Jaguar XJR-15

Information

Previously known as Tokai University⁠'s XJR-15 Hybrid mule - rebuilt by a Japanese college design class to be a track focused race car, fitted the YR40T engine.
Restored to factory specification by Bespoke Motor Cars in Melbourne 2015.After engineer career, Yoshimasa Hayashi (a former Nismo engineer, responsible for the VRH35 engines) became a professor at the Tokai University.
In 2001 think he proposed to his students a project - building a race car that could start in Le Mans.
He focused on producing a racing engine with EER-Hybrid technology. Energy Efficiency Ratio system uses a turbine spinning at 100k+ rpm to recycle the exhaust gas into a 18k rpm generator. This produces electricity that is directly used, for either a 10% power increase or 10% fuel economy.⁠ A larger YR40T engine was developed, it was 20kg lighter, 50mm shorter than the VRH35 but cost half the price.
Back then XJR-15 was quite cheap and similar to the Nissan R390 GT1 race car - they bought a stock XJR-15 in 2005, it was fitted with YR40T engine & completely redesigned body kit and used as a test mule for aerodynamic studies and testing of hybrid energy recovery systems.
In 2015 it was restored back to factory specification by Bespoke Motor Cars in Melbourne, Australia.
Sold for $1,270,000 at RM Sotheby's Monterey auction in 2022.