VIDEO: Le Mans Group C Jaguar being used on the streets of Japan

Jaguar Owners Club · January 3, 2014

Maihem-Media.com and Motorhead magazine have collaborated on a nine minute short film called Car Maniacs: Life With Le Mans. It is basically an ubber awesome documentary that skips over the long Q&A, and just goes straight to the witty one-liners, HD resolution, and full-on action sequences featuring three vintage Le Mans race cars ravaging tarmac at full throttle.

There are really only three things you need to know about this short video; the Jaguar XJ220C, Porsche 962C, and Mazda 767B. If you aren't familiar with these models, they are three Le Mans thoroughbreds that have been out of the circuit for the past 20 years or so, yet you'd never know by their ripping exhaust sound and blurred HD video images.

To give you a quick introduction to these cars before we get to the video, the 1993 Jaguar XJ220C was known in certain circles as a failed supercar. This was not because of its lack of performance, but rather its minimal popularity with buyers due to its lack of a V12 engine. However, knowing what we know today, its twin-turbo V6 was brilliant at minimizing weight, which was furthered by a lightweight body fabricated from carbon composite panels.

The 1991 Porsche 962C was a replacement for the old 956, and ended up dominating the 24 Hours of Le Mans for an entire decade. Considering the primary purpose of these 629 horsepower mid-engine marvels was to race, its engines were built with the lifespan of only 26 hours. That would give mechanics and the driver about two hours of testing, and then the final 24 hours was saved up for the actual race.

With Jaguar and Porsche on the VIP list of this film, a Mazda may seem a little out of place. However, the 1989 Mazda 767B was a Le Mans force to reckon with, having finished seventh overall in the 1989 race. The 767B was an experiment of sorts for the Mazda race division, featuring a unique 4-rotor Wankel engine that was capable of 629 horsepower, and had a war cry (engine sound) like non other.

This is the part where you turn up your resolution, snap on a pair of headphones, and dim the lights just a bit, as you are about to bear witness to three of the greatest wonders in the automotive world.