Jaguar has often been the manufacturer of the world’s fastest production car - the XK120 and XK180 triumphantly boasted of their top speed in their title. The XKSS was a road-going Le Mans winner whilst the XJR-15 was cut from a similar cloth. When the XJ220 broke cover however, it looked like it was doing 220mph stood still, and dropped the jaws of everyone present. It even slackened ones as far away as Maranello and Stuttgart.

Jaguar was riding the high of its recent Le Mans victory and the confidence was reflected by the XJ220. It was a clean, slippery shape - a UFO with alloy wheels and a number plate - lacking any of the excesses that had come to define supercars from the likes of Ferrari & Lamborghini, yet managing to retain all the important signature cues - impossibly wide, obnoxiously long and lower than a snake's belly.

The spec sheet had the Italians covered too. Jaguar's famous V12 engine had been bored and stroked to 6,222cc, gifted with four valves per cylinder and double overhead camshafts, a dry sump and made extensive use of magnesium. No official output was declared but the rumour mill put it comfortably north of 700bhp, enough to give weight to the name.

Meanwhile, the body was crafted from aluminium whilst the chassis used know-how garnered from Le Mans garnished with four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering and active suspension & aerodynamics. Inside the XJ220 retained all the luxurious craftsmanship expected from a Jaguar with a full glass canopy, leather seats and climate control. Compared to a Ferrari F40 it was the QE2.

The concept XJ220 had never been intended for production; it was the brainchild of director of engineering Jim Randle. Over the Christmas holiday of 1987, he put together a 'CAD' model of a potential new supercar - not of the computer aided variety as we know it, but cardboard. He pulled together a team of volunteers who worked on the project after hours, quickly designated “The Saturday Club”.

Two design studies were created, with the one sketched by Keith Helfet getting the nod for its futuristic aesthetic. The club eventually presented the mule to Jaguars Chairman in secret, who immediately approved its unveiling. The concept was only finished 24hrs before its debut and the marketing department hadn’t even clocked eyes on it - not something you can imagine happening today, unless you worked at BMW…

Reaction to the XJ220 was so overwhelming it was only