total. The car seen here had raced from October 1989 until summer 1997. Its current owner had it completely restored with full powertrain overhaul in 2016–2017. The body was allowed to keep its Bud Light livery that it received during one of the particularly triumphant races in 1991.