A Tribute to a Pioneer: Tom Walkinshaw and the XJ220 Supercar

News earlier this month of the death of Tom Walkinshaw immediately brought memories to mind: Le Mans 1989 and the Fast Masters racing series of 1993.

In the fall of 1987, I’d been hired as motorsports editor at AutoWeek magazine. Through our coverage of the IMSA sports-prototype racing series here in North America, I’d gotten to know Walkinshaw and his TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) team, managers such as Tony Dow and drivers such as Jan Lammers, Andy Wallace, Derek Daly, Davy Jones, Martin Brundle, Price Cobb, John Nielsen and the others who raced the Silk Cut Jaguars.

In 1989, I went to France to cover the 24 Heures du Mans. Jaguar helped arrange luxurious chateau-style lodging for photographer Rick Dole and me. At the track, to avoid distraction as the cars were being prepped and raced, the TWR garage was closed to the motorsports media. But when the French guards barred the door as I approached, Walkinshaw himself intervened. “He’s all right,” he said.

One of Walkinshaw’s Jags had won at Le Mans in 1988, and another would win in 1990. But 1989 was the year of the Sauber Silver Arrow Mercedes, which finished first, second and fifth. Walkinshaw did gain a consolation prize of sorts: His was the only non-German car among the first six finishers.

In 1991, Walkinshaw became engineering director of the Benetton Formula One team, where he helped recruit future world champion Michael Schumacher. Walkinshaw later became co-owner of the Ligier F1 team and then full owner of the Arrows F1 team (Walkinshaw, a native of Scotland, also would become owner of the Gloucester team in the UK’s professional rugby league.)

Meanwhile, he and TWR maintained relationships with several auto makers, at one point racing Volvo station wagons in the British touring car series and creating the XJ220 supercar with (or perhaps more accurately for) Jaguar.

Although the fastest production car of its day, the XJ220 didn’t quite live up to its advance billing. To hype interest in North America, TWR and Lingner Group (an ESPN-affiliated television production company) in 1993 created the Fast Masters series to put legendary drivers into identical X220s and let them race around the various circuits at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

The idea was to combine a sort of Seniors golf tour with an IROC-style racing series.

But the skeptics spoke up quickly. At first, people called it not the Past Masters but Bass Masters after the similar-sounding professional fishing series. Then, because of the ages of the drivers, it was the “Past Masters,” as in past their prime. As it turned out, the series is remembered as the “Crash Masters” because the old guys ruined a lot of expensive sheetmetal as they banged their way toward the finish line.

And now, like those XJ220s, like anyone who has lived a long and full life in motorsports, Tom Walkinshaw has bumped his way through his race and has crossed the finish line as well.

Read more from Larry Edsall at iZoom

Photo Credit: Andy Cunningham