The TWR Supercat Brings Back The Jaguar XJ-S As A 600hp Restomod

If you were to say one thing about the TWR Supercat that’s on your screen right now, it would be; Ferocious! And it would be a perfectly sensible way to describe the Supercat, as it is based on the XJ-S, essentially one of Jaguar’s last V12-powered ‘Big Cats’. This luxury Grand Tourer was built between 1975 and 1996 to replace the legendary E-Type, but it never managed to gain the same stature as its predecessor. Now, leading up to the XJ-S’ 50th anniversary next year, the trio of Tom Walkinshaw Racing, Magnus Walker and Khyzyl ‘Kyza’ Saleem have taken it upon themselves to present the ultimate XJ-S restomod, dubbed the TWR Supercat.

Tom Walkinshaw and the xj-s

As mentioned, the XJ-S was in production for quite a while, over two decades in total, and was sold in relatively significant numbers. Jaguar put about 116,000 of them on the road, spread across three different generations and made it available as a coupe, Targa (for the US only) or convertible. A distinction between the coupe and convertible is the removal of the two small rear seats to give way to the drop-top, changing the XJ-S from a 2+2 to a bonafide two-seater luxury GT. While Jaguar offered it with an inline six-cylinder engine, the V12 was the way to go. Spiritually at least, as the 5.3 litre and later 6.0 litre engine made the XJ-S one of the last V12 luxury grand tourers built by Jaguar.

The XJ-S was also converted to go racing, most notably by the team of TWR, or Tom Walkinshaw Racing. TWR is a famous name both on and off the racetrack, although its competitive heritage far outshines the rest. TWR was founded in the late 1960s and started out by modifying BMW’s. The company’s first big job was to prepare Mazda’s Works RX-7 to be eligible for the British Touring Car Championship. On a bigger stage, the crew also worked on plenty of Jaguar prototype racers, such as the iconic Silk Cut sponsored Jaguar XJR-9 LM that won Le Mans in 1988, and again in 1990, this time with the XJR-12 LM.

In the early 1980s, TWR modified a number of Jaguar XJ-S to tackle European circuits in the European Touring Car Championship. Success was instant, as the TWR XJ-S won its first-ever race in ETCC, out-qualifying the rest of the field by more than 5 seconds! Multiple race wins followed, and it became the car to beat. The V12 up front was modified to produce up to 450bhp in its latest iterations, almost double the power it originally had in the road-going XJS.

The TWR XJ-S went on to become an iconic racing car, being able to win races pretty much wherever and whenever it turned up. While the car was made famous thanks to its green and white ‘Jaguar’ livery and colour scheme, the car you see here is the official TWR XJ-S show car from 1982 built for the ETCC and demonstrated by Jaguar themselves. It has been meticulously restored by the experts of M&C Wilkinson and is offered for sale (price on ask) over at Sayer’s Selection.

Walker & Kyza

Knowing the history of the road-going XJ-S and the race-prepped TWR XJ-S a bit, we can start unfolding the story of the TWR Supercat. To the uninitiated, the names of Magnus Walker and Khyzyl Saleem might not ring an immediate bell. But, each in their own way, the two men have had a big influence on car culture and design in recent years! Magnus Walker, a Britton who has resided in the USA since the mid-1980s, is a former fashion designer and entrepreneur. Next to that, he’s an avid Porsche nut and car collector. He has a profound love for the air-cooled 911 models and is known to customize them quite extensively.

Walker became a public figure in car culture after his life was documented in Urban Outlaw (see below), and he’s been featured on popular YouTube channels such as Jay Leno’s Garage, and even has his own platform where he showcases, you’ve guessed it, Porsches! Magnus Walker is venturing outside the world of custom 911s and such, by being the Design Consultant for the TWR Supercat that’s being developed.

Khyzyl Saleem, better known as Kyza, followed a very different path. Fueled by a love for cars from a very early age, Kyza reached global fame through his advanced Photoshop and 3D modelling skills. He would regularly showcase detailed work on all sorts of cars, through photoshopped images or even completely digitally created art pieces. Kyza’s work isn’t limited to specific brands or types of cars and is best described as wild and over the top, yet with a high sense of realism.

His online fame has landed him a few jobs designing cars for video games and such, and some of Kyza’s designs have even been transformed into custom one-off cars for exhibitions like SEMA in Las Vegas. This all comes together in Live to Offend (or LTO), the company under which he designs and crafts body kits and bespoke parts for specific cars, together with his business partner Eric Penelow.

The work of Magnus Walker and Kyza now comes together in the TWR Supercat, a car that is best described as a Jaguar XJS turned up to eleven, or possibly even twelve!

TWR Supercat

I’ve always felt that for a long time, the Jaguar XJ-S was a bit of an overlooked gem when it comes to classical British luxury Grand Tourers. It seemed attention would always be on older cars, such as the XK series and above all, the E-Type. But as time passes on, the XJS is a true classic and a beloved sight to see on public roads. The TWR Supercar, however, takes that sleek, low-slung design of the XJ-S and turns it on its head.

Gone is the stretched-out slender profile of the original car, and instead, hugely flared wheel arches, a massive front splitter, turbo-fan style wheels and an integrated rear spoiler make an entrace. It’s not exactly subtle as you can see, especially in this lively green paint job. But, and I will give the team that, it looks mighty impressive! The key styling elements of the XJ-S have been preserved, as it still has dual round headlights, distinctly shaped tail lights set in a cut-off rear section, and the signature buttresses ‘flowing’ from the roofline to the rear. Look a little closer though, and you’ll see these buttresses are now separated from the rear window section (much like the Ferrari 599 GTO) to channel air over the back. Add in side-exit exhausts and a rear diffuser, and you end up with the TWR Supercat!

And it doesn’t stop at the design, as the exterior is entirely crafted from carbon fibre, and the interior will be ‘fundamentally re-imagined’ according to the TWR team. Under the bonnet (it’s a UK car after all) will be a supercharged V12 with more than 600bhp, again, according to its builders. We have to take their word for it though, as no images besides the four you see here have been released as of now.

As always, prices for such special cars are quite literally astronomical. The very same goes for this TWR Supercat, as it has a base price of about GBP 225,000, before VAT is added. And similar to other such projects, each owner will no doubt have quite the list of options to go through, all at a premium probably. Things like special paint, trim options and equipment will up that price in no time! Just 88 will be built by the TWR crew, and the order books have already been opened by the TWR team. I can’t tell you much more about the Supercat sadly, as it is yet to make its ‘dynamic debut’, which is scheduled for this summer. Nevertheless, it looks cool, right?!

For more information, even though it’s limited at the time of writing this, please visit TWRPerformance.co.uk.

Editorial Note: The information and images sourced for this article are provided by and used with permission of TWR Performance and Sayer’s Selection unless stated otherwise.