Jaguar F-Type Project 7s for Australia snapped up
BY TIM ROBSON | 12th Jun 2015
Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director Matthew Wiesner confirmed the news to GoAuto at the launch of another SVO-produced model – the Range Rover Sport SVR – in New South Wales this week.
“We have got ten of them, and we have sold them all,” said Mr Wiesner. “There's 250 (being produced) globally, so our market share of that 250 club is quite significant when you look at it that way.”While an exact price for each car was not revealed, Mr Wiesner pointed to a figure some $50,000 over the price of the range-topping F-Type R Convertible.
“Over $300 (thousand), yeah,” he confirmed to GoAuto. “We can look at the SVO guys' role to create such a bespoke sportscar with a bit of a salute to the past, and it does more than that it's not just about brute force and power.
“It's also about a recognition of where we've been but also a big salute of where we're going. We’re creating some interesting, bespoke type opportunities that some of the very affluent enthusiasts just want to get a hold of. Project 7 is a great example of that.”The Project 7 packs 423kW and 680Nm of torque from a modified version of the company’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8, and the rear-wheel-drive convertible benefits from an array of chassis modifications throughout its structure.
It’ll punch out the 0-100km/h dash in 3.9 seconds, before topping out at a limited 300km/hEach car is hand-made in the company’s Special Vehicle Operations department, with the body built completely from aluminium. The windscreen has been chopped and lowered by 114mm for a total height of just 30.5mm, while the side windows have been resized to fit.
Jaguar has also made aerodynamic modifications including a new carbon-fibre front splitter, carbon-fibre side skirts and rear diffuser. Combined with the adjustable rear wing, downforce is said to have been increased by 177 per cent.
Other carbon-fibre parts include the rear deck, side louvers and wing mirror caps. An overall weight reduction of 80kg has been achieved compared with the regular F-Type, equating to a kerb weight of 1585kg.
The Project 7 also sports a modified ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and tweaked suspension settings, along with 20-inch rims, sticky Continental tyres and a carbon-ceramic brake upgrade – itself a $20,400 upgrade over the price of a standard F-Type.
Originally penned as a single-seat track car with a raked windscreen reminiscent of Jaguar’s great D-Type Le Mans racers of the 1950s, the Project 7 has morphed into a 423kW, 300km/h twin-seat open top supercar.
“When I saw this sketch of a low-screen, single-seat F-Type, I felt enthused by it and wanted to take it further,” Jaguar Land Rover’s director of design Ian Callum said. “As designers, our very purpose is to disrupt – to turn the norm on its head and see if it still works – and here at Jaguar, we love to push the boundaries.”
