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Jaguar XJ220 owners: you can now buy replacement tyres for your supercar

9 September, 2016

 

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“Produced from 1992–1994, the Jaguar XJ220 has gone a long time without new rubber — but that is set to change thanks to Bridgestone.”

When you look at the Jaguar XJ220 it’s easily identified as a ’90s supercar. Its wheels are too small, it lacks modern aero, and it has an interior almost pinched from a 1991 Mitsubishi GTO. The ’90s were a long time ago, and so was the last time Jaguar XJ220 owners have been able to buy replacement tyres. A scary thought considering the XJ220 is capable of reaching 349.4kph — and it held the Guinness Book of Records fastest speed ever attained by a standard production car from 1994 to 1999. 

Just recently though, Bridgestone announced that they have teamed up with Don Law of Don Law Racing to develop a new OEM-spec tyre for the XJ220. Something as simple as a tyre has no doubt hurt resale value of the iconic ’90s machine, so it’ll be interesting to watch the prices skyrocket once people start getting them out of their storage holds. The new Bridgestone tyre is said to greatly outperform the original due to the advancements in tyre technology, which will be exciting to see, and they’ll be ready for the car’s 25th anniversary in 2017. If you’re curious about just how big the tyres are, try 255/55R17 tyres up front and 345/35R18 tyres down the back — just bonkers. That’s 300mm short of one metre of rubber touching the ground, just on the back! 

The XJ220 was an interesting beast. Originally it was meant to be a V12 all-wheel drive, and after taking 1500 £50,000 deposits Jaguar changed their mind, dropped two driving wheels, halved the amount of pistons and added two turbochargers — weird right? This came at a time when only Japan was producing such vehicles, as European supercars were meant to be V8, V10, or V12, and, more importantly, naturally aspirated. 

Jeremy Clarkson once described the turbocharger lag of the XJ220 to be terrible, and demonstrated by putting his foot down and counting until the boost came in. When it did come in it was quick, and produced 400kW (550hp) and 644Nm (475lb-ft) of torque. The XJ220 would accelerate to 100kph in only 3.6 seconds, which even by today’s standards is seriously moving. The 3.5-litre V6 engine found in the production XJ220 was dry-sumped, had Zytek multi-point injection with dual injectors and Zytek electronic engine management — all way ahead of its time. The engine block was produced from aluminium, as were the heads. An interesting note is that the XJ220 would receive 8.8L/100kms, which matches most common commuter cars of today. Not surprising though when you think how bad the turbocharger lag was — it was probably never on boost! 

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.

The other Q car

12 August, 2026

Say the word ‘bond’ to anyone in the street and around 80 per cent straight away think of pop culture’s least-secret secret agent. The other 20 per cent may think of the wad of cash required to secure a flat or hire equipment that one gets back providing the fixtures and fittings stay much as they were.
However, mention ‘bond’ in specialist classic car circles and people will spin a very different yarn. If you dig deep enough, you will find an eccentric British carmaker that, throughout its 23 years in business, spawned some quirky and charming little cars.
The company was founded by Paul Sharp in 1922 under the name of Sharp’s Commercials Limited. However, the company did not start producing cars until 1948. The first car to carry the Bond name was the Bond Minicar. A three-wheeled, soft-top, two-cylinder eco car, the Minicar was a big hit at the time as the desire for an economical urban runabout that didn’t attract four-wheel car tax was strong in post-war Britain. All in all, 34,285 Minicars were produced over 26 years in a variety of variants.