Goodwood Festival of Speed: Jaguar Project 7 takes a bow

The Goodwood Festival of Speed has has established itself as one of the prime events for manufacturers to show off their prototypes and concept cars. Jaguar's Project 7 is continues the trend, making its dynamic debut at the Festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on 12 July.
The Project 7 is based on the F-Type, but is more focused as a driver's car, featuring a raft of visual changes to emphasise the car's link with its maker's competition history, is is so-called because Jaguar won Le Mans seven times. The rumour mill in the run-up to the Festival of Speed had run into overdrive, speculating that the coupe version of the F-Type would make its debut, but instead, a fascinating performance concept will roar up the hill instead.
It's a handsome car - the main changes over the F-Type are its Porsche 911 Speedster-style fairing behind the driver’s head, and a number of bespoke carbonfibre components – a new front splitter, side skirts and rear diffuser; lowered windscreen and restyled front bumper. Inside, it's distinguished by a composite single-seat and racing harness.
Ian Callum was charged with developing how the Project 7 looks. 'When I saw this sketch of a low-screen, single-seat F-Type, I felt enthused by it and wanted to take it further. So I encouraged Cesar and Alister Whelan, Chief Designer, Jaguar, to take it to the next stage and develop a workable concept, and with the support of key departments across the business, Project 7 was born.'
Powering it is a tweaked version of Jaguar’s vocal 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine in 550PS/680Nm form. That should give the Project 7 a useful boost over the V8 S it's based upon. One thing we do know is that it's going to sound good – Project 7 features a free-flow exhaust system with a ceramic finish. We'll have to wait and see how well it drives, but JLR's feted chassis guru Mike Cross is confident: 'It’s visceral in every sense – its response, its sound and its sheer performance. I’m very much looking forward to driving it at Goodwood.'
Project 7: Technical Specification
ENGINE & TRANSMISSION | |
Engine Capacity (cc) | 5000 |
Cylinders | 8 |
Valves per cylinder | 4 |
Compression ratio | 9.5:1 |
Bore/stroke (mm) | 92.5/93.0 |
Bore/stroke (inches) | 3.64/3.66 |
Transmission | Eight-speed ‘Quickshift’ |
PERFORMANCE | |
0-60mph (sec) | 4.1 |
0-100km/h (sec) | 4.2 |
50-75mph (sec) | 2.4 |
80-120km/h (sec) | 2.4 |
Top speed - electronically limited (mph) | 186 |
Top speed - electronically limited (km/h) | 300 |
Power (PS@rpm) | 550@6500 |
Power (kW@rpm) | 405@6500 |
Torque (lb ft@rpm) | 502@2500-5500 |
Torque (Nm@rpm) | 680@2500-5500 |
Wheels | 20-inch Blade forged-alloy |
Tyres | Pirelli P Zero 255/30/20 (front) / 295/30/20 (rear) |
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