Jaguar XJ220 Visits Jay Leno’s Garage
When the Jaguar XJ220 went on sale, it was the fastest production car in the world. With a top speed nearing 220 miles per hour, the twin-turbo V6 and rear-wheel drive supercar was top of the podium. However, it didn’t sell particularly well. But, that didn’t stop some die-hard enthusiasts from getting ahold of one, and one of those owners took his car over to Jay Leno to appear on the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage.
The Commander-In-Chin wasn’t a big fan of the Jaguar when it came out. When it was under development, Jaguar said that it’d be a V12 engine with all-wheel drive. Through the development process, it was determined that that configuration wouldn’t actually work, so Jaguar went with a lighter twin-turbo, rear-wheel drive setup. With over 500 horsepower, it was certainly no slouch. Heck, it’s no slouch even by today’s standards.
Eventually the McLaren F1 came along, stripping the Jaguar of the title of fastest car in the world, but even having that iconic title didn’t help with sales.
After driving, Leno seems quite impressed with it. The turbo lag adds to the fun, and with a light-ish curb weight, it feels nimble and on its toes. At one point in the video, he lamented, “I should’ve bought one when they were $80,000.”
To this day, it’s still the fastest Jaguar ever made, and will surely go down in history as a real collector’s item.