Page 37 - On the Prowl: The Definitive History of the Walkinshaw Jaguar Sports Car Team

ON THE PROWL
Appendix 1: Chassis Histories
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7/17/88 Road
America
66 DNS (Spare car)
7/31/88 Portland 66 DNS (Spare car)
8/13/88 Sears Point 66 DNS (Spare car)
9/4/88 San Antonio 60 2nd Watson, Jones
10/2/88 Columbus 60 10th Lammers,
Jones, Nielsen
10/23/88 Del Mar 61 1st Lammers,
Brundle
2/5/89 Daytona 66 DNF (Accident) Daly, Tambay,
Donnelly
3/5/89 Miami 66 DNS (Spare car)
3/18/89 Sebring 66 DNS (Spare car)
4/2/89 Road
Atlanta
66 DNS (Spare car) Jones
In the summer of 1987, the pressure was on to build the first of the
1988 cars, especially given the need to build enough chassis for two
separate programs in the WSPC and IMSA.
TWR opted to re-purpose an existing car, #386. Testing notes from
the time show the car listed initially as #386, then days later as #188.
To this day, the chassis still has the mounting points for the 1987-era
gullwing doors.
The build occurred in July and August, and Jan Lammers gave #188
its maiden run at Silverstone on August 20th
.
It was shipped out to the USA where it was the center of attention in
the October launch of TWR’s IMSA program in New York’s Central Park.
The car raced twice in the US before forming part of the Le Mans assault.
#188 then returned to IMSA to serve as a spare but was drafted into
action in San Antonio when one of the race cars had a practice crash
and was returned to the UK for repairs.
In 1989 it served as the third car at Daytona and the spare in the next
three races before it suffered its own practice crash at Road Atlanta and
was permanently retired.
Internal documents indicate that this car was to be renumbered
in 1990 as part of the rebuild and resale program, most likely to #790.
It never ran that year, so it doesn’t appear as though the renumbering
occurred. Other sources, including TWR documents, have indicated that
this chassis formed the basis of the first XJR-9-based styling prototype
of the eventual XJR-15 road racer, codenamed “R9R” (there was more
than one R9R prototype, including one XJR-15-shaped car that is seen
frequently in public to this day). It was then likely converted back to its
original 1988 Le Mans spec in preparation for sale.
TWR sold #188 to Guatemalan coffee tycoon and car collector
Manfredo Lippmann. He placed it into the Imperial Palace hotel’s car
museum in Las Vegas, which was actually a consignment showroom in
disguise. In 2007 it was purchased by Derek Hood’s JD Classics. Hood
raced the car himself in the 2008 Le Mans support race and then tasked
Alex Buncombe with the same at Le Mans in 2010, finishing twentieth.
The next year it became part of Derek Hood’s infamous transaction with
Michael Tuke. While in Tuke’s care, Andy Wallace piloted the car at the
(Justin Law)
Goodwood Festival of Speed, but eventually Tuke offloaded the car for
£1.25 million via the broker Sam Thomas.
The most recent custodian of #188 is Jon Minshaw, one of the owners
of the Demon Tweeks automotive performance parts company. He has
run the car at Spa, Donington and Paul Ricard, but its most notable outing
was victory at the Le Mans Classic in 2022, co-driven by Minshaw and
Phil Keen. They returned again in 2023 as part of an enormous forty-five-
car grid.
288/1090 Build date: September 1987
Model type: XJR-9 / XJR-12
RACE HISTORY
Date Track # Result (Reason) Drivers
1/31/88 Daytona 60 1st Brundle,
Nielsen, Boesel,
Lammers
2/28/88 Miami 60 2nd Brundle, Nielsen
3/19/88 Sebring 60 DNF (Engine) Brundle,
Nielsen, Boesel
4/10/88 Road
Atlanta
60 2nd Watson, Nielsen
4/24/88 West Palm
Beach
60 DNF (Transmission) Brundle, Nielsen
5/30/88 Lime Rock 60 2nd Brundle, Nielsen
6/5/88 Mid-Ohio 60 2nd Brundle, Nielsen
7/3/88 Watkins
Glen
60 DNF (Engine) Brundle, Nielsen
7/17/88 Road
America
60 4th Brundle, Nielsen
7/31/88 Portland 60 3rd Brundle, Nielsen
8/13/88 Sears Point 60 2nd Brundle, Nielsen
9/4/88 San Antonio 66 10th Nielsen, Wallace
10/2/88 Columbus 66 DNF (Accident) Brundle, Nielsen
10/23/88 Del Mar 60 DNS (Accident) Nielsen
2/5/89 Daytona 60 DNF (Engine) Lammers,
Jones, Boesel
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