The Jaguar XJR-11 was a sports-prototype racing car introduced for the 1989 World Sportscar Championship season

1989 World Sportscar Championship season

The 1989 World Sportscar Championship season was the 37th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1989 FIA World Sports Prototype Championship, which was open to Group C1 Sports Prototypes, Group C2 Sports Prototypes and IMSA GTP cars...

 - its sister car the XJR-10 running in IMSA.

The 1990 season marked an extension to the Group C

Group C

Group C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs....

 category - the FIA's new, and controversial, 3.5 litre formula had been delayed to 1991 as the championship's mandatory rules.

To take advantage of Group C's stay of execution, and in an effort to combat the dominant Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 team, with their C9 and C11 models, Jaguar

Jaguar (car)

Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....

came up with an all-new car; the XJR-11 powered by Rover's V64V 3.5litre V6 originally designed for the Rover Metro 6R4 rally car.