Conceptual Art: Jaguar XJR‑19 LMP1 Concept

In terms of concept cars I wish would be built, I think I’ve found a new champion …

There was enough of a buzz in the GRR office surrounding the arrival of Eighties and Nineties Group C Sports Cars at the upcoming 73rd Members’ Meeting, but the sight of this concept has sent us into a veritable frenzy! 

Transport designer Mark Hostler has come up with the jaw-dropping design you see here as a potential Jaguar Le Mans challenger of the near-future, and it’s one of the most stunning concept vehicles I’ve ever seen. 

The body shape has been designed to control airflow carefully around the car to improve both cooling and reduce drag where needed as you might imagine. Similarly, being a long-distance racer for the near future it’s intended to run a 2.7-litre diesel V8 using both an exhaust-driven turbo and an engine-driven supercharger as well as ‘structural batteries’ which consist of a material which will hold a charge between two conductive carbon layers – therefore doing-away with the need for heavy on-board batteries.

There’s a KERS system and regenerative braking, but as genuinely fascinating as this all sounds … just look at it! Oh to have a racing series full of cars as stunning to behold. It wouldn’t bother me that much if they ran forklift truck motors as long as they all looked like this. Well okay, maybe not forklift motors. Earth-mover diesels?

The styling was intended to echo the slab-sided Group C racers we’re looking forward to seeing at the 73rd Members’ Meeting in March. I’m not sure if I can honestly see that much Jaguar XJR-9 in the XJR-19, but as you’ve gathered by now, I don’t really see that as being so important!