New Jaguar Will Go 200 M.P.H. and Cost $587,000

British luxury car maker Jaguar said today that it will produce a new 200-m.p.h. sports model to compete with Ferrari and Porsche.

The Jaguar XJ220 will have a price tag of about $587,000 and production will be limited to an initial 220 cars, or at most 350 if there is enough interest.

Jaguar’s chairman, Sir John Egan, announced the new car just two days after the $2.6-billion takeover of the company by Ford Motor Co. was finalized.

Jaguar unveiled a prototype of the XJ220 last year, but executives at the firm feared that it would never go on sale because flagging profits would prevent production.

Customers are asked to put down an $80,000 deposit, and they will have to wait until 1992 before the models roll off the production line.

The wait could be worth it. The Times of London estimated that collectors will be prepared to pay $1.6 million because of the tiny production run.