Jaguar XJR-11 #189 – Widescreen gallery

By Marcel Hundscheid / Speed-O-Graphica

Take a few minutes to get to know this Group C beauty from the eighties, the Jaguar XJR-11 with a widescreen gallery by Marcel Hundscheid of Speed-O-Graphica.

Tony Southgate and Ross Brawn designed a new chassis for the 1989 World Sportscar Championship to accommodate a compact V6-engine. For the American IMSA-Series a 3-litre turbo engine was developed, while a 3.5-litre turbo engine was created for Group C. Both engines were based on the V6 used in the MG Rover 6R4 Group B rally car.

Southgate created the Jaguar XJR-10 for the American IMSA-championship with the Group C sister car known as the XJR-11.

Dutchman Jan Lammers debuted the XJR-10 back in May 1991 at Lime Rock, part of the American IMSA Championship. In IMSA configuration, the 3-litre engine produced around 650 hp and in the hands of Lammers the XJR-10 finished second.

In Group C configuration, the 3.5-litre turbocharged V6 engine produced around 750 hp. Due to reliability problems success was limited to just a single victory in May 1990. Just three chassis were produced, including #189, #490 and #590.

Pictured here is chassis number 189 – the very first XJR-11 built. Frenchman Patrick Tambay and Jan Lammers from the Netherlands debuted this car at Brands Hatch. Despite grabbing pole position they finished in fifth place.