Barely-driven 1993 Jaguar XJ220 sells for a record £460k at auction (but that's less than the supercar that's done just 381 miles cost new 28 years ago)

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A nineties Jaguar XJ220 supercar that has barely been used by its two keepers in 28 years has sold for a record fee over the weekend.

A collector paid £460,000 on Saturday for the stunning Monza Red motor, which is one of just 275 examples of the 213mph British vehicle.

Despite its age, the Jag has hardly turned a wheel since it left the factory, showing a mere 613km on the clock from new - just 381 miles driven in total. 

The price paid for the 'good as new' car is a world record sum at auction for an XJ220, says Bonhams. However, the winning bid is less than what the first owner paid in 1993 before it was put into controlled storage.

Barely-driven British supercar sells for record fee: This 1993 Jaguar XJ220 - one of just 275 examples ever produced - has covered only 381 miles from new. It sold for an auction record of £460,000 on Saturday... but there's a catch

Despite the winning bid being £60,000 above the lower estimate and £46,000 higher than the previous auction record, it was £10,000 less than what XJ220s cost new in the early nineties

The XJ220 was bought on Saturday during the auction house's Goodwood Revival sale after bidding started at £300,000.

Two collectors were vying for the keys to the Jag, with exchanging bids increasing by £20,000 until it hit the £400,000 mark - some £60,000 above the predicted lower estimate for the model and some £40,000 shy of Bonham's top estimate of half a million.

With sales fees thrown in, it pushed the final price paid to £460,000 - more than anyone has ever put down for an XJ220 at auction.

However, the winning bid is some £10,000 less than the car would have cost when it was ordered from new almost three decades ago. 

Customer cars from 1992 had a retail price of £470,000, with only 275 made in total before production ceased in 1994. 

Taking into account historic inflation, its then-new price now equates to £995,993.

This example was delivered to its first owner in Germany and immediately placed into dehumidified storage as part of an automobile collection, where it remained for the next 22 years. 

The winning bid of £460,000 is not only less than what the car cost new in 1993, it's less than half its original value when taking into account 28 years of inflation - and that's before you factor in storage and maintenance costs during that period.

It makes it very difficult to justify the decision to not drive the wonderful machine in the hope its values will soar in future years. 

Speaking shortly after the hammer dropped, Tim Schofield, head of department at Bonhams Motor Cars UK, said: 'This was an excellent result, and we are thrilled to have set yet another auction world record with the sale of the XJ220.' 

Taking into account historic inflation, the £470,000 paid in 1993 now equates to £995,993. That's more than double that of the winning amount paid during Saturday's auction

As this picture of the odometer shows, it has racked up only 613 kilometres from new. That's 381 miles. It had its one and only service in June 1994. At the time it had 388 kilometres (241 miles) on the odometer. That means it has covered just 225 kilometres (140 miles) in the last 27 years

While the figure paid over the weekend is the highest in auction history, the fact it is still less than it cost 28 years ago somewhat nullifies the decision to store the car rather than drive it 

Classic car valuations experts at Hagerty said the price paid was well above what a 'concours' - which means good enough for a museum display - version of an XJ220 is worth, calculating an average cost of £415,000. 

This is based on the previous record fee paid at auction, which was in 2019 at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale when the hammer fell at £414,000.

The left-hand-drive XJ220 has never actually been registered in the UK, despite being returned to these shores just over five years ago. 

The original owner, a Mr Woo Yung Tae - who had the motor delivered to his company Primrose International - employed a former Ferrari-trained mechanic to ensure his fleet of expensive motors remained in the optimum condition and working order, while a German Jaguar dealer carried out its only service on 13 June 1994.

At the time, it had 388 kilometres (241 miles) on the odometer. That means it has covered just 225 kilometres (140 miles) in the last 27 years.  

The XJ220 remains today the fastest production car Jaguar has ever sold to customers, with a recorded top speed of 213mph 

The esteemed automotive auctioneer describes it as being in 'virtually pristine cosmetic order' with its Monza Red paint and the Sand leather interior in 'superb condition'

The current owner acquired the car from the original collection through an intermediary in October 2015, and has maintained it in their own significant collection since. 

It was appropriately taxed upon its entry into the UK, but while an application was submitted to register the car, the process was never completed and the vehicle remains never registered since new – surely one of the last XJ220s that can make such a claim. 

The vendor in 2019 had the Jaguar recommissioned by Don Law Racing, which has become the specialist British firm dealing with the retro supercar. 

All receipts - totalling £35,000 - from the work are included in the sale, as is the original tool kit, car cover, handbooks in their leather wallets, wheel socket, and rear left- and right- wing mouldings for use during servicing. 

The previous record amount paid for a Jaguar XJ220 at auction was £414,000 at Bonham's 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed sale 

Production of the Jaguar XJ220 ran from 1992 and eventually ceased in 1994, by which time 275 cars had been built

Bonhams said ahead of Saturday's auction that the XJ220 remains in 'virtually pristine cosmetic order'.

It says that any tiny blemishes to the paintwork have been 'corrected' and the Sand leather interior is in 'superb condition'.

'This is undoubtedly one of the lowest-mileage, freshest and best-prepared XJ220s available on the market, now available for registration for the first time in its life,' the auction house concluded. 

Mark Osborne, global director of motorsport for Bonhams, told This is Money: 'The Jaguar could fairly be described as a delivery mileage 28-year-old car. 

'It is a potentially unique opportunity for the next owner to take possession of a car exactly as the manufacturer turned it out.' 

The XJ220 debuted at the 1988 British Motor Show. Designed by Keith Helfet, the vehicle on display was featured a host of complex engineering feats, including four-wheel drive, rear-wheel steering, adjustable suspension and active aerodynamics as well as a booming 6.2-litre V12 engine but by the time production came around that had shrunk to a V6

However, the version signed off for production in December 1989 - with Tom Walkinshaw Racing selected as the partner for the project - was somewhat different to the British Motor Show concept shown a year earlier. Even with half the number of cylinders, it could outsprint a Ferrari F40 and Lamborghini Diablo

The XJ220 remains today the fastest production car Jaguar has ever sold to customers, with a recorded top speed of 213mph. 

Constructed using advanced aluminium honeycomb, the car was immensely strong and, despite its size, weighed just 1,470kg - that's around the same as today's Vauxhall Corsa supermini.

Originally conceived as a concept car, the XJ220 debuted at the 1988 British Motor Show. Designed by Keith Helfet, the vehicle on display was featured a host of complex engineering feats, including four-wheel drive, rear-wheel steering, adjustable suspension and active aerodynamics as well as a booming 6.2-litre V12 engine.

Its design and specs were enough to make the most well-heeled petrolheads salivate, with some putting down £50,000 deposits for the svelte supercar.

The vendor acquired the car from the original collector in Germany in 2015. It was appropriately taxed upon its entry into the UK, but while an application was submitted to register the car, the process was never completed and the vehicles remains never registered since new – surely one of the last XJ220s that can make such a claim

However, the version signed off for production in December 1989 - with Tom Walkinshaw Racing selected as the partner for the project - was somewhat different to the British Motor Show concept shown a year earlier.

The rear-wheel drive XJ220 did away with a V12 and Jaguar instead installed a 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged V6.

It developed 550 horsepower and 475 pounds-foot of torque and the XJ220 was recorded accelerating from zero to 60mph in under four seconds - quicker than the Ferrari F40 and Lamborghini Diablo, which were the poster supercars of the generation.