On the streets of Qatar sits an abandoned Le Mans Blue Jaguar XJ220 with 560 miles on the odometer that, in pristine condition, could fetch near $250,000. This is number 132 of the 281 units built by Jaguar until the factory that built the XJ220 was closed in 1994. There is no mention on who actually owns the rights to this once-world-speed-record-holder Jaguar, but we do know that after being built it made its way to Beirut, Lebanon, where a dealership in Dubai brokered its sale to the owner in Qatar.

It has become well known that people are abandoning their cars in the Middle East—especially Dubai—where the penalty for defaulting on loans breeches on absurd and simply abandoning their cars and skipping town is an easier alternative. Qatar has already anticipated a marked rise in the number of abandoned cars after a new law went into effect in January where cars older than 15 years would no longer have their licenses and registration renewed due to environmental concerns. Classic or Vintage vehicles can bypass this law. Qatar’s capital city of Doha has seen a 791 percent increase in the number of abandoned cars from January 2008 to January 2009 after a similar ban for cars more than 20 years old was passed. Dubai authorities announced in January of last year that they were going to send 6,800 abandoned cars to auction because it no longer had the room to store these vehicles. We hope this car can at least makes its way to an auction like this.

[via Luxist via CrankandPiston.com and Gov.qa and Gulfnews.com ]

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