Jaguar Land Rover has announced the formation of
the SVR, Special Vehicle Operations, to tackle projects outside the
usual scope of engineering and manufacturing. Limited-run vehicles,
personalization, heritage vehicles and branded goods will all fall under
the control of what is being described as a business within a business.
John Edwards, managing director of SVR, explained, "Tata has given us
freedom, autonomy and, most importantly, the confidence to do all this."
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| Special Vehicle Operations - SVR - Back To The Future
In case anyone has been living off the grid for a
while, Tata Motors, an Indian company, bought Jaguar and Land Rover
from Ford in 2008. And it's had the good sense to provide money and
resources to pull both marques from the Blue Oval blues.
At this year's Monterey Car Week, JLR rolled out
the first three fruits of SVR's labors. In a move that probably
wouldn't have been possible under previous overlords, Jaguar is building
250 examples of the F-Type Project 7 first shown at the Goodwood
Festival of Speed.
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| Special Vehicle Operations - SVR - Back To The Future
Project 7 was named in honor of the seven Le
Mans victories in Jaguar's history. Design director Ian Callum explained
how the car's styling originated with a sketch of a modern sports car
inspired by the D-Type. "I love this car," he said. "It's rebellious and
shows what you can do if you put imagination into something."
European-spec cars will get a lower windshield
with lowered seats, while U.S. cars will stick with standard windshield
and seats. Other exterior modifications will be shared.
A larger front splitter, side skirts, rear
diffuser and rear wing are all constructed of carbon fiber and increase
the Project 7's downforce by 177 percent compared with a regular F-Type
convertible. Output from the supercharged 5.0-liter V8 has increased to
575 hp, which Jaguar claims will result in sprinting from 0 to 60 mph in
just 3.8 seconds.
Project 7 isn't just about performance. It's
also about building something special and it's a statement that the real
passion is back, along with the courage to build a limited-run car that
won't appeal to everyone, but to the right ones.
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| Special Vehicle Operations SVR Jaguar Project 7 Passenger Side Front View 04
Land Rover isn't so much looking back as forward
with its maiden SVR offering. The Range Rover Sport SVR takes the
current most rapid of Rovers to the finest edge of performance
technology. The 550hp SVR has a claimed 0-to-60-mph time of 4.5 seconds.
But more impressive is a Nurburgring Nordschleife lap of 8 minutes, 14
seconds. Even with all the on-road performance, the RRS SVR is still as
capable off-road as the standard Sport model. Land Rover USA's Brand
Vice President Kim McCullough said, "We always have to be mindful of our
core values and expand from there. Technology has made it possible to
build a car with this kind of performance without sacrificing off the
road. No matter what, that's a Land Rover badge on there."
Again, McCullough gave credit to Tata for the
ability to do this. "Under previous ownership, this would have been seen
as a distraction. But with M and AMG building vehicles in this
category, customers expect a vehicle like this from Land Rover." If a
run of 250 cars is still too mass-market and a luxury SUV with sports
car performance too predictable, then the Continuation Lightweight
E-Type might be more your speed. SVR is building the final 6 of the
intended 18 cars from the original 1963 run of these incredibly rare
racers.
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| Special Vehicle Operations SVR Range Rover Sport SVR Passenger Side Front View 11
It could be argued that these continuation cars
might actually be better than the originals. While they will be faithful
reproductions, they are built to the original drawings and not
patterned after a particular car. In the early '60s, quality control and
manufacturing tolerances weren't what they are today. If you were to
compare dimensions and individual components of two of the original
E-Type Lightweights, you might think they were different models.
Variances in critical dimensions like wheelbase and track, even overall
length and height, could nearly be measured in inches. With the new
cars, these variances will be measured in thousandths of an inch.
Fans of Jaguar and Land Rover will contend that
cars like the XKRS-GT and Autobiography Range Rovers were the precursors
to all this. Maybe they were. The formation of SVR, however, shows a
long-term commitment to vehicles that perhaps don't make perfect logical
sense but fulfill an emotional need that had been missing from the
lineups. Embracing the heritage of these legendary marques, while
exploring the future by melding it with the latest innovations, is a
winning formula.
Apparently Projects 8, 9 and 10 are already
under way for SVR, and we will see another one within 12 to 18 months.
It could be anything from another continuation car to another fast Jag.
No matter which way it goes, the rest of the industry will be watching.
The British are coming back and coming back fast.
Photo 9/16
| Special Vehicle Operations SVR Jaguar D Type Passenger Side View 12
Photo 16/16
| Special Vehicle Operations SVR Badge 16
source:
http://www.superstreetonline.com
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