2000 Jaguar F-Type Concept - Loves Labours Lost
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| The XJR-15 is easily Jaguar's most performance-oriented street car, if it can be referred to as such. |
Last week, during a drive through La Jolla, California, I happened to notice an ultra-rare Jaguar XJR-15 parked in the Symbolic Motor Cars parking lot. "Screech" went the brakes as I quickly pulled to the right and parked the car.
What a find. No more than 50 USD$1,000,000 XJR-15's were produced by JaguarSport with the express purpose of an exclusive single make racing challenge. The 450+ horsepower 6.0-L V12 powered carbon fiber and Kevlar composite 1988 Le Mans winning XJR-9 racing car turned road machine was a sight to behold, and even more adrenaline inducing when sprang to life, its abbreviated exhaust blatting out a ripping note, the automotive equivalent of industrial heavy metal. Only such an unbridled sound can result in a 3.1 second 0 to 60 mph run. Next to the 2003 F1 R4, and recent F1 cars, the XJR-15 is probably the quickest Jaguar ever built.
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| This glorious 1939 Mercedes-Benz W154 / M163 GP car is just one of the superb cars available for sale at Symbolic, and worth almost as much as the rest of them put together. (Photo: Symbolic Motor Cars) |
Inside the showroom a wonderful assortment of luxury and performance cars were on display. Some pleasure cars, from a brand new Rolls-Royce Phantom to a row of freshly minted Lamborghini Murciélagos, each with their driver's door raised in the air like an Italian salute. Other road cars were present, some quite a bit older such as the black on black Ferrari 250 GT LWB Spyder California. There were ex-race cars too. Michael Schumacher's championship losing (to Canadian Jacques Villeneuve's Williams Renault) 1997 Ferrari F310B was awe inspiring to behold in the flesh, while what appeared to be an authentic Ford GT40 MK V 427, which turned out to be constructed from original parts in 1990, was off in a far corner next to what looked like an unrestored 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B. The cream on red 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 'Gullwing' coupe was perfect as was a simply amazing 1939 Mercedes-Benz W154 / M163 GP race car - one of the prettiest GPs ever built.