As Jaguar design boss, Ian Callum definitely left his mark on the venerable British automaker. Callum pulled Jag away from lazy retro cliches, creating an up-to-date yet distinctive image for the brand that has proven tough to follow. Now he’s taken on a project that’s nearly as ambitious: reimagining the Jaguar XJ220.
Earlier this week Callum Designs, Callum’s eponymous design consultancy, posted renderings of a neo-XJ220 concept on Instagram. Only a profile view and rear-quarter angle were shown, and Callum Designs is only calling this updated take on the XJ220 a “design study” that isn’t planned for production. It’s merely intended to show what the company can do and act as an advertisement to potential customers. It’s also Callum’s way of marking the production XJ220’s unveiling at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show.
Callum Designs has already tested the waters with a couple of restomod projects. It launched an Aston Martin Vanquish restomod to celebrate that model’s 25th anniversary, and consulted on Evoluto’s Ferrari F355 restomod. But this is a complete rethink. The general shape of the XJ220 is still there, but every surface is a bit more dramatic. Sharp character lines arch over the wheels, and the angle of the rear end and windshield are more dramatic. The pop-up headlights have also been replaced with sleeker modern lighting.
Because this is just a design study, there’s no word on what powertrain Callum has in mind. The original XJ220 famously debuted in concept form at the 1988 British Motor Show with a V12 powering all four wheels, but was later re-engineered with a simpler turbocharged V6 and rear-wheel drive. That was still good enough for the XJ220 to become the world’s fastest production car, achieving a top speed of 217 mph in a 1992 test, but the switch still disappointed some customers. Just 282 were made over a roughly three-year production run.
Development and production of the XJ220 was handled by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), which also ran Jaguar’s very successful sports-car racing program at that time. After the XJ220 concept was unveiled, Callum joined TWR’s newly-formed design office, which would be the springboard to his work on the Aston Martin DB7, Vanquish, and ultimately the job with Jag. The Jaguar C-X75 that would have been a successor to the XJ220 was also designed on Callum’s watch, and Callum Designs has worked to finally bring that car to production. So there’s definitely a bit of history between Callum and the XJ220.
Reimagined supercars are not a new thing. Gordon Murray did it with the McLaren F1, Lamborghini did it with the Countach, and Ruf will sell you a new car that looks like a 1980s CTR Yellowbird. So if Callum Designs decided to make this car more than some renderings, there would probably be a ready market for it.
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