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Welcome to MIRA Proving Ground where it is chucking it down with rain,
hence the umbrella and the coffee, and the fact that this car which we're
here to drive is stationary in a garage rather than going around the
circuit. It's called Project 7, and it is a one-off Jaguar concept car
which means they don't like using it when the heavens open because it ruins
this rather priceless interior. I did have a go before it started raining,
more of which in a moment. Meantime, it's called Project 7 because Jaguar
has won Le Mans 7 times. This does not mean that it's going to return to
motor racing any time soon, it just references the D-Type, hence this
spoiler, hence the Ecurie Ecosse style colours. It also gives a few
hints as to what Jaguar might do in the future.
Before the heavens opened, I managed to grab a couple of laps in the
Project 7, which is as it looks, mostly F-Type underneath with one notable
exception in that it has the 542-horsepower supercharged V8 that is
currently in the XKR-S. Would you ever see it in the F-Type? It doesn't
take too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that you might.
The biggest difference between Project 7 and a standard F-Type is that you
sit 50mm lower in a tight bucket seat and just peer over the top of the
dashboard and under that little wind screen. It feels far more racy than
before. The suspension is 10mm lower and the springs and dampers have been
tweaked slightly, but still fundamentally, this drives like a lot of other
F-Types, which means it's really quick, it makes great noise, and it will
go a little bit sideways when you want it to, maybe sometimes even when you
don't. This car was conceived and built in very quick time, just 4 months,
for one purpose only, to run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Since then,
the reaction has been so extreme that Jaguar is wondering quite what to do
with it next. One thing is for certain, a more extreme version of the F-
Type can only be a good thing.