Headling Russo and Steele’s 13th Annual Sports and Muscle in Monterey auction during this August’s Classic Car Week will be a one-off Jaguar XJR-4 designed and constructed by Group 44 to carry Jaguar’s colors into both the SCCA’s Trans-Am Series and IMSA’s GTO championship in the early 1980s. A fully tube-framed XJS “silhouette” car, the XJR-4 was powered by a 600-horsepower, Weber-carbureted Jaguar V12 engine with dry-sump lubrication. It also featured fully independent suspension and a lightweight steel and aluminum bodyshell.
During the hard-fought 1981 Trans-Am season, Group 44 boss Bob Tullius wheeled the lone XJR-4 to three victories and one 2nd-place finish against a horde of Corvettes. At the 1982 running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the XJR-4 became the first Jaguar in years to contest an international race, becoming famous as the “World’s Fastest XJS” by reaching 194.46 mph on the Daytona banking. Now fully restored, the Big Cat carries HSR, SVRA and VARAC credentials and is accompanied by spares, logbooks and racing setup sheets from its Group 44 days.
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