Ferrari F50 to the Jaguar XJR-15

Car Collecting Journey Ferrari F50 to the Jaguar XJR-15

Car Collecting Journey: Ferrari F50 to the Jaguar XJR-15

Recently I wrote an article on our experience owning a Ferrari F50 (The Ferrari F50).  Looking back today, owning the F50 was a watershed experience in our car collecting journey.  It both changed the direction, and has heavily influenced, all our car buying since.  The F50 firmly cemented several critical attributes we look for in every supercar we now consider acquiring: a unique driving experience, a carbon fiber tub and a mid-engine layout.  While there have been exceptions (911 GT3 RS) they are few and far between.  As our car collecting journey has evolved, owning the Ferrari F50 led us first to the Jaguar XJR-15, and then in short order on to both the Mosler MT900S, and Koenigsegg CCR.   Later it had a major influence when we first purchased a McLaren 12C.  

We had owned the F50 for a bit over a year when I began the search for the XJR-15.  With the F50, Ferrari’s objective was to produce a road car that was as close to a F1 car as possible.  The Jaguar XJR-15 began with a similar brief aimed at creating a Group C car for the road. The starting point for the XJR-15 was the Le Mans winning Jaguar XJR-9.  In my simplistic reasoning at the time, if a F1 car for the road was a great idea, then a road legal Group C car couldn’t be far behind.  As they both were build off carbon fiber tubs and powered by V12s, the logic seemed pretty straight forward.

Several years and many miles later, in my opinion, each car delivered brilliantly against my original brief.  How they got there is quite different though.  With the F50, Ferrari incorporated as much F1 technology as they could into a road car.  On the XJR-15, JaguarSport built a Group C race car and then adapted it for road use.  In fact, the XJR-15 complied with the 1990 Group C regulations and several have been successfully raced in the Historic Group C series.  This difference in development approach resulted in very different on the road experiences between the two race inspired supercars.  Whereas the F50 is docile to start it will warp time and space when you want to push it a bit, the XJR-15 is feral cat from the get-go. 

While highly demanding to drive, it is possible to do longer journeys in the XJR-15.  In one case, I took the XJR-15 on a 150-mile round trip to Goodwood.  Driving the XJR-15 was always an event and not for the shy.  From the moment you swing the ultra-light carbon fiber door open, there is nothing routine or ordinary about driving the XJR-15.  Getting into the car requires squatting on the wide sill and then sliding your legs under the steering wheel while you drop your torso sideways into the driver’s seat.  The driving position is offset towards the middle of the car and the pedal box feels like it is almost dead center.  Forward visibility is excellent over the clean clear dashboard.  The rest of the cockpit is trimmed simply in carbon fiber & Kevlar.  Four-point belt pulled tight, ear protectors on and then it is time to bring the beast to life.  First step is to turn the electrical system on, then you flip the toggle for the ignition and begin cracking the starter motor over until oil pressure reaches 2 bar.  At that point, the injectors and fuel pump get switched on and starter cranked one more time.  All twelve cylinders then fire in an angry low sub sonic boom.  Once wakened, the XJR-15 must be slowly warmed up before heading out.  To do so you hold the revs at 2000 rpm until the water temperature reaches 80ºC.  

Once warm, depress the carbon clutch and give it a decent amount of right foot to begin moving.  At 5000 rpms, rock the rifle bolt like gear shift back with your wrist into second and keep on accelerating.  This is where the XJR-15 starts to come to life.  Below 30 mph and under 2000 rpms, the XJR-15 is very grumpy, over 4000 rpm and 50 mph, it starts to come alive.  Steering is very precise and set up more for the racetrack than the road.  Warm the big AP racing brakes up and they provide impressive stopping power.  The fact that the XJR-15 only tips the scales at 1050 kg certainly helps.  

The run down to Goodwood suits the XJR-15 nicely.  The first part is mostly highway which allows you to stretch its legs nicely before hitting the twisty bits.  Other than a few towns where you have to roll through slowly in 1st gear, the rest of the road down is fast and flowing.  With a 6-liter V12, under 50 mph tends to be mostly 2nd gear territory, with 3rd gear used to cruise.  4th and 5th gear tend to only come into play on the highway or racetrack.  Handling, despite the rumors, is good with huge levels of grip on the right rubber.  I have never had the rear end step out even slightly on me, even in the damp.  Roll in the corners is non-existent and the ride quality while firm is not bad at all for a lightweight road legal race car.  The lack of insulation and sound deadening materials add to the race car experience and do take a bit out of you after an hour or two.  That having been said, it didn’t stop my son (Bad Driver – Bad Driver on the McLaren 650S vs 720S) from taking a nap in the passenger seat.  In summary, driving the XJR-15 was a unique highly engaging experience, unlike any other car I have owned.

At the point in time in our car collecting journey that we acquired the XJR-15 I was looking for another car to live alongside the F50 that delivered a very different and unique driving experience.  My enjoyment of the XJR-15 experience led directly to our acquiring both the Koenigsegg CCR and Mosler MT900S shortly afterward.  After the CCR though, the direction of our car collecting journey changed and evolved again.  More on that to follow.

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March 2020

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Supercars We Have Sold

Supercar Ghosts

Supercar Ghosts

With the McLaren Senna arriving shortly, I have been reflecting back on the different supercars I have owned over the years.  They basically fall into three groups; missed and would like it back, enjoyed owning but it was time to move on, and thank god it’s gone.  For the sake of brevity, I will only touch upon my top three in each category.

Starting with the last “thank god it’s gone” group, at pole position would have to be the Ferrari 456 GT followed by the Porsche 911 (993) Turbo with a BMW M5 (E39) getting a dishonorable mention.  When I bought the 456 GT, it came with a huge pile of invoices and I naively assumed that anything that could possibly go wrong had already gone wrong.  I was completely wrong; this rubber footed spawn of Hades was just getting going.  Every turn of the ignition key seemed to invite further punishment.  On those rare occasions when it did run, I found it under braked and overweight.  Both did nothing to help its case.  The only person sad to see it go was the mechanic I was using at the time.  The 456 GT probably put his son through school that year.  The 911 (993) Turbo was just not a good car.  On the autobahn at 150 mph, the front end went frighteningly light.  It would shimmer at high speed and just didn’t give you much confidence to push it hard.  On roads where the Ferrari F40 excelled, the 911 Turbo came up far short.  Add in a very harsh ride coupled with air-conditioning that would only work randomly and the 911 Turbo was not long for my world. While not quite a supercar, the BMW M5 (M39) has earned a place here as it was that bad.  The engine in the one I owned must have been put together after a long afternoon at Oktoberfest.  It drank both petrol and oil at about the same alarming rate.  Its appetite for tires was a close second to thirst for oil.  Add in a plethora of random warning lights, a clutch that suddenly died, and this was not a relationship that was ever going to last.

In a more positive category of “enjoyed owning” the top three would have to be the McLaren P1, Koenigsegg CCR, and the Mosler MT900S.  The McLaren P1 was an engineering masterpiece.  The P1 was enormously complex but was actually quite docile to drive if you just wanted to cruise around.  The biggest challenge with owning a P1 was finding roads where you could at least start to unleash its mind-bending capabilities.  The P1 both accelerated and stopped unlike any other car I have driven. Had it not been a hybrid with the omni present dead battery threat, it might still be with us.  The Koenigsegg CCR was always an event to drive and mine was completely reliable.  Acceleration was borderline terrifying if you really stuck your foot into it.  While not exactly the most polished car (the gear box was truly demonic), it did get huge marks in terms of being truly exotic and unique.  Somehow the whole package worked.  The Mosler is simply a great driver’s car.  Simple, focused, blisteringly fast, and perfectly balanced.  For just over a tenth the price, the Mosler delivered Enzo type performance.  In an era where all cars look more and more alike, there is no mistaking the Mosler for anything else.  

On the “I would like it back” list, the top three would have to be the Ferrari F50, Ferrari 430 Scuderia, and the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona.  The Ferrari F50 tops this list and I doubt it will ever lose top billing here.  The F50 is still simply the best driver’s car I have ever owned.  No one will ever make a car like it again and no other car sounds quite like an F50.  The engine is a work of art and that 6 speed gearbox is the best I have ever experienced. Nothing beats blasting down a back-country road in an F50 on a sunny day with the roof off.  On my list of favorite Ferraris, the 430 Scuderia certainly sits in the top 5.  Of the single clutch F1 gearbox generation of Ferraris, it is easy the best.  Great engine, great soundtrack, well balanced and with ceramic brakes that actually work make the 430 Scuderia a wonderful car to drive hard.  The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona was the first and probably the last semi restoration project I will ever undertake.  Patience is not one of my strong points and restorations require it by the truck load.  Once we had it all sorted, the Daytona did drive nicely and epitomized late 60’s cool.  The engine and soundtrack it produced have to be two of the best ever designed.  The Daytona was a demanding, but hugely rewarding, car to drive. 

The one car I haven’t included in any of the above lists but deserves a mention is the Jaguar XJR-15.  I’m not quite sure if it falls into the “I want it back” or “enjoyed owning” category. What I am sure about the XJR-15 though is it is a unique car unlike any other.  Many cars claim to be road legal race cars, the XJR-15 is the only one I have driven that truly is.  On the one hand, they are beautifully built and on the other, they are completely without any creature comforts.

As time goes on and more cars come and go from our garage, I am sure this list will evolve.  My hope is that the first group never changes and a few from the last group make it back into the collection at some point in the future.

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Jaguar XJR-15: Driver’s Seat

Driver’s Seat Jaguar XJR-15

Jaguar XJR-15: Driver’s Seat

Based on the Le Mans winning Jaguar XJR-9, the XJR-15 did not stray far from its roots. The XJR-15 is raw and quite brutal. Far more a Le Mans race car than a road car, it is completely lacking in creature comforts. When driving an XJR-15, full concentration is required at all times. Just getting into the XJR-15 is an event, and not one you will look particularly elegant doing. Open the right-side driver’s door, put one foot on the sill and the other on the seat, slide your left leg under the steering wheel, follow with your right leg and swing yourself across and drop into the seat in a single motion. Getting out is even more challenging. It involves lifting yourself slightly up, sliding onto the wide sill and then pulling your legs out from under the steering wheel while rotating your hips to swing your feet out towards the pavement. Once strapped down in the four-point harness, you then begin the multi-step startup procedure. First, crank the engine over on the starter until you have at least 2 bar of pressure, then you turn on the fuel pumps, and finally flick the ignition switch to fire it up. Once started, you need to put the earphones on. The complete lack of sound-deadening results in the cabin being a whole new level of loud. In fact, it is louder inside the XJR-15 cockpit than standing outside at idle. Slot the tight short gearshift located to the right of the driver’s seat into first (the XJR-15 is technically RHD but the seat is so offset that calling it a center driving position would be more accurate), get the revs up over 2000 and release the lightly weighted clutch. While some supercars are happy pulling from 1000 rpm, under 2000 rpm with the clutch engaged is not a happy time for the XJR-15. It is not an easy car to drive slowly. In fact, it is just not an easy car to drive. The thought of getting caught in traffic in a XJR-15 is near terrifying.

Once you are moving, running up the gearbox is both smooth and fairly easy to execute. Quickly mastering the gearbox is critical as it is all done by feel. The spacing between gears is very tight. Coming down from 5th, move the stick a couple of millimeters too far to the left and you are grabbing 2nd and not 4th. Do this at the wrong time and you will break the rear wheels free instantly. Once you build a bit of speed, the handling improves, and the steering lightens nicely. However, you do feel the XJR-15 is always a bit skittish and “smooth” is by far the best approach to driving it. Quick and violent inputs will result in a fast and likely very expensive swapping of ends. On a positive note, it does give you a lot of feedback constantly. Give it a bit of gas, and the power comes on quickly and the engine feels urgent. Getting past the national speed limit is easy 3rd gear territory at about 3500 rpm. Push it towards the redline and you are easily past 70 mph in 2nd. The gearing on the steering is definitely set up for the track and not the road. Moving along with a bit of speed, it moves through quick corners very well. Trying to maneuver in a tight place or parking is much more of a challenge. The suspension is tight with every flaw in the pavement gets communicated right up through the spine. Surprising, it does ride slightly higher up vs. other supercars so ground clearance is not as big a challenge. Visibility is actually quite good. The side mirrors provide some coverage both left and right. You can see back through the engine cover, and forward visibility across the wings is quite good. For a car it’s age, the AP racing brakes are quite good and scrub off speed effectively. The brake pedal is firm and progressive.

The level of concentration needed to drive a XJR-15, along with the cabin noise and heat, make for a very physically demanding experience. It is as far from a comfortable GT as one can get. Put in 150 miles in a XJR-15 in a day and you are left drained and more that a bit battered. It is good feeling though on a very primitive level. At the end of every drive in the XJR-15, as you slowly drag your body up and out across the wide driver’s side sill, you have the satisfaction that you have ridden the dragon and survived to drive another day.

Impressions from a Sunday Jaunt

I prodded the beast into life again shortly after two cups of coffee had done the same for me. It was the first time the XJR-15 would see the open road again in far too many weeks. I even coaxed my eldest son into coming out with me. Despite the long slumber, oil pressure came right up on the pre-start procedure, and it fired up on the first flick of the ignition toggle switch. Next came the extended warming up before heading out. On the XJR-15, you need to hold the revs at 2000 rpm and wait for the water temp to reach 70-80 degrees before hitting the road. It would make for a horrible getaway car. Everything warmed up right on cue and we were off on a 20-mile loop to give it a decent run.

The XJR-15 continues to get better the more it is driven, and the more you drive it, the more everything comes together. It is not a car you will bond with in a day or two, more like a long-term relationship that develops over many months. When it all come together, and everything flows smoothly, it is a unique exhilarating car to drive, really unlike anything else I have ever owned. As you roll down the road, all your senses are constantly engaged (or better be if you want to stay on the road). Raw, very fast, high strung, and beautifully designed for what it was made to do. Changing gears in particular is done really with nothing more than a flick of the wrist. You just need to appreciate it for what it is. While it is road legal, it is not really a road car. It is a very thinly disguised early 90’s LeMans race car. The steering is very precise, sensitive, and geared for a race track. The clutch is very exact and anything under 2000 rpms makes the drive train quite unhappy. Sound deadening is zero and the CF tub translates all noise directly into the driver’s skull. Put your right foot down and the XJR-15 takes off like a scalded cat. The 6-liter V12 is a very impressive power plant even by today’s standards.

This is a car that redefines raw and must be driven smoothly and with respect. One thing that struck me at the end of the drive when we were stopped, and I took a moment to look around the cabin, was how it reminded me of sitting in a fighter plane cockpit. It is tight but not uncomfortable, everything clearly marked and easy to read, good visibility forward and to both sides, and all the controls within easy reach with a minimum of movement. Do that and it is really thrilling to take out on the road……always highly involving and an experience. It is a car that is truly alive. A the end of the 20 mile loop, this time I wanted to keep going. Every time in the past, making it to the end has brought with it a feeling of relief ——-from surviving.

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November 2018

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Karen’s First Sports Car: Jaguar XKR

My First Sports Car Jaguar XKR

Karen’s First Sports Car: Jaguar XKR

By Karen

I used to be very conservative with cars; they were a means to get reliably from A to B. Think Honda, Audi, BMW…. then I met SSO. One day, early this century, I told SSO that I loved the Jag XKR convertible but I could not get my head around spending that much on a car. We discussed the pros and cons of getting one, he used his well honed man-math skills on me and a week later we bought my first sports car. It was a supercar to me but not quite in his supercar league (SSO had actually owned a Jaguar XKR many years ago for about a year).

My big Jag was navy blue with a black soft-top and ivory interior. Elegant but understated. The boot fit a Fortum & Mason picnic basket perfectly but not much else. I am not sure what the back seat was meant for. You could fit one medium size child sideways but only if the roof was down. And roof was almost always down unless it was pouring hard, very hard.

I drove my Jag everywhere, all the time. It was my daily driver for 8 years. Every morning when I left Cliveden House after my swim for the drive to work, it was almost always top down as I used the big V8 to dry my long hair as I cruised down the M4. In the winter, I got a lot of strange looks cruising along with the roof down; but I had my fur hair band, fur shawl, and the heated seats on. The only downside was when it snowed. The rear wheel drive XKR was not long on traction and I would go slip sliding away down the long driveway. As snow rarely accumulates in England, once you were on the highway, the road was normally clear again. I was in heaven and I absolutely loved that car!

Thank goodness for the extended warranty. I think over the multiple years I owned it, nearly everything had to be replaced at one time or another. The gearbox, the electronic roof mechanism (that was fun when it stopped working half way up as I was pulling out of a parking lot), the cooling system, alternator, basically everything except the engine gave up the ghost at one time or the other. My local Jaguar dealer was great though. They would pick up the XKR from the office and drop it back off. For the bigger jobs, they loaned me a car which in the UK inevitably was a standard. Prior to this, the last time I drove a stick was 20 years ago. No worries, bunny-hopping down Brompton Road in London was only embarrassing for our son. I could have caredless. Despite all the drama, l loved that car.

When we left the UK, one of the hardest things I had to do was part with my Jag. We sold it to a friend of ours, so I felt better knowing it would continue to be loved. Even today when I see a Jaguar XKR drive by, I always turn my head to get a good look. It will always be my first sportscar love.

SSO moved me onwards and upwards when we came to the US. We replaced the Jaguar XKR with a Maserati Granturismo Cabrio (GranCabrio in the UK) with the exact aesthetics (navy blue exterior, black soft top and ivory leather interior). The back seat area is slightly larger, and you can actually fit two adults back there in some comfort. We did find out one time that in light rain storms, with the roof down, while it stays nice and dry in front, the rear seat passangers get a nice water facile. The only challenge here is to enjoy the convertible year-round. It get so hot from June through September that you can’t put the roof down without risking a well done cranium. I still love it though, it sounds great, handles well, and always makes me feel special behind its wheel.

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