A Rare, Road-Going Jaguar XJR-15 Is Going Up for Auction Next Week – Robb Report

You’ll soon have the chance to buy one of the most exclusive and impressive Jaguars of the 1990s.

Next week, RM Sotheby’s will auction off a one-of-27 road-spec 1991 XJR-15. The rare supercar is a technical marvel that was inspired by the racers that got the automaker back to the winner’s circle at Le Mans at the end of the previous decade.

The 1980s saw Jaguar return to the top of the endurance racing world after a couple of decades in the wilderness. The marque won Le Mans five times during the ‘50s, but wouldn’t reclaim victory at the famous race until 1988 when the XJR-9 took the checkered flag. The win was the result of a partnership the automaker had struck with Tom Walkinshaw Racing earlier in the decade and would result in another Le Mans win two years later (this time by the XJR-12). Walkinhaw saw the XJR-9 and its sibling as more than just race cars, though. He thought they could be the basis for an ultra-exclusive, road-going supercar. Jaguar agreed and development of the vehicle that would become the XJR-15 began.

The XJR-15 set for auction, chassis 043, is one of 53 built by JaguarSport—a joint venture by Jaguar and Tom Walkinshaw Racing—between 1990 and 1992. Of those, just 27 were street-legal. The car’s racing pedigree wasn’t its only noteworthy aspect. It was also the first road car with a body made entirely of carbon fiber. This particular example is finished in Mauritius Blue Metallic over a Saville Grey interior. It was powered by a heavily tuned version of the 6.0-liter V-12 found in the XJR-9 that could churn out up to 450 hp. The car could rocket from zero-to-60 mph in just 3.2 seconds and hit a top speed of 191 mph.

This XJR-15 has spent the last 32 years in the possession of a single Asia-based collector. They immediately put the car into storage upon acquiring it, so it is basically in “as new” condition, according to the auction house. Because of this, it has just 153 miles on its odometer.

Bidding for the supercar will take place on Saturday, March 4, as part of RM Sotheby’s annual Amelia Island sales event. The auction house expects it to sell for between $1.2 million and $1.5 million. Another XJR-15, with just 1,000 miles on it, sold for $1.27 million at Monterey last year, so that sounds about right.

Click here for more photos of the 1991 Jaguar XJR-15.