Junkyard Gem: 1995 Jaguar XJR

It’s not too difficult to find discarded examples of the supercharged-V8-powered Jaguar XJR of the X308 generation, but the earlier X300-based XJR with its blown straight-six is a much more elusive Junkyard Gem. Here’s one that just turned up in a Denver self-service knacker’s yard.

For many years, the Denver Pick Your Part was a funky, muddy operation on an industrial stretch of Federal Boulevard. I bought a lot of parts for various projects and documented dozens of discarded vehicles for this series there. On April first, LKQ moved that operation to a brand-new location a half-mile away and I showed up early to experience the grand opening.

I’ll miss the old Denver Pick Your Part, even with the treacherous footing, but sometimes even junkyards get junked.

The new location is set in a vast asphalt parking lot, which should make it easier for shoppers to get around and extract parts. One of the employees drives this seriously cool Scion xB project, so that’s a good sign.

As I walked the rows, this two-tone Jag caught my attention immediately. What’s going on here?

The VIN says it’s a genuine XJR, complete with supercharged 4.0-liter straight-six rated at 322 horsepower and 378 pound-feet. That beat the 313-horse V12 in the XJ12 that sat next to it in the showrooms.

The supercharger is a member of the same Eaton family that was used in the Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe. This makes sense, because Ford had purchased Jaguar in 1989.

The U.S.-market X306 XJR was available only with an automatic transmission; a few hundred with five-speed manuals were sold in Europe. The version we got here was good for 14.9-second quarter-mile times and ran 0-60 in 6.6 seconds— not bad for a car that scaled in at 4,215 pounds.

The MSRP was a cool $65,000, or about $134,206 in 2024 dollars. The 1995 XJ12 listed at $77,250, which comes to $159,499 after inflation.

This generation of XJR was sold here for just the 1995 through 1997 model years, after which it was replaced by the V8 XJR. Just 6,547 were built.

This one received a heavy customization at some point, including big SUPERCHARGED badging.

The bonnet is covered with faux carbon fiber, which was all the rage during the early Fast & Furious Era.

The upholstery has been redone in well-executed two-tone embroidered leather.

I knew there had to be some traces of this car online. Sure enough, Mecum auctioned it in Denver back in the summer of 2015. It must have attracted plenty of attention with those white wheels and supercharger whine.

It was loved deeply by the person who customized it, but now it faces the crusher.

The Plain Dealer described its suspension as a no-nonsense dominatrix.