The Strange Orphan Story Of The Most Successful Le Mans Car Ever - Jalopnik
Back in the '80s and '90s Jaguar ran an extremely successful racing program with their partner, a company called Tom Walkinshaw Racing or TWR. In 1991, TWR designed a new car for Jaguar for Le Mans' new formula. This formula required that all top-level prototypes had to use 3. 5 liter Formula One-style engines. What was so crazy about TWR's design was that it didn't just use an F1-grade engine, the whole thing was designed like an F1 car, only with a closed roof and full fenders. The defining feature of the XJR-14, though, was its truly colossal biplane rear wing. This is where it looks like the car's designer Nigel Shroud and technical director Ross Brawn borrowed most heavily from their predecessor, the great Tony Southgate who penned Jaguar's previous Le Mans winners. Composites fabricator Mike Fuller of the wonderful Mulsanne's Corner explains just how much downforce TWR was able to get out of the XJR-14, particularly when it retired from European competition and raced in the short street circuits of America... In typical IMSA configuration the XJR-14's downforce could be increased to 7800 lbs. Source: blackflag.jalopnik.com
