The name Project 7 came from the seven Le Mans wins that Jaguar had under its belt at the time, many of these coming from the legendary D-Type. It only seemed fitting to pay homage to their resident icon with a modern interpretation, especially its the 60th anniversary was approaching. Fast forward to summer 2014 and a blue Project 7 thundered its way up the Goodwood FoS hillclimb, with festival goers looking on aghast as this Ecurie Ecosse coloured concept engulfed them in tyre smoke. While this one-seater concept was just that, its radical design, feral exhaust and speedster looks set cheque books a-waving and Jaguar knew that this was going to be popular.
A thugs game played by gentlemen
Never has the old rugby adage been more true than of the Project 7. Below is the teaser video for that original concept, first captured on film at Shelsley Walsh it doesn't take long for the Jag to step out into some tyre smoking buffoonery. Initial reviews of the original F-Type V8 S cabriolet talked about its tail happy tendencies and it appeared that Project 7 was equally as able to light up a set of rears. Enjoy the sheer lunacy of Project 7 below.
Successful first innings
Following a most successful debut at Goodwood Jaguar announced that the Project 7 would be the vehicle to spearhead their new SVO Special Vehicle Operations devision, offering unique and customisable versions of the flagship JLR products. Only 250 Project 7 cars would be made, filling the brief of a modern day D-Type aimed at driving pleasure. All 250 were, of course, sold out before the car was officially launched.
The production cars used the existing F-Type V8 R convertible as a base, and while there were more than a handful of cosmetic changes most of the car was reworked under that new skin, as such the Project 7 was priced at £135,000 which is $43,000 above the standard V8 R convertible. Let's talk cosmetics, at the front the air intakes were widened to channel more air into that thunderous V8 (more on that later) and the front splitter was dramatically increased in size to keep the Project 7 glued to the asphalt. The windscreen was 114mm shorter than the regular roadster and the famous hump behind the drivers head aided airflow as well as being the most obvious hark back to the D-Type.
At the rear of the car the most obvious change to the shape is that fixed rear wing. With a 14 degree angle of attack and coupled with the aero hump downforce was increased by 91% over the regular F-Type at the limited top speed of 186mph. While we are on the subject, at the time this was the most aggressive, track focused and fastest production car Jaguar had ever produced - and it didn't even have a roof.
The eagle eyed fans will have noticed the SVO ceramic exhaust tips and anyone with functioning ears will have heard the difference of the new exhaust over standard. Thor himself would shake if a Project 7 were to drive past.
Under the Skin
That manic exhaust gives away one of the most substantial changes and defining aspects of this car - the engine. Using the standard JLR Supercharged 5.0L unit power was boosted from 542bhp to 567bhp making it more powerful than an XJ220 with torque surging from 461lbft to 516lbft. In order to keep all of this on the road spring rates were increased 80% at the front but only 8% at the rear. It should come as no surprise, then, that 0-60 was dispensed with in a brisk 3.9 seconds.
Speed and power are one thing, but to really make a car shine one must show it a corner. To help the Project 7 in the twisties camber was up from 0.5deg to 1.5deg at the front to help it dig in, and torque vectoring was used on the rear wheels. The car featured bespoke springs and anti-roll bars which were 80% stiffer than the standard car to help tip it into a corner. Given the adjustments in its set up it is easy to understand where the tail happy nature of the Project 7 comes from.
Tyre-wise the Project 7 came on a soft Continental Force tyre as standard which, following 567bhp through the eight-speed Quickshift 'box, last about five minutes. The Project 7 did, however, achieve a Nordschleife lap time of 7min 35sec which was four seconds faster than the R-Coupé - Jaguar's previous 'ring record holder - we are not sure if this was on standard rubber.
Rarely on the road
Due to the low production volume and the special nature of this car, many Project 7s found their way into collections anywhere from a 5th to 25th car and as such many don't do more than 2-3000 miles per year or come up for sale all too often. A quick search of the classifieds shows that their current values are around the £170,000 mark, however those with actual miles may suffer.
Time will tell if this car continues to appreciate in value, however that is to miss the point of the Project 7 - it's a car to be enjoyed by those in the cabin and all of those who encounter it. We hope you have found this informative, next time we will help make you an expert on the new 4WD Project 8!
