Supercat on the prowl

Photography by: TWR

Date: 01.07.2024

TWR has revealed its limited edition Supercat, with a price tag of $428,000 plus taxes, with deliveries to commence late 2024.

"the Supercat retains the unmistakable stance and silhouette of the Jaguar XJS"

The son of the late Tom Walkinshaw, Fergus, is the brainchild behind the Supercat which he began working on over two years ago. Just 88 will be produced, celebrating the TWR Jaguar XJR-9 victory at Le Mans in 1988. 

The Supercat is a supercharged V12-powered Super-GT boasting more than 600 horsepower and built on the Jaguar XJS platform. It’s the first of a new generation of cars from one of the most celebrated names in motor sport and performance cars.

Given their winning association, it seems fitting TWR has chosen a Jaguar as the first of its cars. The factory-backed Walkinshaw XJS Jaguars were victorious at the 1985 Bathurst 1000, with local hero John Goss and German Armin Hahne teaming up to take the victory, and Tom Walkinshaw and Win Percy coming home third. 

TWR’s performance and motor-sport DNA are obvious throughout the car, from the choice of a manual transmission, to the weight-saving materials employed and the exhaustive testing, development and tuning programme undertaken, to deliver an intuitive and dynamic driving experiences for enthusiasts wanting a truly connected and unadulterated driving experience.

Inspiration for the Supercat has been taken from Tom Walkinshaw’s work with touring cars, Le Mans racers like the XJR-9, XJR-15 and even the XJ220 supercar.

As individual builds, TWR clients will be afforded a full scope for personalisation. Therefore pricing will vary depending on individual specifications but will start at an indicative price of $428,000 excluding taxes.

The TWR Supercat has been engineered by a team led by Walkinshaw, who has gathered a group of technical and operational people from McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche, Williams, Mercedes F1 and Renault F1.

The test and development program will utilise specialist proving-ground facilities used by performance car brands and F1 teams, and includes full aerodynamic and CFD testing, durability and dynamic testing, simulating both road and track driving.

While the Supercat retains the unmistakable stance and silhouette of the Jaguar XJS, every exterior panel has been resculpted in carbon fibre. The material selected comes from TWRs motor-sport experience. The body development alone took tens of thousands of hours.

This result is significant weight saving, drag improvements and increased rigidity over steel panels. Delivering the mechanical dynamic advantage is fundamental to TWR’s promise to create an involving and analogue Super-GT experience.

One of the world’s leading digital and 3D car concepting stylists, Khyzyl Saleem, worked as design lead. His past includes many performance-focused OEM projects, including with the late Ken Block and Travis Pastrana.

Magnus Walker, designer, car collector and one of the leading figures in the contemporary automotive world, also consulted on the Supercat project. His experience as a collector, restorer and modifier of iconic sportscars was essential in delivering Walkinshaw’s vision to create a car built from the foundations of a Jaguar XJS, while delivering distinctive aesthetics and substance befitting a contemporary TWR car.

The result speaks of TWR’s clear vision to deliver a dynamic Super-GT that is equally at home on the track as on the road, with subtle nods to TWR’s long-standing Jaguar heritage.

TWR Founder Fergus Walkinshaw said, "After more than two years of extensive design, engineering and development work, we are proud to unveil the design of TWR’s debut product. The outcome is a true driver’s Super-GT built from the foundations of the iconic Jaguar XJS and appropriately named the Supercat. 

"This bold expression of the breed fulfils our mission to build cars worthy of TWR’s winning legacy, starting with this remarkable car as it enters its 50th year. 

"As order books open, we cannot wait for clients to experience the most powerful, dynamic and visceral evocation of a British icon that has been revolutionised from the ground-up to be ready for those that demand to be connected to the cars they drive, whether on the track or the road. This is the
TWR way and will define this and every future project we undertake." 

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