Chapter IV · Spring 1986
A new sponsor arrived with an unprintable name and an unforgettable livery. By May, Jaguar had beaten Porsche to a World Championship win.
Where Rothmans plastered its name across Porsche, Jaguar's new backer took an oblique approach: the Silk Cut purple-and-white livery was a branding exercise so abstract it became famous on that alone. The car first showed the colours in public at Monza in April 1986 — a dramatic overhead reveal that made the paddocks stop talking.
The season opener at Silverstone, 5 May 1986, belonged to the Martini Lancia on raw pace — it set the benchmark and broke the lap record — but lost the race in the pits. The #4 passed the Goodyear boards all afternoon; it did not pass the Jaguar at the flag.
The winning moment: the #51 sweeping through Stowe on its way to a historic victory — Jaguar's first major endurance win of the modern era, on home ground, against the might of Porsche.
Next instalment: La Sarthe — Le Mans 1986