Guide: Jaguar XJ220 Pininfarina Speciale - a Historical & Technical Aprpaisal
/ Ben Tyer
BACKGROUND
During the 1980s and 1990s, the Sultan of Brunei and his brother, Prince Jefri, purchased an enormous fleet of prestige and exotic motor cars.
Flush with the proceeds of Brunei’s natural gas and oil reserves, the two men almost single-handedly kept British firms like Rolls Royce, Bentley and Aston Martin afloat in what were troubled economic times.
In addition to ordering high end machinery by the dozen, the Brunei royals commissioned a large number of uniquely appointed vehicles, often with custom coachwork.
Although fairly commonplace up until the late 1950s, bespoke bodywork for private individuals was practically extinct as the 20th century drew to a close; type approval and inflexible manufacturing techniques meant that the price of one off creations had risen to well into the millions of pounds.
To complement huge numbers of regular Jaguars, no less than 20 XJ220s found their way to Brunei between 1992 and 1995. This figure included 18 standard production models, the 1993 Le Mans class winning XJ220-C and a unique Pininfarina-bodied road car.
The Pininfarina XJ220 is understood to have been built on a 1992 chassis numbered SAJJEAEZ7AX220889.
Like many of the Brunei customs, in addition to its restyled interior and exterior, the XJ220 Pininfarina Speciale also came with a host of technical upgrades. Most notably, a Williams F1 paddle-shift gearbox was installed along with power-assisted steering, an improved cooling system and reworked electrics.
The engineering side of the project was handled by Italtecnica of Turin. Italtecnica frequently carried out work on prototype vehicles for companies such as Ferrari, Maserati, Pininfarina and Bertone.
BODYWORK
Cosmetically, Pininfarina gave the XJ220 a complete makeover.
The nose intakes were enlarged and more aggressively contoured. The original concealed headlights were switched to four individual lenses per side mounted underneath clear covers.
Two enormous semi-elliptical cooling vents were carved out from the front lid.
The cockpit was tapered towards the rear and two-piece side windows were installed.
At the back, Pininfarina created an elaborate double vane spoiler with a full width bank of headlights in between.
Body panels were manufactured by Coggiola of Turin.
A unique shade of dark green metallic paint was chosen along with a two-tone black and green interior.
INTERIOR
Inside, very little from the production XJ220 remained; the seats, dash, centre console, steering wheel and door panels were completely new.
White-faced instruments were housed in a sweeping binnacle that was integrated with an angled central console where all the switchgear was located.
Upholstery was a mix of green and black leather with charcoal alcantara.
CHASSIS
Aside from the aforementioned technical changes, Pininfarina’s XJ220 retained the standard mechanical specification.
Under the skin was an aluminium and bonded honeycomb monocoque complete with double wishbone suspension, inboard coil springs, Bilstein gas-filled dampers and anti-roll bars.
The ventilated AP Racing disc brakes had a 330mm diameter at the front, 300mm diameter at the rear and aluminium four-piston calipers.
17 x 9-inch and 18 x 14-inch Speedline Corse wheels came shod with Bridgestone Expedia tyres.
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
Jaguar’s all-alloy 90° V6 was fitted with two Garret T03 turbos, two air-to-air intercoolers, multipont fuel-injection with dual injectors and Zytek electronic management. Two catalytic converters and dry-sump lubrication were also employed.
Displacement was 3498cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 94mm and 84mm respectively.
Jaguar quoted a peak output of 542bhp at 7200rpm and 475lb-ft at 4500rpm.
In addition to this unique XJ220, the F1-style paddle shift gearbox developed by Williams also found its way on to several other special Brunei commissions.
COMPLETION
Completed in 1995, once arrived in Brunei, the Pininfarina XJ220 was registered BN 2138.
It has resided in the royal collection ever since.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Pininfarina - https://pininfarina.it/en/
Although it went up against the rule-bending Ferrari 250 GTO which was scandalously accepted into the Group 3 Grand Touring class, Jaguar’s E-type Lightweight gave a very good account of itself at…
When Jaguar displayed the XK120 prototype at the London Motor Show in October 1948, it did so with little expectation of sending the model into production. However, even in the gloom of post-war…
Based on the legendary Jaguar XJR-9 race car, this XJR-15 owned by Dr. Jasbir Dhillon was one of only 53 made and was the predecessor to the XJ220!
Three years after Jaguar had debuted the all-conquering tube framed C-type, the Coventry firm released arguably the most advanced sports racing car of its day. Based around a state-of-art…
As denoted by its ‘885’ VIN prefix, chassis 885002 was a left-hand drive E-type FHC. It was completed in mid 1960 as the second ‘proper’ E-type FHC. Together with the original FHC…
Having successfully managed Jaguar’s European Touring Car Championship effort with the XJS between 1982 and ‘84 (a programme that yielded 16 wins and the 1984 Driver’s title), Tom Walkinshaw…
Although Jaguar had officially decided to withdraw from motor racing a few years prior, a batch of seven specially prepared E-types were prepared for competition use during the 1961 season…
Watch Mike Hawthorn, with a film camera strapped to the back of his D-Type Jaguar and a microphone fitted, commentate his way around the famous Le Mans circuit in 1956.
Only two D-types were originally painted red by the Jaguar factory in Browns Lane, Coventry, one of which is this car, chassis XKD 518, currently on offer at the Fiskens showroom in London.
Motorhead magazine teams up with Luke Huxham to give you a glimpse into the life of three young, at-heart car enthusiasts who own three extremely unique Le Mans cars: the Mazda 767B, a Jaguar XJ220LM, and the already famous road-going Porsche 962C.
When XK120 production got underway in June 1949 (just eight months after the prototype had caused a sensation at the ‘48 London Motor Show), nothing could rival the new Jaguar’s combination of price…
Having been in with a shout of scoring an unlikely victory using an almost bog standard XK120 at the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours, Jaguar went all-in with a purpose built machine for 1951: the XKC (better…
Chassis 029 started life as a Pastel Green C-type dispatched to Jaguar’s West Coast distributor, Charles Hornburg in Los Angeles, on November 24th 1952. It was subsequently sold to Francisco…
After seven years of unprecedented success with the XK120, C-type and D-type, in October 1956 Jaguar announced that it was to officially withdraw from all forms of motor racing. Having won the…
With nigh on 30 years having passed since Jaguar had decided to quit top flight Sports car racing, the British firm made a big splash with a high profile return mid-way through the 1985 season using…
Whatever order you put them in, it is commonly regarded that the BMC Mini, Porsche 911, Volkswagen Beetle and Jaguar E-type were the most iconic automotive designs of the 20th…
Towards the end of 1987, a small group of Jaguar engineers began work on a road-going successor to the C and D-types that had won the Le Mans 24 Hours five times between 1951 and…
Chassis 046 was one of two XJR-15 road cars supplied to the Brunei Royal Family. Total XJR-15 production was 53 units. The Sultan (Hassanal Bolkiah) and his brother Prince Jefri, who was…
Although Germany was rightly regarded as the centre for super tuner activity from the 1970s through to the 1990s, a handful of British firms also created some epic machinery, one of which was Lister.
With a little over 12,000 units built, Jaguar’s XK120 was the most commercially successful top flight sports car of the late 1940s / early 1950s. Six years after the XK120 prototype had made its debut…
Although Jaguar had supplied a handful of competition-prepared ‘ZP’ E-types to special customers for 1961, a more comprehensively uprated Lightweight version was developed for 1963…
Chassis 009 was one of two XJR-15s supplied to the Brunei Royal Family, both of which were completed in road as opposed to race specification. This first example was configured in the only…
The fire at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory in Coventry on the evening of Tuesday 12th February 1957 affected around one quarter of the complex. Having started in the tyre store, it ripped through the…
On January 18th at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in Florida, one of the most famous movie cars of the modern era will be going under the hammer: Austin Powers’ Jaguar E-type 4.2 OTS Roadster…
Of the myriad machines that have claimed status of “Le Mans racing car for the road”, arguably none have come closer to fulfilling that mantra than Jaguar’s XK SS of 1957. When the XK SS was…
With the XK120 having rewritten the rulebook in terms of what could be expected from a vaguely affordable sports car, Jaguar understandably opted for evolution rather than revolution when it came…
Launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1961, the Jaguar E-type redefined what could be expected from a car priced at such a lot less than an Aston Martin, Ferrari or Maserati. In addition…
The JaguarSport Intercontinental Challenge of 1991 remains arguably the most spectacular one-make racing series ever organised. It comprised three events, supporting the F1 races at Monaco…
When Jaguar unveiled the XK120 prototype at the London Motor Show in October 1948, company boss William Lyons expected the rakish machine to serve as little more than a useful publicity…
Chassis 022 was the XJR-15 driven by Ian Flux in 1991’s JaguarSport Intercontinental Challenge. The three-race series offered $1m for the winner of the final contest and a Jaguar XJR-S for the victors in…