In 1981, the International Motor Sport Association of America introduced a new category for its flagship series: the Camel GT Championship. Named Grand Touring Protoype, the new formula took inspiration from the big closed top prototypes popular at Le Mans in the early 1970's, such as the Ferrai 512S and the legendary Porsche 917.

As a reaction to the FIA's Group C category, IMSA founder John Bishop opted not to instate a maximum fuel limit in his series. Group C had introduced this measure in an effort to both limit the dominance of turbocharged engines, and to project a better, more socially conscious image in the wake of the oil crises of the late 1970's. Due to the generally much shorter, sprint-like nature of IMSA races however, Bishop reasoned a fuel limit would be unnecessary.

The Chevrolet-powered Lola T600 was one of the first IMSA GTPs. The Chevrolet-powered Lola T600 was one of the first IMSA GTPs.

Thanks to the unlimited supply of go-juice, drivers, teams and constructors alike didn't need to worry about saving fuel during the race. This ensured flat out racing from flag to flag, and the possibility of building extremely powerful engines. Manufacturer support was predictably limited in the first season of IMSA GTP, but just a year later a major name joined the ranks.

British luxury manufacturer Jaguar had entered a partnership with racer turned constructor Bob Tullius, who had been racing V12 Big Cats since the early 70's in SCCA and Trans Am. His Group 44 operation built a chassis for GTP competition, and fitted it with a heavily modified 6 liter, 650 horsepower version of Jaguar's familiar V12.

The first XJR sportscar: the 1982 XJR-5. The first XJR sportscar: the 1982 XJR-5.

Tullius' successful machine proved to be the first in a long line of sports racers, as Jaguar commissioned a derivative for the FIA World Sportscar Championship, the XJR-6. Group 44's association with Jaguar wasn't built to last however, as the American firm was dropped in favor of Tom Walkinshaw Racing, a British organization closely affiliated with the brand in Group A touring car racing.

Under TWR's direction, Jaguar's Le Mans campaign reached it's zenith with 1988's XJR-9, which managed to secure a hard-earned victory over the dominant Porsche 956. Experiments with a twin turbocharged 3.5L V6 derived from the Rover V64V Group B rally engine followed with the XJR-10 GTP and XJR-11 C, as TWR looked for a way to find an edge over the turbo cars of Nissan, Toyota, Sauber and Porsche.

TWR's crowning achievement: the 1988 Le Mans victory, TWR's crowning achievement: the 1988 Le Mans victory,

Unfortunately, the turbo engine was quickly cut down by the FIA. In a surprise announcement, the governing body stated it would mandate 3.5L naturally aspirated engines identical to Formula One's specification across the board. TWR and Jaguar weren't very pleased with the change, as the Group C era had been very fruitful with two manufacturers titles in 1987 and 1988.

As the JRV-6 turbo was effectively banned in this new formula, and the XJR-11 had been very unreliable up to that point, TWR elected to revert to the big 7.0L V12 in the XJR-12, which promptly won Le Mans for a second time in 1990. For 1991 the team was well-prepared despite the earlier engine trouble, as the ready-made Cosworth HB V8 and an excellent chassis made the XJR-14 one of the most dominant cars in racing history.

The XJR-14 absolutely wrecked the competition in 1991. The XJR-14 absolutely wrecked the competition in 1991.

During the XJR-14's stunning march to the top, the IMSA campaign also seemed to improve. The new 750 horsepower V6 twin turbo XJR-16 scored four wins out of ten races, but faced very stiff competition from the mighty Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo and Eagle MkIII Toyota, both producing nearly 900 horsepower.

Despite its relative success, TWR decided to save costs by running the incredibly successful XJR-14 in IMSA for 1992, shortly after leaving the dying WSC. As a result, the two XJR-16 chassis were sidelined and stuffed into a garage to collect dust.

The XJR-16 was Jaguar's most successful GTP machine. The XJR-16 was Jaguar's most successful GTP machine.

While the cars sat around aimlessly, Tom Walkinshaw Racing was approached by IMSA driver Andy Evans. Evans had learned of the mothballed XJR-16's, and had one or two ideas on how to make them useful once more.

Instead of trying to vanquish the Nissan and Eagle juggernauts in the upper echelons of IMSA GTP, he wished to contest the second tier of the championship, known as the Camel Lights. Similar to FIA Group C2, the Camel Lights were essentially down-scaled, cheaper versions of the GTP cars, meant to be campaigned by privateers.

The JRV-6 was stripped of its turbo's to adhere to Camel Lights rules. The JRV-6 was stripped of its turbo's to adhere to Camel Lights rules.

Since their IMSA GTP effort was winding down due to the disappointing performance of the XJR-14 and the economic recession, TWR agreed to strip down one of the carbon fiber/aluminium honeycomb XJR-16 chassis for use as the base of a Camel Lights entry.

First order of business was to remove the twin Garrett turbochargers from the JRV-6, as forced induction was forbidden in the lower category. This saw power drop from 750 to 450 horsepower, right in the ballpark for a Lights machine. Furthermore, the carbon composite brakes were replaced by cheaper steel units.

Determined to keep development costs as low as possible, designer David Fullerton did his absolute best to tack on parts of older XJR-series models. The front section of the car was taken directly from the XJR-14, which also lent the design of the top mounted airbox to the new car.

The rear wing was lifted from the XJR-9, while the five-speed manual gearbox blended components from the XJR-11 and the XJR-16. The underbody ground-effect venturi tunnels were also taken from the XJR-11, completing an eclectic mix of disused sportscar parts in a single package.

Sponsorship by American beer brand Bud Light instantly revealed the car's target market. Sponsorship by American beer brand Bud Light instantly revealed the car's target market.

Triple BTCC champion Win Percy was given the honor of taking the finished car out for its first shakedown at Enstone Airfield, a former RAF base. However, the deal with Andy Evans eventually fell through, so the XJR-17 program was put on hold.

New blood quickly came in though, as Group C2 regular Hugh Chamberlain expressed interest in running the car at the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans, in an effort to replace his outdated Spice customer chassis.

Although Group C2 was officially dissolved by the FIA for the 1991 season, the Automobile Club de l'Oueste ran the famous event independently. As the grids had been emptied by the FIA's botched attempt at a 3.5L formula, the ACO allowed for older C1 designs in Category 2, and C2 entries in Category 3. This would allow Chamberlain to run the XJR-17 at Le Mans despite the ban.

However, Chamberlain ultimately also failed to accumulate enough funds to make the grid, finally blowing an unpluggable hole in the XJR-17's racing aspirations. The car had already been adapted to ACO-specification, and had been waiting for its debut in the traditional Pre-Qualifying session a month before the actual race. But with funding failing to materialize, the race-ready car was again locked away in storage.

Bizarrely, the TWR-built racer ended up in low-level club racing. Bizarrely, the TWR-built racer ended up in low-level club racing.

With Jaguar's sportscar program officially over on both sides of the Atlantic, and the devastating collapse of the World Sportscar Championship due to high costs, unreliable cars and an economic downturn, the XJR-17 had become a completely useless waste of space.

Looking to recoup some of the development costs, TWR sold the unique vehicle to Brian Chatfield, a British club racer. Chatfield proceeded to use the car in low level club events against a myriad of cobbled-together speed machines on tight tracks like Castle Combe.

Funnily enough, among this motley crew of cars, the XJR-17 managed to look simultaneously normal and entirely out of place. Its styling and technology indicated a much higher level of professionalism and workmanship, while at the same time its kit car nature fit the category quite well.

The car roamed Castle Combe for two years before fading into obscurity once again. It reappeared some ten years later in the hands of John Grant, who continued to use it in obscure regional races. Even though the XJR-17 now found itself in the hands of amateurs, it was taken care of and managed to survive to the present day, still racing in historic events.

The Jaguar XJR-17 remains one of the most unique racing Jags ever built. Fashioned from a perfectly fine but useless XJR-16, the smaller car was supposed to be the first real big name factory racer in the second tier IMSA Camel Lights class.

Creating a genuine monster of Frankenstein, TWR combined parts from several successful XJR sports prototypes, resulting in a smaller, less powerful, but still very capable weapon. Unfortunately, the chaos and confusion permeating all of sportscar racing in the early 90's got the better of it.

As both the FIA World Sportscar Championship and IMSA GTP started to crumble to dust, and the world's economies faced a stark recession, the cold hard cash needed to run the one of a kind prototype simple wasn't available. With TWR unwilling and unable to run the car as a factory effort, the XJR-17's fate was sealed.

Condemned by outside factors, the car was relegated to running at a tiny British track, battling motorized scaffolding built in a shed by a man named Keith. However, the regular exercise kept the car in working order, preventing it from degenerating over time in a dark damp corner of the TWR workshop. Thanks to the efforts of Brian Chatfield and John Grant, TWR's bastard child is still raced to this day, making up for lost time on the world stage.