One to Buy: ex-works TWR Jaguar XJR-6
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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 the handsome new XJR-6.
Designed, built and campaigned by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) which had successfully managed Jaguar’s Group A Touring Car programme with the XJS, the Group C XJR-6 began a multi-year partnership that would ultimately deliver Le Mans 24 Hour victories in 1988 and ‘90 along with a trio of Team and Driver World Sportscar Championship clean sweeps in 1987, ‘88 and ‘90.
Impressively, as had been the case during the 1950s when the C and D-types reined supreme, this spectacular success was achieved against a formidable opposition as Jaguar defeated big budget rivals from the likes of Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan and Aston Martin to name but a few.
With TWR having built just a handful of these Group C Jaguars each year, opportunities to acquire them are few and far between as most remain locked down in major collections. However, currently residing at the Historic Cars showroom in East Sussex is a veteran of that debut 1985 campaign: XJR-6 chassis 285.
One of just two examples raced in 1985, chassis 285 contested all five events attended by TWR that season and scored Jaguar’s first podium of the Group C era thanks to Martin Brundle, Jean-Louis Schlesser and Mike Thackwell who finished third at the Mosport 1000km.
Having resided in several important Jaguar collections since its retirement from racing after the ‘85 season concluded, chassis 285 has proven itself a frontrunner in Historic Group C events and is being offered in superb condition throughout.
