The ‘new’ basic Jaguar that is the antithesis of its electrical rebrand: TWR Supercat is a reborn XJS for the twenty first century

In the same week Jaguar unveiled a radical rebrand for its bold electric future, a small Berkshire-based car maker revealed the antithesis; a ‘new’ classic Jag with a roaring 12-cylinder petrol engine.

Within days of Jaguar bosses showcasing a controversial new company identity, logos and advertising campaign, which car fans have lambasted as ‘woke’ and ‘unhinged’, reborn TWR has showcased its limited-edition XJS Supercat.

It is a modernised take on the iconic XJS coupe, which was produced by Jaguar between 1975 and 1996. In its 21-year spell, some 115,413 came off British assembly lines. Princess Diana even had one!

Its arrival is a complete contrast to Jaguar’s questionable strategy; while the British car firm has irked traditionalists by culling all petrol and diesel cars from showrooms for the next year so it can go exclusively electric from 2026, the Supercat explodes onto the market with a thunderous 5.6-litre supercharged V12 engine designed to set petrolheads’ hearts racing.

Just 88 will be produced at a price of £225,000 (before taxes).

While executives at Jaguar conceded this week that it’s daring EV plans will see it lose 85 per cent of existing customers, the TWR Supercat is surely a car every Jag owner past and present would love to buy… if they could afford it.

The Supercat falls into the ‘restomod’ category; an increasingly popular segment that sees small car companies take classic models and repurpose them with the latest technology and components to bring them into the 21st century.

It is the first model from recently relaunched TWR, which stands for Tom Walkinshaw Racing, sharing its name with the former race team founded in 1976 and that enjoyed huge success with Jaguar cars on world circuits in the 1980s.

Orders have already been taken globally, with customers in the UK, US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East reserving a limited build slot with deposits of £35,000.

As is the convention for all restomods, it retains the unmistakable shape and design of the original XJS but adds to it with a wider body kit, modern parts and a significant boost in power.

Fergus Walkinshaw, director and founder of the automotive newcomer – and son of Tom Walkinshaw – says he is bringing the TWR name ‘roaring back’ almost 40 years after his father’s original company began ‘dominating the racetrack’.

It is underpinned by the same foundations of the – now rapidly appreciating in value – classic XJS but the brakes, suspension, electronics and interior are all cutting edge.

The steel monocoque chassis has been reinforced with carbon fibre to make it stiffer and more responsive but without adding too much weight. 

In fact, Supercat tips the scales some 165kg lighter than an original XJS V12 HE’s 1,770kg mass, partially thanks to its carbon bodywork and deletion of the two rear seats. It also get a revised tubular steel subframe.

The front suspension is upgraded with double wishbones and active dynamic damping – the sort of technology you expect to see on new Porsches, not five-decade-old Jags. At the rear is a multilink setup.

To enhance the car’s aggressive stance, the 18-inch forged Monoblock front wheels are complimented with larger 19-inch rims at the rear – a big increase in diameter over the seventies XJS’s 15-inch alloys. 

Stopping power is supplied by massive six-piston callipers at the front and four pots at the back.

But the Supercat’s real showpiece is hidden beneath the XJS’s famously expansive bonnet.

Out has gone the XJS’s standard naturally-aspirated 5.3-litre engine and in its place is TWR’s in-house supercharged 5.6-litre 12-cylinder unit with 660bhp and 730Nm of torque, which Fergus says will ‘deliver a visceral, immersive driving experience on the road and the track’.

It means the XJS has been granted a grunt increase of 375bhp (and 299Nm).

It’s worlds apart from the next ‘new’ Jaguar that’s due to arrive in 2026, which is a four-door GT car with zero emissions.

To turn the V12 XJS into a proper driver’s car, the Berkshire brand has married its potent powerplant to a six-speed manual gearbox with a limited slip differential, throwing out the original’s lacklustre three-speed auto.

With so much power being sent to just the rear wheels, TWR has wisely furnished it with a five-level programmable traction control system as well as launch control and five adaptable driving modes.

While the Berkshire bespoke car maker hasn’t confirmed its zero-to-62mph acceleration time – or its top speed – the company promises it will be the ‘perfect tool for driving to the Nürburgring’.

Tasteful upgrades have been introduced inside, too.

It gets two carbon-backed sports seats with power adjustment, a touchscreen infotainment display featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a new digital instrument cluster.

Many of the controls have been LED-illuminated, while the switchgear, gearstick and rotary knobs are formed from heavy-duty metal to give it an old-school feel. 

Combined with a leather-clad dashboard and XJS four-spoke steering wheel, it’s a tasteful nod back to the original.

While Jaguar execs have said they expect just 15 per cent of existing customers to get on board with its new brand identity and EV exclusivity from 2026, we’re sure the remaining 85 per cent of Jag owners would much prefer to own this instead.

The only problem will be the enormous price tag – more than double that of the fully-electric four-door GT car Jaguar has promised for 2026 – and its limited availability. 

A brief history of Tom Walkinshaw Racing

TWR was first established in 1976 by founder Tom Walkinshaw.

The Scotsman cut his teeth in domestic Formula Ford championships (winning the Scottish title in 1968) before graduating in 1970 to British Formula Three with Lotus and later went on to make appearances in Formula Two and Formula 5000.

However, Walkinshaw’s big break came in 1974 when Ford’s British Touring Car Championship team came calling to drive its works Capri in the intensely popular series, where he took a class win in the first season.

Just two years later, he had setup his own Tom Walkinshaw Racing team out of Kidlington, England, to showcase his special talent for turning out very fast racing machinery.

Having originally competed with BMW and Mazda models, his relationship with Jaguar blossomed in 1982 when he turned his skills to the sleek XJS coupe. 

In 1984, the team lifted the European Touring Car Championship crown with the British sports car, as well as securing Walkinshaw’s second first-place finish at Spa 24 Hours.

He even took the XJS to the famous Bathurst 1000, treating racing fans from down under to a cacophony of 12-cylinder chorus from the Jag. 

By the late eighties, TWR had become a major player on the competition scene, with Jaguar entrusting Walkinshaw to run its operations in sports car championships, where he was team principal for the lengendary purple-and-white Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-9 squad that secured back-to-back WSCC titles in 1987 and ’88.

In 1988 and ’99, the iconic-livery Jags took overall victory at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans before the British marque pulled out of sports car racing entirely.

Walkinshaw stepped into the Formula 1 paddock as head of engineering for the Benetton team in 1991, where he worked alongside fresh-faced German talent, Michael Schumacher.

During the same period, his TWR team was still operating domestically and in 1994 was the mastermind behind arguably one of the most iconic British Touring Car Championship entries ever: the Volvo 850 Estate. 

Unfortunately, TWR met its demise in the early 2000s after Walkinshaw had twice attempted to buy a bigger stake in the F1 paddock.

He originally made a failed bid to buy a majority stake in Ligier and in 1996 purchased the Arrows team, which ended up being a financial stretch too far.

The team’s collapse in 2002 would lead to the sale of most of TWR’s assets. 

TWR also had a major involvement in the development of a number of cult road cars, including the Jaguar XJ220 supercar, Renault’s Clio V6 hot hatch and playing a pivotal part in the development of the Aston Martin DB7 – the car that single-handedly saved the British brand in the 1990s. 

Cars and motorsport wasn’t Walkinshaw’s only passion; in 1997 he bought rugby union side Gloucester Rugby. The team’s only three Premiership titles came under his stewardship in 2002-03, 2006-07 and 2007-08. 

Walkinshaw died on 12 December 2010, aged 64, from complications arising from cancer.

His name lives on under the TWR brand, now steered by son Fergus.