Motorsport
For 1977, the "Group44" racing team had a very successful season in Trans Am with a race car based on the actual production XJ-S chassis and running gear. The team won the series' 1977 drivers' championship cup for Bob Tullius but missed winning the manufacturer's title by two points (only one Jaguar was competing in the Trans-Am series compared to many more Porsche entrants). In 1978, a purpose-built tube-frame "silhouette" style XJS race car was constructed which greatly reduced the weight compared to the full production chassis car campaigned in 1977. This silhouette car had only the production car's roof panel as the sole piece of factory XJS sheetmetal on the car. Group 44 succeeded in again capturing the driver's championship for Bob Tullius and also captured the manufacturer's title as well, by entering Brian Fuerstenau driving the 1977 car at some venues to gain additional manufacturer's points for Jaguar. The silhouette car survived and has surfaced recently in the SVRA historic sports race series. The 1977 factory chassis race car is believed to still be in the hands of Group 44's Bob Tullius.
In April 1979 a Jaguar XJS driven by Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough was entered into Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, widely known simply as the Cannonball Run. They completed the 2,863 miles (4,608 km) from New York to Los Angeles in a record time of 32 hours and 51 minutes, a record that stood for 4 years, until it was beaten by David Diem and Doug Turner in a Ferrari 308. Diem and Turner covered the same distance in 32 hours and 7 minutes on the US Express, an unofficial successor to the Cannonball Run.
In 1984 Tom Walkinshaw captured the Drivers’ title of the European Touring Car Championship with a Group A version of the XJS, entered by TWR. During the championship season the TWR team had also won the Spa 24 Hours race with an XJS driven by Tom Walkinshaw, Hans Heyer and Win Percy.
By 1985 the TWR XJS' had been 'retired' and the team was committed to running the 3.5L V8 Rover in the ETCC. Walkinshaw had been to the 1984 Bathurst 1000 in Australia to co-drive an XJS with Aussie John Goss, but clutch failure saw the car fail to get off the start line. Walkinshaw was hit from behind causing instant retirement and the races first ever re-start after the track was blocked. The Scot was determined to come back and win the race in the first season of Group A in Australia and in 1985 the three retired Jags were shipped down under for the James-Hardie 1000. The cars were clearly the class of the field, finishing the Hardies Heroes Top 10 runoff for pole in 1st (Walkinshaw/Percy in #8), 2nd (Jeff Allam/Ron Dickson in #9) and 6th (Goss/Armin Hahne in #10). This time the big Cats got off the start line and Walkinshaw and Percy dominated most of the race, only losing the lead during pit stops. The Allam/Dickson car went out on lap 3 with engine failure while the Goss/Hahne car, the drivers battling a broken seat on the tricky Mount Panorama Circuit, sat in second most of the way until a split oil line late in the race cost the Walkinshaw/Percy car 3 laps and any chance of victory. Goss won his second and Hahne his first Bathurst 1000 with Walkinshaw/Percy storming home late in the race to finish 3rd, the two cars crossing the line in formation.
The TWR XJS Jaguars were next seen late in 1986 at the Fuji 500 in Japan in what was meant to be its Group A swansong as it ran out of FIA homologation in 1987. Against old foes in the BMW 635 CSi and Volvo 240T, as well as newer Group A cars such as the Holden VK Commodore SS Group A and the turbocharged Nissan Skyline RS DR30, Walkinshaw qualified his 'old' XJS on pole, proving how competitive the car could still be in Touring car racing. The race saw the Walkinshaw/Percy car leading until retiring on lap 6 with no oil pressure while the Hahne/Denny Hulme/Walkinshaw car only lasted until half distance before retiring with a broken differential. Despite not being eligible for Group A racing in 1987, TWR ran their two Jaguars in the 1987 (January) Nissan Mobil 500 in Wellington, New Zealand under special invitation from the race promoters in what would be their last competitive race. Neither car finished with Walkinshaw/Percy suffering diff failure and the Hahne/Hulme car cutting a tyre resulting in a race ending crash after fighting their way into the lead.
Aussie privateer Garry Willmington ran an XJS in the 1985 and 1986 Australian Touring Car Championships and also the late season endurance races. While he reportedly had obtained more power from the V12 than TWR, Willmington didn't have TWR's resources and suffered from reliability problems with results not forthcoming. John Goss also ran his own privately entered XJS in the 1986 James Hardie 1000 but electrical problems in the race saw him finish 24th with veteran Australian driver Bob Muir.
Today the XJS continues to be extensively campaigned in club level motorsport both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Best known of the race series is probably the Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club XJS championship, currently in association with Toyo Tires. Their championship has now been running for over a decade, offering an affordable entry into club motorsport in the UK, and continuing to attract large grids of this unlikely racing car. Cars compete in various states of modification, from barely modified road cars through to full race-specification cars built in homage to the great TWR specials.
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