Group 44's XJR-5; the car that brought Jaguar back to Le Mans ...
Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,
It has been exactly 25 years this month since Jaguar officially made its return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans after an absence of over two decades. With five victories in the 1950s, Jaguar ranked as one of the race's successful manufacturers but it was a private effort that took the 'Leaping Cat' back to the legendary endurance event. For many years American Bob Tullius had campaigned a wide variety of British Leyland machines, including several Jaguars, in North American events under the Group 44 banner.
Shortly after IMSA introduced the new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) regulations for the 1982 season, Tullius commenced with his most ambitious project yet; the development of a Jaguar engined prototype. With the backing of Jaguar North America, he had Lee Dykstra draw up an aluminum monocoque that used the company's V12 engine as a fully stressed member. The end-result was the Jaguar XJR-5 that was first raced in the summer of 1982. It immediately made its marque by finishing third overall and first in class at its debut. In the following years Group 44 raced in the highly popular IMSA GTP series with a two-car team. Numerous victories were scored against very strong opposition.
In attempt to attract more (American) entrants, the Le Mans organizers decided to also include a GTP class for the 24 Hour race. This enabled Tullius to bring his team over to Europe and compete in the event. Although the XJR-5 struggled at Le Mans, Group 44 scored a popular GTP class win in 1985. Tullius' efforts had awakened the racing spirit at Jaguar, which eventually led to two victories for the TWR prepared XJR-9 and XJR-12.
Today we commemorate the machine that was solely responsible for another golden era of sports car racing for the Coventry based manufacturer. Group 44 raced a total of 10 chassis of which at least two were destroyed in accidents. Our 18-shot gallery features five of the surviving machines and illustrates a detailed article of the XJR-5's history. One of the ex-Le Mans cars is shown back at the French track while the very first chassis built is pictured in the hands of Bob Tullius himself.
1982 - 1985 Jaguar XJR-5 - Images, Specifications and Information
Regards,
Wouter Melissen
If you should see a man walking down a crowded street talking aloud to himself, don't run in the opposite direction, but run towards him, because he's a poet. You have nothing to fear from the poet - but the truth.
(Ted Joans)
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Originally Posted by cmcpokey
