This glorious-looking thing is the TWR Supercat, the first product from the revived Tom Walkinshaw Racing company that has been restarted by Tom’s son Fergus Walkinshaw. Just 88 examples of the Supercat will be built.
Supercharged V12 power
Tom Walkinshaw, a British former racing driver, had a long and storied history with Jaguar, winning the European Touring Car Championship in 1984 with an XJ-S (its hyphen still active at this point) that his TWR outfit, set up in 1976, had prepared. TWR was also the company that built the XJR-15 and XJ220 supercars for Jaguar, as well as the small matter of the 1988 Le Mans-winning Jaguar XJR-9, so it’s fitting that the 2024 iteration of TWR is starting life with this heavily reworked XJS.
Its unveiling has come ahead of a full dynamic debut in the summer, with the order books already open, but what we know at this stage is that the Supercat will have more than 600hp from a supercharged V12 engine. It will also have a six-speed manual gearbox for what TWR calls a “connected and analogue driving experience”.
New TWR boss Fergus Walkinshaw says the company has corralled some leading automotive technical and operation talent from the likes of McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche, Williams, Mercedes F1 and Renault F1 to work on the Supercat, with more than two years’ worth of development work having already gone into the car.
Carbon-fibre bodywork
This includes full aerodynamic and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) work that has resulted in the fabulous bodywork of the Supercat, very obviously a Jaguar XJS on steroids. That amazing bodywork is made of carbon fibre as well, to reduce the weight of the car and to ensure that it makes the most performance out of its mighty V12.
No further word on the technical specifications has yet been revealed, although TWR is happy to say that each of the 88 examples will be able to be fully personalised to each of its high-end clients’ wishes, while a “fundamentally reimagined interior” will be shown when the car makes its dynamic debut later this year.
The Supercat is reborn TWR’s first product for the 21st century, but it’s likely there will be more. Founded by Fergus along with business partner John Kane, the modern-day TWR also has Khyzyl Saleem onboard as the chief designer responsible for the bodywork, while consultation was also sought from former fashion boss and renowned car collector Magnus Walker.
‘Powerful, dynamic and visceral evocation of an icon’
Fergus Walkinshaw said of the Supercat: “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 drivers’ super-GT built from the foundations of the iconic Jaguar XJS and appropriately named the Supercat.”