After two years of development TWR has launched its first product: the rather brilliantly-named Supercat.
As you may have noticed, the Supercat is based around the Jaguar XJS that was produced from 1975 to 1996, and packs a 447kW supercharged V12 engine and a six-speed manual transmission. Production is "strictly limited" to 88 units and prices start from a fairly hefty £225,000, or $473,000.
While it is fitting that TWR has chosen a Jaguar as the first chapter in its contemporary history - the TWR name has a long winning association with Jaguar and the XJS through victories at the most demanding race tracks in the world including Spa and Bathurst - the link isn't quite as strong as those familiar with the name might imagine.
This version of TWR is not the same one that was started as Tom Walkinshaw Racing in 1976 in the UK by legendary touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw. That TWR originally teamed up with Jaguar to form JaguarSport after much success on-track with the iconic British brand both in Europe and over this side of the world in the Australian Touring Car series that eventually morphed into the V8 Supercars.
JaguarSport would go on to develop and build the Jaguar XJ220 and XJR-15 supercars, while the Australian success would see TWR establish the Walkinshaw Group in Australia in order to team up with Holden to form Holden Special Vehicles, or HSV, to produce road-going performance cars.
A bold move into Formula One with the Arrows F1 team in 1996 ultimately led to the original TWR collapsing in 2002, with its UK assets purchased by Menard Competition Technologies, while the Australian operation was sold to Holden.
Following Tom Walkinshaw's death in 2010, his eldest son, Ryan, took over as CEO of the Australian arm, while Tom's wife, Martine, and youngest son Sean, also stayed involved in the company.
The demise of Holden in 2021 saw the the Walkinshaw Group redirect its former HSV manufacturing capabilities towards offering a 'remanufacturing' service for OEM brands wanting to offer LHD vehicles in RHD Australian and New Zealand markets. The first collaboration was the Ram for the 2500 and 3500 pick-ups, before expanding into the Chevrolet Silverado and Camaro, as well as the Toyota Tundra for Australia.
Walkinshaw is also still active in the Australian Supercars series with the Walkinshaw Andretti United team, a collaboration between Walkinshaw, Michael Andretti's Andretti Autosports and McLaren Racing's CEO Zach Brown's United Autosports.
The Australian Walkinshaw Group actually has no direct involvement with the current company named TWR, apart from a familial one: TWR was established in the UK in 2020 by Tom Walkinshaw's oldest son from his first marriage, Fergus, with plans to use the TWR name to sell high-end bespoke performance cars like the Supercat.
"High-performance engineering runs in the blood of the Walkinshaw family, and ever since the original TWR closed its doors I have longed to find a way to continue the family legacy," Fergus Walkinshaw said at the launch of the company.
"This new generation of TWR is first and foremost an engineering company that will make cars, rather than a car maker doing engineering. And that’s an important distinction. We will make use of cutting-edge technology, combining new expertise with traditional craft to build world-class products that make a statement of what this new TWR is all about. We aim to build some truly impressive and innovative automobiles, unconstrained by the rulebooks and styling demands of OEMs."
And that brings us to the Supercat.
Strictly limited to 88 individual builds - a number chosen to celebrate the 1988 Le Mans win in the TWR Jaguar XJR-9 - the Supercat project was engineered by a team led by Fergus Walkinshaw and including engineers from the likes of McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche, Williams, Mercedes F1 and Renault F1.
While the it retains the unmistakable stance and silhouette of the Jaguar XJS, TWR says every exterior panel has been re-sculpted in carbon fibre, which has delivered a significant weight saving, drag improvements and significant rigidity benefits over traditional panel materials.
The Supercat was styled by Khyzyl Saleem, with input from Magnus Walker. Saleem, a digital designer whose creations quickly garnered global recognition, originally enjoyed a successful stint in the video games industry before returning to the automotive sector, and has a large social media presence, with his Instagram channel boasting more than a million followers.
It was here that his constant stream of reimaginations for supercars and modified icons drew the world's attention, and from this Saleem founded his own company LTO – Live To Offend – which creates bespoke body kits for some of the world’s most famous cars, as well as working on project cars for the likes of Travis Pastrana and the late Ken Block.
Magnus Walker, on the other hand, made his name in fashion design before quickly rising to fame in the automotive world thanks to his huge collection of classic Porsches and his truly unique approach to modifying them.
His background in fashion design led to him "not conforming to the unwritten rules" of classic car restoration, saying that he strived to turn every car he owned into a unique piece of art without compromising its Porsche roots.
While the interior hasn't been revealed yet, TWR says it has been "fundamentally re-imagined" and will be unveiled when the car makes its dynamic debut in the summer of 2024 with a program of appearances at high-profile events across Europe to be announced shortly.
Of course, as the 88 cars are all individual builds, the company says that "all TWR customers will be afforded a full scope for personalisation", which means that $473,000 price tag is just a starting point.
TWR says its order book is officially open now and that you can secure a build slot with a £10,000 (NZ$21,000) refundable deposit, with deliveries starting in the fourth quarter of 2024.
