Jaguar is set to produce a roadgoing version of the D-type–inspired Project 7 concept that it showed last year. It’s basically a lighter and more-powerful speedster version of the existing F-type roadster, with bodywork partially formed from carbon fiber and a cut-down windshield. We’re promised that it will be the fastest street-legal Jaguar ever when it goes on sale next year.
The new model will be limited to 250 units worldwide and is set to be officially unveiled at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. It’s the first project from Jaguar Land Rover’s new Special Vehicle Operations division. Although pricing hasn’t been confirmed, you can expect to pay around $160,000 for one.
That’s considerably more than the F-Type V-8 S convertible that currently tops the range, but Jaguar reckons the Project 7’s guaranteed exclusivity will make it popular with collectors. It certainly looked good when we met it for the first time at a preview event at the Goodwood race circuit.
The original Project 7 concept was a single seater like the 1950s D-type that inspired it, but the production version reverts to a two-seat layout. It keeps the same D-type–esque fairing behind the driver’s head—the sculpted panel being made from carbon fiber—with the passenger getting a smaller rollover-protection hoop.
The street Project 7’s chopped windshield makes the car 1.2 inches lower, which sounds modest but is quite noticeable in person. The standard F-Type convertible’s folding fabric roof has been scrapped, with the 7 getting what’s described as a part-time “motorboat-style Bimini” that can be manually clipped to the header rail and stored in the boot when not in use; it’s similar in principle to the fabric roof of the previous Porsche Boxster Spyder. That’s not going to be up to dealing with an English winter (or a New England one for that matter), but on the plus side, the loss of the conventional roof mechanism means the Project 7 has more luggage space than the standard F-Type roadster. Weight is down by some 175 pounds versus the regular S roadster; using our observed weights for the V-8 S, that will translate to right around 3800 pounds.
Power comes from a recalibrated version of Jaguar’s familiar 5.0-liter supercharged V-8, here routing 567 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque through an eight-speed automatic. Combine the loss of the folding roof mechanism and the lightweight diet (including standard carbon-ceramic brakes), and the result is the fastest-accelerating Jaguar yet, with a claimed 3.8-second 0-to-60-mph time and the same 186-mph speed limiter as the existing F-Type V8 S. Considering Jaguar states 4.2 seconds for the V-8 S and we’ve squeezed a 3.6-second time from that car, we’re thinking the Project 7 will be even quicker than stated. Which is, of course, insane.
Aerodynamic development included extensive time in a wind tunnel that resulted in the aggressively angled adjustable carbon rear wing that we’re told increases downforce by 177 percent at 186 mph when compared to the standard roadster. (Although without a reference number, that figure sounds more impressive than it possibly is.)
The car sits on 20-inch wheels, offers four-point harnesses and Continental ContiForceContact tires as options, and will be available in five colors: Ultra Blue, Caldera Red, and BRG, all with white racing decals, and Ultimate Black and Glacier White, both with gray decals.
Jaguar design director Ian Callum—whose signature will be featured on a plaque in every car—says the aerodynamic-determined changes over the concept were sufficient that the roadgoing Project 7 has been “developed almost entirely from scratch. It feels like we’ve done the same car twice.”
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Modifications to the suspension include revised front geometry with unique knuckles and more negative camber, new anti-roll bars front and rear, motorsport-sourced springs that are 50 percent stiffer at the front and 8 percent stiffer at the rear than the V-8 S, and new adjustable dampers. We’re promised the finished car is a far more hard-core proposition than even the ferocious F-Type R coupe. We can’t wait to find out.
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