THE CAR THAT BOB BUILT

After the wilderness years under British Leyland, Jaguar emerged in the 1970s to show that it was still a force to be reckoned with, on road and track

In April 1980 (Sir) John Egan was appointed to head Jaguar Cars, with the task of either making the brand work or closing it down. Egan knew that there was more to putting Jaguar back on its feet than sorting out the factories and the build quality. He could see the benefits of racing, but it had to be cost effective.

Meanwhile, Jaguar had returned to the racing scene with the E-Type and XJ-S (see Jaguar Driver 776) and with some success. Leading the return was Bob Tullius, who won the Sports Car Club of America National Championship in 1975 with a V12 E-Type. Driving a Group 44 Jaguar XJ-S – with support from Jaguar - Tullius went on to win several more races in the Trans Am series. In the UK Tom Walkinshaw (see Jaguar Driver 779) championed the XJ-S in a series of events with support from Jaguar Cars.