The XJR-9 was the car that finally gave a Le Mans victory to Jaguar in 1988, after years of Porsche dominance. One of the XJR-9's that participated in the 1988 Le Mans 24 hours was bought by the Jaguar importer in the Netherlands. It was displayed in the showroom for years, and it was driven around circuits on a number of occasions. These days it's quietly resting in the garage. In 1995, we paid a visit to the Jaguar importer. We were allowed to do a very detailed investigation of the car, from both an engineering standpoint (as future aerospace engineers with a high interest in race car design), as well as a modelling standpoint.
According to the chassis plate, the car was a 'Model XJR-9, Chassis number J12-C-186, Build date January 1988'. According to 'Jaguar XJR Group-C & GTP cars', this chassis started life as the first chassis built in 1986, then an XJR-6. Later it was modified to a -8, and then to -9. Late in its career, it was used by TWR as a development car, on which the Le Mans package was tested. In 1988 it was entered in the Le Mans 24 hours as one of the two IMSA-crewed cars (apart from the three regular Group-C teams). It had number 22, and was driven by Derek Daley (Ireland), Kevin Cogan (USA) and Larry Perkins (Australia). It finished in 4rd place. The car we saw was still in Le Mans trim, with a low wing. It looked flawless, and my guess is that it must have had at least a thorough cleaning after the race.
