2006 Jaguar Xj8 Xj8 L Automatic 4-door Sedan on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jaguar confirms 575-hp F-Type Project 7 for Goodwood debut

Two days ago, Jaguar announced it had something special in store for the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. Then yesterday images of that special creation, the F-Type Project 7, leaked out. And now, as promised, Coventry has released the full details on the ultimate F-Type to date. And its even better than we expected.
The production version of the concept revealed last year, the F-Type Project 7 celebrates the 60th anniversary of the D-Type by borrowing some of that legendary roadster's design cues, right down to the rear fin and British Racing Green livery with white racing stripes.
Of course the Project 7 is more than just a retro appearance package. The bespoke speedster packs a version of Jaguar's prolific 5.0-liter supercharged V8 with 575 horsepower - 25 more than the F-Type R Coupe - to make it the Leaping Cat marque's most powerful production car to date. Mated to Coventry's familiar eight-speed automatic transmission, that's said to be enough to propel the Project 7 to 60 in 3.8 seconds en route to an electronically limited top speed of 186 miles per hour. Keeping all that power and pace in check and on the road are such features as carbon ceramic brakes, a full complement of carbon-fiber aero components, electronic differential and brake-based torque vectoring system.

Jaguar Project 7 Concept

The Jaguar Project 7 Concept debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed just last month. But unlike most concepts, which serve only to collect fingerprints on a stage, the track-ready one-seater spent its days barreling past the hillclimb crowds with Mike Cross, chief engineer of vehicle integrity at Jaguar, beaming behind its right-hand-drive steering wheel. What's more, the powers that be at Jaguar even let yours truly drive the Project 7 during the Concurs d'Elegance festivities at Pebble Beach last week.
Built on an all-aluminum V8 F-Type chassis with modified suspension, the Project 7 (a name acknowledging Jaguar's seven Le Mans wins between 1951-1990) is best thought of as an F-Type masquerading as a D-Type. The two-door is fitted with a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 good for 550 horsepower (no pictures as Jaguar wouldn't allow us to open the hood). An eight-speed automatic, with a torque converter, sends the power the rear wheels, allowing the single-seat roadster to crack the 60-mph benchmark in just over four seconds.
Modifications to the bodywork include a new lowered windshield, carbon-fiber aerodynamics and a rear fairing with integrated rollover hoop. The driving position has also been lowered by more than an inch, allowing the sole occupant to not only escape the airflow, but take advantage of a lower center of gravity.

Jaguar Land Rover in talks for Southern US factory

Jaguar Land Rover is getting serious about global expansion, and that means it can't only build its vehicles in the UK anymore. The British automaker is cutting the ribbon at its new plant in China tomorrow, marking the opening of its first factory outside the UK. In 2016, it will open another factory in Brazil. But the latest intel has it that JLR is looking into a US factory, as well.
The report, which comes to us from the Sunday Times by way of Automotive News Europe, indicates that the company is evaluating locations for a North American factory, with options centering around Southern right-to-work states like South Carolina, where BMW operates its plant in Spartanburg and a wide array of other automotive operations are based as well. The JLR plant would reportedly ramp up to a capacity of 200,000 units per year.
In related news, while that new plant JLR is inaugurating in Changshu, China, is initially slated to produce the Range Rover Evoque, it is also expected to start building the new Discovery Sport as well - just like the Halewood plant in the UK that has handled Evoque assembly from the start and which just built its first Discovery Sport, as well.