81gtv6
81gtv6 HalfDork
8/31/10 12:45 p.m.

Notice anything strange about the wheels?

Duke
Duke SuperDork
8/31/10 12:49 p.m.

They came from a Jag XJ220. I love it. What's the running gear?

oldsaw
oldsaw SuperDork
8/31/10 12:51 p.m.

It's a Ford Transit body mated to a Jaguar XK220 chassis:

http://forums.finalgear.com/general-automotive/xj220-powered-transit-van-at-goodwood-this-year-14585/

The Brits have a weird and wonderful sense of humour!

Giant Purple Snorklewacker
Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork
8/31/10 12:52 p.m.

That needs more seating!

JtspellS
JtspellS Reader
8/31/10 12:54 p.m.

Looking at the rear tire i almost thought it was a dulie.

Awesome.

81gtv6
81gtv6 HalfDork
8/31/10 12:57 p.m.

From here:

Heres the background It was built by TWR in the early 90's as a rolling testbed. It was lighter than the 220 & would hit 60 quicker! Top speed at Millbrook was 170 mph. One lucky engineer (Patrick Walker) used to take it home at weekends for milage accumulation. The van was built to drive in city traffic and was a very important part of the XJ220 development as they had the test track at Millbrook to do the high speed work but nothing would test the car in city traffic,and Jaguar would not like to have bad press with a 220 at the side of the road, so the van was built as a test bed for every day driving in gridlock conditions. It is basically an XJ220 with a Transit Bodyshell stuck on top of it.

It has the full running grear from theXJ220.

Heres a quote from the owner We look after seven of the pre-production cars,’ says Don, proudly. ‘The first two were nothing like a 220 and had scissor doors. The third was the first one to look like a 220.’ And what’s this? It’s a Ford Transit. Don explains. ‘We went to TWR to buy the last engine and some spares. “Is there anything else?” we asked. “Only the secondhand engine in a van,” they said. I thought they meant an engine on a pallet that happened to be in the back of a van, but it’s a complete XJ220 under the Transit shell. ‘It was an XJ220 mule. They were going to scrap it when TWR was liquidated but I rescued it. It looks just like a twin-wheel Transit apart from the XJ220 wheels, and it’s road registered.’ The Transit XJ220 once did 179mph around the Millbrook test track’s bowl, and it made an appearance at last year’s Festival of Speed in the livery of Goodwood’s usual Transit fleet.

mndsm
mndsm Dork
8/31/10 1:02 p.m.

I wonder if I can order that from Jag... or even a TransitConnect or whatever the hell it's called from Ford, +Ford GT.

Powar
Powar Dork
8/31/10 1:05 p.m.
81gtv6 said: Something so insane it fits right in here

That's awesome, and you're totally right.

4cylndrfury
4cylndrfury SuperDork
8/31/10 1:18 p.m.
JtspellS wrote: Looking at the rear tire i almost thought it was a dulie. Awesome.

Ed Zachary my thoughts...on both statements

alex
alex Dork
8/31/10 1:22 p.m.

Yeah, pretty much my dream car right there.

JFX001
JFX001 SuperDork
8/31/10 1:23 p.m.

Oof....amazing that it was hidden all these years...cool that it was saved from TWR.

GregTivo
GregTivo HalfDork
8/31/10 2:51 p.m.

Has Sabine taken it around the Nurburgring yet?

spitfirebill
spitfirebill Dork
8/31/10 2:57 p.m.
mndsm wrote: I wonder if I can order that from Jag...

They could probably cobble one up. Didn't they have a few XJ220s laying around after they couldn't sell them?

cwh
cwh SuperDork
8/31/10 5:08 p.m.

How could they not be able to sell XJ220s? Where do I send my check?

SilverFleet
SilverFleet Reader
8/31/10 6:12 p.m.

LOL, that thing is awesome!!!

Slyp_Dawg
Slyp_Dawg Reader
8/31/10 6:56 p.m.

now that thing is made of all kinds of win and awesome

mad_machine
mad_machine SuperDork
8/31/10 7:00 p.m.

hmm... maybe Ford GT under an econoline?

RexSeven
RexSeven Dork
8/31/10 8:39 p.m.

I can haz sleeper?

RealMiniDriver
RealMiniDriver Dork
8/31/10 8:56 p.m.
mad_machine wrote: hmm... maybe Ford GT under an econoline?

I just so happen to have an econoline, high-top conversion, even. Gimme a GT, and I'll stick'em together.

modernbeat
modernbeat HalfDork
8/31/10 9:41 p.m.

Don't you guys remember the Renault F1 van?

Or the Ford Supervan1, 2, and 3?

Woody
Woody SuperDork
9/1/10 3:33 a.m.
modernbeat wrote: Don't you guys remember the Renault F1 van?

Espace F1

In 1995, Renault displayed a show car called the Espace F1 (created by Matra) to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Espace and Renault's involvement in Formula One racing. Though it resembled an Espace with substantial bodywork changes, the vehicle in fact had more in common with a Formula One car. The vehicle used a lightweight carbon fibre F1 -style chassis in combination a carbon-fibre reinforce Espace J63-series body (as opposed to fibreglass on the standard model. Powering the Espace F1 was an 800hp (upgraded from its original rating of 700hp), 3.5-litre, 40-valve Renault RS5 V10 engine as used in the 1993 Williams-Renault FW15C. As with an F1 car, the V10 engine is mid-engined (as opposed to the conventional front-engined layout) and the power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a 6-speed semi-automatic gearbox, also used in the FW15C. The engine and transmission allowed the Espace F1 to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.8 seconds, 0–200 km/h (0–124 mph) in 6.9 seconds and carry on accelerating to a top speed of 312 km/h (194 mph). With the use of carbon-ceramic brakes, the Espace F1's deceleration was no less impressive that its acceleration - it could accelerate from 0–270 km/h (0–168 mph) and brake to a complete halt in under 600 metres (1,969 ft).

mad_machine
mad_machine SuperDork
9/1/10 6:05 a.m.

sounds perfect for the work commute!

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