This story comes to us courteous of CrankAndPiston.com writer Phil McGovern who covers the Middle East for the auto mag.
Taken in the Qatari desert, these photos of a Jaguar XJ220 left to languish at the mercy of the elements are wrenching to any lover of the model. The XJ220 was a mid-engined sports car developed by Jaguar in partnership with Tom Walkinshaw Racing. It premiered in 1988 as a concept car and was produced between the years 1992 and 1994. Only 281 were ever made.
The 220 moniker stems from the car's top-speed goal of 220 mph which it came close to reaching. The production version was rear-wheel drive that came with 3.5 liter twin-turbo V6 generating 542 bhp (404 kW) and 645 Nm (476 lb-ft) of torque. Quite different from the concept version which was fitted with a 6.2 liter engine with 500 bhp (370 kW) and an all-wheel drive system. For a brief time it held the record as the fastest production car with a top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph).
The car remains a classic and existing models usually sell for around £100,000 (€115,000).
This one, with its faded LeMans Blue paint, has likely lost a lot of its value. Even if it has only 900 km on the odometer. Ouch!
The circumstances behind the abandoned supercar are quite vague, but check out the Jalopnik source link below for Phil McGovern's account.
