Callum's modern Jaguar XJ220 now has a wild GT1 racer version, and a catch
A track-bred yellow monster joins the reborn XJ220 story
We loved Callum Design's reimagined Jaguar XJ220, and now there is more. Alongside the silver road concept we showed you, the studio has revealed a full-on GT1 racer version in vivid yellow, and dropped a key detail: this could actually be built on real XJ220s. Suddenly, this dream feels a fraction closer to reality.
Meet the XJ220 GT1
The headline of this second wave is the XJ220 GT1, a race-inspired homage to the great GT cars of the past. Finished in vivid yellow, it piles on the aggression with a large front splitter and canards, more aggressive side skirts, a massive rear wing and a new wheel design. Modern LED headlights replace the original's pop-up units, and almost every panel, from the fenders and doors to the decklid, diffuser and bumper, has been reworked, with enlarged side air intakes feeding the aero. The flowing silhouette and signature scuttle remain, so it still reads as an XJ220 at a glance.
The silver road car, in a fitting colour
The road-going concept, meanwhile, is shown in Spa Silver, the very colour the original XJ220 wore at its launch, a lovely nod to history. It keeps the reimagined car's sharper rear arches and steeper roofline, along with the treasured egg-shaped side windows and flank cooling vents. If we are nitpicking, the horizontal LED tail-light strip is a slightly generic touch on an otherwise gorgeous shape, but that is a very small complaint.
The catch: it needs a donor car
Here is the important new detail. Callum has made clear that turning this study into reality would mean rebuilding existing cars, and the studio needs at least one current XJ220 owner willing to hand over their car and watch it be transformed. That is a big ask given how valuable and rare original XJ220s are. Callum Design has form here, though: it previously turned two of the four Jaguar C-X75 prototypes into fully street-legal supercars, so it clearly has the skill to pull it off.
Still a study, for now
As with the first reveal, this remains a design study with no guaranteed production, no pricing and no confirmed final powertrain. The original XJ220 used a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 with around 542 hp, briefly making it the fastest production car in the world, and while there has been talk of an alternative V12, nothing has been decided. A fuller reveal is expected around October, marking the 35th anniversary of the original's 1991 Tokyo motor show debut.
AutoNext Take
The GT1 pushes our enthusiasm from admiration into full-blown longing. A track-focused, yellow-clad XJ220 with proper aero is the kind of thing that belongs on a bedroom wall, and knowing Callum would build these on real cars, with the C-X75 project as proof of concept, makes it feel tantalisingly plausible. The obstacle is beautifully old-fashioned: someone has to be brave, or mad, enough to donate a genuine XJ220. We really hope one owner takes the plunge, because the world would be a better place with reborn XJ220s in it. Callum, we are cheering you on.
This builds on our look at the reimagined Jaguar XJ220. Reborn icons are everywhere: see the Maturo 308 Stradale and Touring's Veloce12 Aperta.
