A crazy thing happened about a month ago here in Toronto. A Jaguar XJ220s was spotted on a transport truck with plates from the United Kindgom.
Photos of the car spread pretty quickly via social media and everyone began to wonder what the back story behind the car was.
Somewhat surprisingly the Jag began to get spotted quite frequently all of the GTA. Yorkville, Pickering, Mississauga, not only did the owner bring this car into the city, he was intent on actually driving it.
Without knowing it he did quite a service to mid 80s/90s born enthusiasts who lusted after this car but never saw one.
The car and I played a bit of a game of “Polkaroo” as it and I were never in the same place at the same time. I began to think that everyone would see the car but myself.
Thankfully at last weekend’s Oblivion II Show it was parked in front of the Hagerty Insurance booth.
The car is a mighty impressive beast in person and the owner was kind enough to give me a bit of a rundown. First, to settle some debate it is an XJ220S 100%. However it is not one of the original TWR produced cars, but rather a later one build by Don Law Racing.
Don Law is basically they guy for XJ220’s at this point so having one of his S models is as good as having one of the originals. Don adds the new front and rear fascias, replaces the turbos, and re-tunes the motor.
Said and done it’s quite a step up over the factory spec cars.
According to the owner, it’s actually a fairly drive-able car, now. He had to get a bit of work done to the car prior to shipping it over but at this point it’s very road going.
He actually also said that it surprisingly has pretty civil road going manners. His exact words were pretty close to “it’s not like commuting in a Civic but it isn’t unhappy to be driven around”.
Given that many who own cars like this would rather opt to keep the car locked away allowing it to appreciate while it mechanically deteriorates, I’m happy this one not only enjoys the car, but brings it out to venues where the general public can enjoy it as well.
Hat tip to the owner for being a true enthusiast with great taste.
That’s nice. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an XJ220 in any color but silver. Does Canada have an age exclusion for importing vehicles like the US?
We do yeah, though I think ours is a little bit more lenient.