Jaguar have revealed their 21st century rendition of the famous D-Type race car with a modified version of the stunning F-Type which is going under the pseudonym of ‘Project 7′ named such because of the 7 wins Jaguar have got from Le Mans. This beast is a one-off and has been made solely to wow the sun soaked Goodwood crowd.
New side skirts, a superlight carbon fibre splitter at the front and rear diffuser have all been stuck on to it as well as a permanent spoiler and a slimmed down windscreen. The Project 7 is a single seater where the driver sits half a centimeter lower than in the normal F-Type. Underneath this extensively designed exterior is the same 5.0-litre supercharged V8 you would find under the ordinary supercharged F-Type but the boffins at Jaguar have found an extra 54bhp raising the total power 545bhp. It’ll get to 62mph in just a graze over 4 seconds and it’ll stop going at 186mph. Unfortunately not even the wealthiest of the wealthiest will be able to walk out of the dealership with one of these so we’ll just have to sit back and admire for now.
What’s new pussy cat? Well quite allot! You see Jaguar have a habit of creating the most innovative and revolutionary concepts and just when someone says “I’ll buy that.” They scrap the idea. But not this time! Meet the all new XF, the replacement for the Rover in disguise (S-Type). And we really mean all new! There is allot to like about this car, with its new modern-day look and a modern-day approach to marketing. Normally when to step inside a Jaguar your nostrils are filled with the smell of pine and hard leather. When I entered the XF I was am immediately pounced on by a lightning blue pulse of light from the futuristic dials. All the wood has gone and has been replaced with aluminium, there is no longer a gear leaver but a twist and select dial, But even more revolutionary is how this car comes to life. Upon staring the car, the air vents rotate to reveal themselves and the gear selector rises from the center console. Its like Star Trek, and I’m Captain Kirk.
The drive is just as if you were in an XK. Fast, taught, well balanced; It really does drive like a well sorted two seat sports car. This cat also has claws as our test car proved. The 4.2 V8 is willing to sail along motorways at a steady plod, but put the hammer down and the BMW 5 series should be very worried. It’s 294BHP will hurl this car to 62MPH in 6.2 seconds and go on to do an electronically limited 155MPH.
When you’re finished thrashing the car about the engine settles into a purr and you set off to work or home using it easy to use Nav system. The bill is a reasonable £44,553 for our test car with all the toys, that puts it on par with the current 5 series. Reoccurring theme that pesky BMW… I know what I’d rather have.
