Jaguar F-Pace SVR Edition 1988 commemorates XJR-9 Le Mans winner

01st June 2022

Bob Murray

It is said that 50,000 cheering Brits watched Jaguar win its first Le Mans 24 Hours for 31 years in 1988, the ecstatic crowd flooding the circuit at race end. The XJR-9 LM overtook all the Porsche 962s by the second lap and, after 24 hours and 394 laps, the car driven by Andy Wallace, Johnny Dumfries and Jan Lammers crossed the line first, ending Porsche’s seven-year reign at La Sarthe. It was quite a moment, and one worthy of…what? Of course! A special edition F-Pace SUV.

Seriously, while the new F-Pace SVR Edition 1988 might not cause a track invasion it will definitely stand out, thanks to a really rather special colour and trim job by SV Bespoke. But then you will be able to decide that for yourself when the 178mph Jag makes its dynamic debut at the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard at Goodwood. Before then it will be shown off at – where else? – Le Mans during this years’ 24 Hours.

You are unlikely to miss it thanks to its purple paint job and gold wheels – a combo inspired by the XJR-9’s distinctive Silk Cut livery. Officially the paint is Midnight Amethyst Gloss and it has been specially-formulated just for this car.

The 22-inch forged alloys are Champagne Gold Satin and there are more satin gold finishes for the exterior and interior detailing, as well as a satin black Jaguar leaper on the bonnet. Plus, of course, there’s the essential badging showing what number of the limited edition it is.

And how many of these will there be? The global production run will comprise 394 units. That’s right, there will be as many Edition 1988s as there were laps of Le Mans completed by the winning XJR-9 in 1988.

In terms of price, this new pinnacle of Jaguar’s F-Pace line-up will go from £101,550 plus options, but you shouldn’t need many of those. Special leather, sports seats, open-pore carbon trim, panoramic glass roof, head-up display and – most important – the 550PS (405kW) supercharged V8 and SVR-tuned suspension are part of the Edition 1988 package. 0-62mph? Four seconds dead.

“Edition 1988 started with our SV Bespoke and Jaguar Design teams taking inspiration from the iconic liveries of Jaguar’s Le Mans-winning sports cars,” Jag’s personalisation chief Mark Wilkes tells us.

“The result is a winning combination of colours, textures and features that celebrates sporting success while making the F-Pace SVR even more appealing.”