The First Production Car To Use A Carbon Fiber Monocoque
While it’s expected in performance cars today, there was a time when carbon fiber was new. The composite as we know it today only really emerged in the mid-1960s, and was extraordinarily expensive because of it. But while you’re hard-pressed to find a performance car today that doesn’t utilize it, it wasn’t until the 1990s that a production road car would use carbon fiber as the basis of its entire chassis structure.
If there’s one industry that’s going to chase every available gram, it’s motorsport. Teams invest millions into extracting every last millisecond of performance out of their car and driver in the hunt for excellence. Through the 1970s, adding bigger engines was one way to generate more power, but that came with the considerable downside of extra weight. Lotus team manager Colin Chapman had pioneered the “simplify, then add lightness” mantra that had earned the team four F1 constructors’ titles and three drivers’ titles through the decade and so, in 1981, McLaren made history by debuting the first F1 car to have a full carbon fiber composite monocoque chassis with the MP4/1.
The car had its issues in its debut season, but won the British Grand Prix, and finished second in the constructors’ championship the year after. Carbon fiber was suddenly not just a “plastic dustbin”, as F1 team boss Ken Tyrrell had reputedly called it, but it was a genuine, revolutionary advancement that saved weight and improved rigidity. And when advancements are made in motorsport, it’s not long before they find their way to the road.
Some Cars Had Used Carbon Fiber, But Not Extensively
After the McLaren MP4/1’s F1 success, road-going manufacturers started to incorporate carbon fiber into their machines, but its price meant it was reserved for only the most performance-oriented cars. The 1984 Audi Sport Quattro, created as a homologation special for the WRC equivalent, used Kevlar and carbon fiber composite sparingly, as did the 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO.
Ferrari took it a step further in 1987 with the F40, using the emerging material to help its 2.9-Liter V8-engined supercar to a mere 2,765-pound curb weight in Europe (3,018 pounds in the US, where it required additional safety, emissions and comfort accommodations). The doors, engine cover, and rear trunk lid were made using, among other materials, carbon fiber, as were some other elements of the car, but widespread use was still years away. That was to change in 1990, when a production car finally adopted carbon fiber not just for body panels, but a full carbon fiber monocoque chassis.
The Jaguar XJR-15 Becomes The First Production Car With A Carbon Fiber Monocoque
Jaguar already understood the comprehensive positives of carbon fiber by the late 1980s. It had won the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Jaguar XJR-9, which used a carbon fiber and Kevlar monocoque chassis, and did so at the expense of Porsche, which had won the prestigious race for seven consecutive years prior to 1988. It was a watershed moment in more ways than one, as it not only knocked Porsche off that top spot, but it also marked Jaguar’s return to the top step of the La Sarthe podium for the first time in 31 years.
Jaguar XJR-15 Specs
|
Engine |
Power |
Torque |
Weight |
0-60 mph |
Top Speed |
|
6.0-Liter V12 |
450 hp @ 6,250 rpm |
425 lb-ft @ 4,500 rpm |
2,315 lbs |
3.9 seconds |
191 mph |
With this historic win under its belt, Tom Walkinshaw, the Le Mans team’s principal and owner, wanted to create a car to commemorate the occasion and act as a road-going partner to the racing XJR-9. And while you’d be forgiven for thinking that the road-going car would be a much watered-down version of the racer, it wasn’t too far off.
To start, the XJR-15 borrowed the carbon fiber/Kevlar monocoque found in the race car. It also featured a mid-mounted V12 engine, though it was down to 450 horsepower from the race car’s 750 hp. That said, the underbody of both cars was flat to aid aerodynamics, and the suspension setups were also similar. The road car wasn’t too dissimilar to the racer thanks to the use of carbon fiber (2,341 pounds on the road compared to 1,940 pounds on track), and the XJR-15 could still hit around 191 mph.
Though these changes, along with others like adding another seat, had to be made to ensure the XJR-15 would be road-legal, scant few others were made. It was very much a race car for the road, and was arguably far closer to a road-legal Le Mans prototype than the far more well-known XJ220. But these changes didn’t come cheap. Only 53 cars were made, and each came with a £500,000 price tag ($661,882, or the equivalent of $1,686,457 today).
True to the car’s racing roots, Jaguar created a single-make series called the Jaguar Intercontinental Challenge in 1991 that would use race-tuned versions of the car. Held as a support series to F1 at the Monaco, British, and Belgian Grands Prix, and with a $1 million grand prize, the series was eventually won by experienced touring car racer Armin Hahne, though it featured drivers including Derek Warwick, Tiff Needell, and David Brabham. Far from just being a marketing exercise, though, it proved that full carbon fiber, road-legal supercars were viable, and showcased the strength and durability of Jaguar’s creation.
The Floodgates Had Been Nudged Open
With the world’s eyes open to just how effective carbon fiber could be in road cars, brands started taking note. Bugatti’s EB110, released the year after the XJR-15, featured a carbon fiber monocoque, and McLaren released the legendary F1 with its carbon fiber monocoque in 1992 (the F1 was in fact designed by Peter Stevens — the same person who had designed the XJR-15). Ferrari’s F50 joined the group in 1995. But it was still a prohibitively expensive material, and commonly reserved for the elite.
It would take more than two decades before carbon fiber passenger cells appeared in genuinely mass-produced vehicles, with BMW’s 2013 launch of the i3. The Alfa Romeo 4C, released the same year but in much smaller numbers, would also feature one, though the practice still remains a rare and expensive endeavor more commonly reserved for motorsport.
The Most Underrated Mid-Engined Supercar Ever Produced
This supercar was virtually unrivaled when it arrived on the market…but no one wanted it.
The XJR-15 Helped To Legitimize Carbon Fiber For Road Cars
While it might not have entirely turned the performance car world onto carbon fiber (that accolade is more commonly associated with the McLaren F1), the XJR-15 did help to legitimize carbon fiber for production road cars.
It’s a somewhat forgotten car today, overshadowed by the McLaren F1 and Jaguar’s own XJ220, but that’s not to say it wasn’t important. The XJR-15 bridged the gap between road and race, pioneered the carbon fiber monocoque in a road car, and helped to establish a construction method that would later become the benchmark for the world’s fastest and most exciting supercars and hypercars.
Sources: Jaguar, Evo
Related posts
Latest Post
No Comments