As Jaguar design boss, Ian Callum certainly left his mark on the venerable British automaker. Callum pulled Jag away from lazy retro clichés, creating an updated but distinctive image for the brand that has proven hard to follow. Now they’ve started work on a project that’s almost as ambitious: reimagining the Jaguar XJ220.
Earlier this week Calum Designs, Calum’s eponymous design consultancy, posted renderings of a neo-XJ220 concept on Instagram. only one profile view And rear-quarter angle were shown, and Callum Designs is calling this updated version on the XJ220 merely a “design study”, which is not planned for production. Its purpose is simply to show what the company can do and act as an advertisement to potential customers. It is also Callum’s way of marking the unveiling of the production XJ220 at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show.
Calm Designs has already tested the waters with a few restomod projects. It launched an Aston Martin Vanquish restomod to celebrate that model’s 25th anniversary, and consulted on Evoluto’s Ferrari F355 restomod. But this is a complete rethink. The general shape of the XJ220 is still there, but every surface is a little more dramatic. Sharp character lines curve over the wheels, and the angle of the rear end and windshield is more dramatic. The pop-up headlights have also been replaced with sleek modern lighting.
Since this is just a design study, there’s no word on what powertrain Callum has in mind. The original This was still enough for the XJ220 to become the world’s fastest production car, achieving a top speed of 217 mph in 1992 testing, but the switch still disappointed some customers. Only 282 were made over a production run of approximately three years.
Development and production of the XJ220 was handled by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), which also ran Jaguar’s highly successful sports-car racing program at the time. Following the unveiling of the XJ220 concept, Callum joined TWR’s newly formed design office, which would be the springboard for his work with the Aston Martin DB7, Vanquish and eventually the Jag. The Jaguar C-X75 that would have been the successor to the XJ220 was also designed on Callum’s watch, and Callum Designs eventually worked to bring that car into production. So there’s definitely a bit of history between the Calm and the XJ220.
Reimagined supercars are nothing new. Gordon Murray did it with the McLaren F1, Lamborghini did it with the Countach, and Ruf will sell you a new car that looks like a 1980s CTR Yellowbird. So if Callum Design decided to make this car more than a few renderings, there would probably be a ready market for it.
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