The V12 Jaguar that’s become an unusual rally machine

Veteran team boss, engineer and driver Ed Abbott is preparing for the challenge of tackling this year’s Roger Albert Clark Rally in an unusual choice of car: a Jaguar XJS.

Abbott fielded the unlikely 5.3-litre V12-engined Jaguar on three smaller forest rallies in 2024 and successfully finished all of them as he learned about keeping the XJS on gravel forest roads and out of the ditches. He also had to deal with deep snow on the opening day of Rally Anglo Caledonian in the Kielder forest complex last November.

Now, the 50-year-old sportscar is being rebuilt ahead of being the first Jaguar to tackle the gruelling five-day forest rallying marathon in November.

Abbott first rallied in the 1970s in his native south-west of England in a 1275cc-engined Austin A40, but was better known for running the Abbott Racing team in production saloon cars through the 1980s, with his brother Lionel racing on behalf of Saab UK with considerable success in a variety of Saabs.

Abbott’s passion for the XJS stems from when he started his career as a Jaguar apprentice and later became senior development engineer at the Jaguar factory at Browns Lane in Coventry. He was heavily involved in the birth of the XJS and now runs Abbott Jaguar, which is an authority on the model and its V12 engine.

“At the ripe old age of 70, there is a bit of life in the old dog yet and we wanted to celebrate 50 years of the XJS by doing some big events, including the Roger Albert Clark Rally,” said Abbott. “I love driving it and thrashing the nuts off it and proving to people that they are really useful tools in motorsport.”

Last year, as well as three forest stage rallies, he also tackled several European classic road rallies, but the focus is now the Roger Albert Clark (20-24 November), the longest and toughest special stage rally in the UK.