Jaguar made its Le Mans comeback in the mid-1980s, first with American team Group 44, then led by Briton Tom Walkinshaw.

Jean-Marc Teissèdre: "In my view, the best-looking prototypes from the Group C period (editor's note: prototype regulations from 1982 to 1991) were the Jaguar XJR series. They were powered by naturally aspirated V12 engines, an architecture I loved during Matra's era. At the Le Mans 24 Hours in the late 1980s, you could hear two sounds - the roar of the Jaguar engines and the cheers of the British fans, in the kind of atmosphere you rarely see in motorsport. I was also amazed by the number of Jaguar C Types you could spot in the campsites. Only the British would dare to take bring that kind of car out in an atmosphere like that! That said, I'm sure some of them were replicas!"

In 1988 and 1990, Jan Lammers, Johnny Dumfries and Andy Wallace (Jaguar XJR 9), followed by John Nielsen, Price Cobb and Martin Brundle (Jaguar XJR 12) added another two wins to Jaguar's Le Mans trophy haul, on top of their five previous victories (1951-53-55-56-57).

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO Translated from French by Clair Pickworth
Photo: Copyright - ARCHIVES ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DE LA SARTHE, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY 11 & SUNDAY 12 JUNE 1988, THE RACE. A symbolic image: Jaguar (here the XJR 9 n°2 driven to victory by Lammers-Dumfries-Wallace) overtakes the Porsche and puts an end to the German carmaker's winning streak (seven runs on the trot); Jaguar would win again in 1990.