JLR to Unleash Most Powerful Jaguar Ever Built

The most powerful Jaguar ever built, the F-Type Project 7, makes its debut June 26 at the U.K.’s Goodwood Festival of Speed with customer deliveries beginning in mid-2015.

The sports car is the first Jaguar performance vehicle from Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Operations team and will be produced in a limited-edition run of up to 250 units.

Its distinctive roadster body, introduced in concept form last summer, pays tribute to one of the most famous and iconic racing Jaguars: the three-time Le Mans-winning D-type, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

The F-Type Project 7 is the first Jaguar halo product from JLR’s newly created Special Operations team and is being built at the automaker’s new Technical Center in the West Midlands. Its name pays homage to Jaguar’s seven outright Le Mans wins.

JLR Special Operations Managing Director John Edwards says his division exists to develop a suite of products and services that allow its most discerning and enthusiastic customers to indulge their passion for JLR cars. “F-Type Project 7 is a perfect example of one such product,” he says in a statement.

The F-Type Project 7’s power comes from Jaguar’s 5.0L supercharged V-8 engine producing 575 hp and 502 lb.-ft. (680Nm) of torque.

The all-aluminum-bodied car, which weighs 3,404 lbs. (1,585 kg), accelerates from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.8 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 186 mph (300 km/h).

The car is fully road-legal.

Mike Cross, Chief Engineer - Vehicle Integrity, Jaguar, says above all, the F-Type Project 7 is fast.

“It uses all the key technologies we’ve proven on F-Type R Coupe to deliver absolute immediacy of response to all driver inputs, yet its focused nature has given us the opportunity to go further still,” he says.

JLR says the car retains the distinctive, minimalist design of the original 2013 concept.

“F-Type Project 7 is the perfect example of how, as a design team, we can move quickly with our engineering colleagues to go from concept vehicle to production reality,” Jaguar Director of Design Ian Callum says. “We’ve pushed the boundaries of what’s possible without losing any purity of form.”

JLR says the F-Type Project 7 will be available in European Union markets, as well as South Africa, Australia, the Middle East and North Africa, Russia, Brazil, Asia-Pacific and North America.

Specifications, both exterior and interior, will differ for North America with details released later this summer.