There is very few production cars that can claim to be have been born out of a spare-time project, but the Jaguar XJ220 is the most famous of all. Jaguar's chief engineer, Jim Randle, dreamt up the idea of creating the ultimate super car one Christmas and fired up enough enthusiasm with colleagues to start a "Saturday club" to work on the project.

Built by a team of Jaguar engineers in their spare time, on their lunch breaks, after work, before commencing work, the XJ220 Concept was gaining momentum and progressively being built. In 1988 Jaguar CEO caught wind of the operation, and instead of closing it down and firing the employees, he embraced it, and embedded additional funding into the now Jaguar funded program. Rushed through from this point on, due to the fact the CEO wished to unveil this car at the 1988 Birmingham Motor Show as an official Jaguar concept car. The prototype XJ220 was an immense beast, mainly because it had to be accommodated around TWR racing components and Jaguar's massive V12 engine mounted in a central position. Still, Keith Helfet's aluminum bodywork design was a sublime piece of sculpture.

The response at the 1988 show was rapturous, and the affluence of the times persuaded Jaguar to embark on a production run. It was from this moment on, the XJ220 hit the end of the supercar boom market, crowded with unhappy future owners who were promised a V12, as well as various other incidents that cause what I believe is one of the greatest supercars to have ever been built....