Seen -- and heard at Pebble Beach: Jaguar’s Project 7
Here’s the recipe for Jaguar’s Project 7 car: take one Jaguar F-Type V8 S with a supercharged engine, throw out the folding roof, replace some body panels, add a fairing behind the driver’s head, boost the engine’s power and make the exhaust illegal.
Serving size: one in the world.
That’s the basic idea behind the one-off concept Jaguar brought to Pebble Beach to show off during Monterey Car Week. The car made its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England in July, where it was driven by Jaguar’s chief engineer. The design study is largely based on the F-Type, which we tested -- in V-6 form -- in May.
PHOTOS: Jaguar’s Project 7 concept
To build it, Jaguar replaced the front bumper and splitter, rear diffuser and side skirts with carbon fiber units, lowered the suspension just under half an inch, lowered the windshield and bolted in a pair of race seats with safety harnesses. The passenger seat (which is on the left-hand side since the car was originally built for running in England) is also removable when Jaguar doesn’t plan on another passenger.
The automaker also ripped out the folding convertible roof and its motor, and replaced the cover with a fixed fairing reminiscent of the Jaguar D-Type racers that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for three straight years between 1955 and 1957. The Project 7 name celebrates the seven wins Jaguar has had at Le Mans between 1951 and 1990, the most of any British automaker.
But Jaguar wasn’t happy with just aesthetic changes. The company also retuned the stock V-8 engine for an additional 55 horsepower, bringing the total to 550. And what better way to enjoy what that engine can produce than a free-flow exhaust system, which Jaguar said wouldn’t be legal for public roads because of noise ordinances.
All this will go from zero-60 mph in 4.1 seconds, 0.1 second faster than the stock F-Type V-8. Helping shed some precious milliseconds is the fact that the car is about 44 pounds lighter than stock, due in large part to the removal of the roof.
A few laps around a private neighborhood in Monterey revealed just how intense such an exhaust system could sound when you’re paying little regard to your fellow drivers’ eardrums. The stock F-Type -- in both V-6 and V-8 form -- have one of the better tuned exhaust systems you’ll find on a new car today. This car only made that better.
It barks, it pops, it roars with exhaust overruns. Goosing the throttle sends a shout of many angry trumpets echoing around the neighborhood. The added horsepower doesn’t hurt either. It helps scoot the car forward with more tenacity than the production car.
Though admittedly, your perception of speed is altered slightly by sound coming from your rear bumper. Piloting a right-hand-drive car on left-hand lanes also makes for another element of distraction.
While Jaguar maintains that this Project 7 is a design study, it could also hint at a future variant of a production F-Type. While the automaker wouldn’t confirm it had plans for such a model, a cursory look at the rest of its lineup reveals that each of the other three cars offer a version with the V-8 making 550 horsepower.
In the meantime, fans of the F-Type will have the coupe version to look forward to, though Jaguar hasn’t officially confirmed that that car is happening yet either.
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