Special Feature

Racing with Walkinshaw

Steve Natale
Photo: Mike Jiggle
Photo: Mike Jiggle

At the end of 1981 when our (Jaguar) turnaround story was just unfolding, a most remarkable man came into my office, demanding some time. His name was Tom Walkinshaw.

By then I had realized there had to be a place for racing in the scheme of things. Our heritage there was very powerful. We were turning the company around on the back of a 12-year-old product, the XJ6. It seemed to me that the years of waste in between the car being designed and my team arranging to build it properly held a clear message: Racing had given the old Jaguar designers the capability to create products that were better than those of their competitors.

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