Say hello to the TWR Supercat, a 600bhp, supercharged V12 reimagining of the Jaguar XJS designed by Khyzyl Saleem in collaboration with Magnus Walker.
The car is the product of two years of design, engineering and development work. According to TWR director and founder – and son of Tom, the man behind TWR’s original incarnation – Fergus Walkinshaw, it is a “true drivers’ Super-GT, built from the foundations of the iconic Jaguar XJS”. TWR is building a handful of Supercats, with an in-house-developed supercharged V12.
For the uninitiated, TWR was a racing team and engineering firm set up by racing driver Tom Walkinshaw. Although TWR would work with Mazda, Rover and BMW, it is best known for its Jaguar XJS touring cars, Group C XJR prototypes and the XJR-15 supercar. Tom would later become involved in Formula 1 through Benetton, before buying the ailing Arrows team through TWR. The debts accrued running Arrows would eventually lead to TWR’s demise in 2002. Walkinshaw passed away in 2010.
TWR’s engineering arm developed the Jaguar XJ220 and XJR-15, before moving onto the Aston Martin DB7 and Volvo C70 Coupé. TWR offered engineering consultancy to Saab, MG Rover and Renault. It also had an Australian arm, Holden Special Vehicles.
In 2020, Fergus Walkinshaw restarted the company, and the Supercat is the first fruit of that labour, with development input from personnel with F1, McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche. Limited to 88 individual builds in honour of Jaguar and TWR’s victory at the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours, the car has been designed by Khyzyl Saleem, who comes from an OEM digital and 3D styling approach, and has previously worked with the late Ken Block and Travis Pastrana.
Magnus Walker, meanwhile, has been brought in as a consultant on the Supercat project. He said: “As with every collector and enthusiast, I love the Jaguar XJS as an iconic expression of a British GT. TWR’s uncompromising approach to delivering pure performance and driver involvement takes this to another level.”
TWR says the Supercat’s development programme has used specialist proving-ground facilities engaged by the world’s leading performance car brands, F1 teams and performance specialists. This includes full aerodynamic and CFD testing, plus durability and dynamic testing that replicates highly dynamic driving scenarios on both the road and the track. The car’s body is made from carbonfibre, and TWR says each car can be individually customised; however, full details on the drivetrain is yet to be revealed, other than the presence of a six-speed manual gearbox.
Supercat prices start at £225,000 excluding local taxes (with a £10,000 refundable deposit), and the car will be made available to US and other international markets. The Supercat will make its public debut this summer, ahead of first deliveries by the end of 2024.
More details can be found here.
