‘We got the car on the show stand at 3am’
NICK HULL, XJ220 DESIGN TEAM
The XJ220 was Jaguar’s first and only production supercar. Young designer Nick Hull was involved throughout, from early idealism to production reality…
‘The XJ220 was to be a technology showcase: quad-cam V12, Ferguson four-wheel drive, flush glass, active aero. These were all limited-run production possibilities, so it needed to be road-legal, not a reskinned XJR-6 Le Mans car. In early meetings in [engineering director] Jim Randle’s oce, nobody had really considered the interior, so I seized upon that as an opportunity.
‘I wanted a cosseting interior, and the MG EX-E concept interior set a high bar I wanted to beat. The inset cabin and deep doors led to the idea of the instruments running around into the door, a reversal of the XJ13 and D-Type theme. The high tunnel was clad in a leather saddle held by button fixings, a nod to the XKSS.’
‘For exterior design the XJ13 was the obvious inspiration, but the ongoing sports car project, XJ41, was taking Jaguar back to its Sayer roots with very soft form language – unusual for the ’80s – and actually the Buick Wildcat and MG EX-E were influential with new mid-engined proportions and dark glass canopies.
‘By summer 1988 Jaguar was on a high, having won Le Mans, and the crowd at the British Motor Show reveal was mad. I was exhausted – the concept made it onto the stand at 3am after a 10-day dash to finish!’
‘When the production car was moved to TWR it was a mix of race engineers and production staff – the two found each other’s approach utterly ba¤ing! We needed to remove 400kg to reach performance targets, but the 200mm reduction in wheelbase [the engine switched from a V12 to a turbo V6] was the biggest change.
‘I’ve only driven the XJ220 once. I was intimidated by its width and warned it was easy to get out of shape. You wouldn’t want to face Tom Walkinshaw after bending one, believe me.’