Purple F-Pace celebrates Jaguar's Le Mans win

Limited Edition '1988' Jaguar F-Pace marks Le Mans win - and it’s purple.

Jaguar has launched a limited-edition version of the F-Pace SUV to celebrate the marque's famous win at Le Mans in 1988.

First victory since 1957

That year, the V12-engined XJR-9LM cars finally vanquished the long-dominant Porsche factory team to win the 24-hour race for Jaguar - for the first time since 1957.

To celebrate that victory, you can now buy an F-Pace SVR Edition 1988, which sadly is 'only' packing a 550hp supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine, and not the incredible 7.3-litre V12 as used by the XJR-9. It'll have to do, I suppose, although with a top speed of 286km/h and a 0-100km/h time of just 4.0 seconds, we're hardly slumming it.

To turn the F-Pace SVR into this exclusive Edition 1988 model, Jaguar coats it with a deep, rich, Midnight Amethyst Gloss paintwork - a nod to the purple Silk Cut cigarette sponsorship of the Le Mans team, which is hardly politically correct, but we love it anyway.

Only 394 will be built

To that, you can add Champagne Gold Satin 22-inch forged alloy wheels and Sunset Gold Satin exterior and interior detailing. There's also a 'One of 394' graphic. Why only make 394? Because that's the number of laps completed by the winning Jag at Le Mans in 1988...

You also get gloss black finishes for the door mirror caps, brake calipers, wheel centre caps and the letter R on the SVR badging. Inside, there's open-pore carbon fibre finishers, semi-aniline Ebony leather upholstery and exclusive Sunset Gold Satin detailing across the dashboard, steering wheel spokes, gear shift paddles and the heated-and-cooled front 'Performance' seats.

The Jaguar leaper and horn ring on the steering wheel receive a Satin Black finish, while subtle SV Bespoke and Edition 1988 branding on the illuminated treadplates and dashboard completes the package.

What Three Words

The Pivi Pro navigation system has been updated to include the clever what3words location finding software - type in 'wins.report.miracle', for example, to arrive at the main entrance of the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans - while there's a panoramic sunroof, head-up display and Amazon Alexa also on board.

The F-Pace SVR Edition 1988 will be on show at Le Mans on the 11th of June, alongside the winning XJR-9LM, and the two cars will also star at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed on June 23.

Published on: June 1, 2022