The Jaguar XJR-15 LM was a marvel of engineering that embodies the spirit of Jaguar’s racing heritage. Its exclusivity, performance capabilities, and unique design made it a legendary vehicle among automotive aficionados and a true icon of its era. But it was (and still is) so rare than it’s almost impossible to find documentation or even photos about this supercar.
To tell the story of the Jaguar XJR-15 LM, we need to travel back to the 1980s, a decade when car design was radically taking off. While Japan was innovating with sports car, or in the US which was perfecting boring economy cars, let’s focus in on Great Britain.
Where the story starts: the 80s and Le Mans
The 1980s Le Mans races were a full-on war. Porsche was dominating with the 1985, 1986, and 1987 Le Mans wins under their belt. But slowly, under the surface, you could see Porsche slipping, desperate to stay at the top. In ‘85, Porsche finished first through fifth, all winners running the legendary 962C. Just two short years later, at the 1987 Le Mans, Porsche had lost two spots out of the top five to Cougar and their C20, and Jaguar with their XJR-8. The pivotal moment came in the 1988 race. Jaguar stunned everyone by snatching first place from the infamous king Porsche, with their XJR-9 LM.
Tom Walkinshaw racing (TWR) was the team that ran Jaguar’s cars in motorsport, and the road cars under the Jaguar Sport brand, a joint venture between TWR and Jaguar. They were the ones running the XJR-9 LM and so, with the newly gained fame from toppling the Germans from their throne, TWR set out to create a supercar that the XJ220 dreamed of being.
Here comes the XJR-15
This led to the development of the XJR-15. The story goes that wealthy enthusiasts approached TWR wanting a road legal XJR-9, which certainly wasn’t a thing. So TWR reused the old engine the XJ220 was supposed to use, a 6.0 liter V12, and stuffed it into the chassis that the XJR-9 used, creating a 490 HP beast. They brought Peter Stevens on board to help design the outside of this raging beast, the same Peter Stevens who designed the holy McLaren F1 later on, and he was given a blank slate to use his magic on.
Well, that’s the XJR-15, albeit heavily summarized. Interestingly, it came with a communication system with headsets and a microphone which both the driver and passenger wear to communicate, as that massive screaming V12 behind you isn’t the conducive to small talk.
Now, let’s talk XJR-15 LM. Information regarding this car is scarce online, which is personally makes it so interesting. This is, I feel, the most complete record of the car on the internet, creating a definitive guide.
- Jaguar XJR-15
- Jaguar XJR-15 and Jaguar XJ220
- Jaguar XJR-15
- Jaguar XJR-15
The next big thing: the Jaguar XJR-15 LM
So, as a general rule in life, there’s always someone bigger and better. When some rich gentlemen approached TWR to create the XJR-15, they weren’t much compared to an even greater deep-pocketed individual. This gentleman was going by the name Katsuji Tachi, a nightclub owner, who is also allegedly a Yakuza member. His desire was to create something even more extreme than the “normal” XJR-15. After some negotiating, in a nightclub, with TWR officials, the project was set in motion with complete secrecy. They came to an agreement to build 5 more cars after the original 53. This was the start of the Jaguar XJR-15 LM, which would come out for the 1992 model year.
The LM version featured a massive roof scoop which helped cool the roaring engine. This engine put out somewhere from 700-760 HP according to various sources. A larger rear wing, front lip addition, and windshield banner saying “XJR 15 LM”, hoping that if anyone literate saw the car, they would know what they were looking at, were also added. All the cars have different colored banners which helps, at least a little, to try to create a timeline of the cars. Besides that, you can see the occasional LM stickers on the car, most notably on the side fenders.
- Jaguar XJR-15 LM
More mysteries around the XJR-15 LM
The horsepower estimation exposes a three-pronged problem that often arises around information. One, TWR, and thus in extension Jaguar Sport, are no longer around. TWR went bankrupt in 2002 following massive losses after they bought the Arrows F1 team, and so this led to all documentation being lost. Secondly, the car was created in secret, and thus many details weren’t available to even the average TWR employee. Lastly, many who worked on the car have forgotten, or have passed on. All these factors culminate in knowledge that is directly verifiable, is hard to come by.
Sources conflict on which engine TWR originally wanted the car to have (both being various V12 variants), but Tachi wanted a 7.4 liter V12 from the 1991 LM cars, and so he got his way. Well, of course when you stuff a Le Mans racecar engine, which is serviced after every race, into a road car, which is serviced not as often, you’re going to have reliability and longevity issues. Going into the price for a moment, the car had a 1-million-dollar price tag, which, interestingly, was exactly double the normal XJR-15’s price. I’m sure these two factors combined led to the fact that they were never driven on the street, except for one of the five, a blue version.
About the colors
Talking about colors, though, really highlights the fog surrounding this car. Online, there’s conflicting information on the colors of the various cars. This is what we know that’s concrete: Chassis 001 was white and was featured at the Tokyo Auto Salon in 2020, making its existence unquestionable.
The rest of the cars, however, are much murkier. There is some combination of blue and green that make up the other four cars created. Based upon a grainy 90s picture of what appears to be the TWR factory, it seems to me that there are four green cars and one white version. However, that contradicts the existence of a blue car, which there is photo proof of. Online sources attribute either one or two of the remaining four cars to be blue.
Resurfacing at the Tokyo Auto Salon in 2020
I touched on chassis 001 being at the Tokyo Auto Salon in 2020, where the XJR-15 LM had its first public showing in the 28 years since its inception. However, there was a private testing session, most likely for the owner and his friends/family, which was done in 1991 at Silverstone where the cars were run on track and all seen together. The grainy pictures are quite amazing and a sight to see. From what I gather, this seems to be the last time the collection of five was together, as they were split up in Japan.
This leads into the car’s whereabouts now. The white car, chassis 001, was seen parked next to a Mercedes CLK GTR, of all cars, somewhere in Japan for a couple of years inside a seemingly closed storefront with glass where you could barely see the monsters hibernating in the dark. It recently resurfaced at the Auto Salon at an automotive suspension booth, however, no current information about its whereabouts is known. A green one was found in a state of absolute disrepair in some other location in rural Japan under the stewardship of a dealership. It sits there, showing its age with a deteriorating interior.
The blue one poses a puzzling question, however. The car blatantly exists, yet pictures have surfaced of it being stripped of all LM badging (windshield banner and miscellaneous stickers) and being driven on the road in the UK. Besides that car, seemingly sold off later, offers were made to buy the cars, in period, however negotiations fell apart as Tachi wanted too much, sources say.
Only one might be in running order, and even then…
It’s safe to say that most of the cars aren’t in running condition. Chassis 001 had to be rolled into the Auto Salon, and wheeled right back out, and the green car wasn’t in any condition to run. Doing an engine overhaul every couple thousand miles likely plays a role in this as well.
This was my attempt at creating the most descriptive culmination of information on these elusive cars. Seeing as interest in the XJR-15 has skyrocketed recently with many examples rolling across auction floors of many big auction houses, it only seems that these cars will increase in their audience, and most likely value. Matthew Ivanhoe, a respected dealer, estimated LM’s could go for double what non-LM’s go for, coming in somewhere at 4-4.5 million dollars. This just adds to the mystique of this car.
