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AUTOPSY OF AN ACCIDENT

The class-winning "Angelina" was destroyed in a massive crash at a wet Mallory trackday in November 2008. Here are the photos and explanation as to what exactly happens when an XJS has a big one...and a reminder of why safety remains the single most important factor in competitive motorsport.

OK, this is very picture-heavy, so it may take time to load, but it's either that or read me rambling on and on.

Somewhat shortened.

Heavy front end damage, but at this point we weren't sure she was dead, it's bad, but it might jig, the doors still open, the screen's intact, just maybe..

Home and unloaded, and it's quickly apparent that this one is broken in a big way, as soon as it's looked at in daylight we administer the last rights.

The real damage is under the bonnet, believe it or not we'd classify what you can see here as "mostly cosmetic!"

What happens to a car in a big accident? Well, I can’t speak for every car, but I can vouch for the XJS.

As I dismantled the wreckage of the car I found more and more evidence of what damage it sustained in the accident, and it struck me that written-off cars aren’t usually taken apart, they’re just thrown away, and the damage sustained is never really seen. I needed all the parts, so this car was properly dissected. And I took pictures.

You can read this any way you see fit, it’s either a morbid dissection of a destroyed Jaguar, a glowing endorsement of the strength of the original design, a whole-hearted endorsement of the benefits of the safety equipment fitted to our race cars, or a dire warning to anyone who thinks that club racers are just playing and it’s not really a serious game.

The car in question was my old XJS. It had just won the class D championship for me, recorded the only ever D class race win, and just been part of that Jag team that finished 2^nd at the Birkett relay race. It was therefore a very successful, fairly well-sorted car, not a complete dog, and probably in better condition than many road-going XJS that still exist.

The accident itself is hardly a stranger to Mallory, losing the tail towards the exit of Gerrards, in this case most likely due to dropped oil, the car oversteered through nearly a full spin to go nose-first into the Armco on the outfield.

Impact speed was anywhere from 70 – 80 mph, head-on into Armco to a dead stop. The G force involved was pretty high, but we can't do the maths. 80mph to 0 in about 2 feet of crumple, calculator anyone? The car hit slightly nearside first, which took a little bit more of the sting out of it, but to all intents and purposes we are dealing with a head-on dead stop from the legal motorway speed limit. It was a big hit. No energy shed throwing bits of car off and spinning, glancing off barriers etc, just straight in and stop.

The instant of impact is quite a thing, there’s a slo-mo spiderweb shower of rainwater thrown off those crappy foam barriers, the rear corner point of the bonnet jumps at you as the pins snap and it moves up and towards the windscreen, that tiny second of time as you think it’s going to come into the car and go through your face, the wings explode upwards, the fibreglass sideskirts flying off, headlamp glass going up and outward, bits of grille and trim shoot out in a weird halo effect, then that big heave on the belts and that incredible sound of impact. It’s like an extreme log-flume, with someone setting off fireworks in a coffee tin in the seat behind you. Big fireworks.

The immediate aftermath is very odd. Tremendous noise, then dead silence. There are pieces of car everywhere, mud everywhere, including inside the car. Big brown tyre tracks across the grass, steam hissing out of the radiator, and a hero in orange waving his flag like a maniac.

First things first, we were both fine. Stiff necks for both, in my case not for more than about 2 days, worse for my rather less robustly-constructed driver, but in the grand scheme of things, not a bad do.

OK, I'll grant you, this is starting to look a bit bad, but we've seen worse.

My ankles took a bit of a knock, but I had only a 4-point harness in the passenger side because it was “just” a trackday, the driver had a full 6-pointer. I submarined under it and hit my feet on the floorpan. If you’ve ever been in an XJS you know there’s a lot of legroom in the passenger side, so you know I’d gone a fair way, but also that the floor itself moved up to meet me.

The first conclusion I would draw would be that for Christ’s sake, anyone with a 4-point harness, upgrade it immediately.

A road car in such an accident would obviously have had seatbelt issues, submarining, bruising, and that nasty cross-belt vs neck issue. With 3” belts in a proper harness neither of us sustained any seatbelt bruising. Well, I didn’t, there are some things you just don’t ask a lady to show you.

Time for a game of spot the Jaguar components?

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Jaguar XJS Racing

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