Jaguar set to produce most extreme sports saloon ever

Jaguar has given a tantalising peak at what promises to be its most extreme sports saloon ever.

The company’s Coventry-based Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) unit has dubbed the car XE SV Project 8 and claimed it promises to be “the most powerful, agile and extreme performance Jaguar” ever produced.

The company is keeping the full details of the project under wraps until June 28, just ahead of the car’s likely debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, which starts on June 30.

A prototype version of the 600PS Jaguar has been undergoing tests at the gruelling Nürburgring in Germany (see video here). The car is pictured here in its testing camouflage, which has again been created by the SVO.

The car will feature the most highly tuned version of JLR’s five-litre supercharged V8 and the SVO said the model would be its second Collectors’ Edition vehicle, following the successful launch of the Jaguar F-Type Project 7 in 2014 (see featured story).

No more than 300 cars, all hand-assembled at SVO’s Technical Centre at Ryton, will be produced for sale worldwide.

Announcing the car, John Edwards, managing director of the SVO, said: “The time is right for SVO to produce the most extreme performance road car in the history of Jaguar. The SVO team is possessed by the spirit of performance and committed to creating the most thrilling driving experience imaginable.

“Our clients worldwide were thrilled by the F-Type Project 7. The new XE SV Project 8 takes aerodynamics and performance engineering to another level – it is conceived for enthusiasts and the most discerning collectors.”

Performance details are not the only thing being kept under wraps; the price of the vehicle is also being withheld until launch. However, if the Project 7 is anything to go by, then it won’t be cheap.

“The price for such an extreme performance sports car available in strictly limited numbers will reflect that,” added Mr Edwards.