Jaguar plotting extreme Project 7 sequel

Jaguar is already working on an even faster follow-up to the 2014 F-TYPE Project 7, according to new reports.

With prices rising and collectors already paying huge premiums over the original $245,000 price tag for the limited-edition roadster, just 250 of which will be made, Jaguar’s Special Vehicle operations (SVO) has admitted it’s already planning its replacement.

Speaking to Brit mag, Auto Express, Jaguar designer Ian Callum confirmed internally the Project 7’s replacement was already in discussion.

“We’ve thought about it. We’ve started asking: ‘What do we do after Project 7?’

“I’d like to take it a step further. And that means making it more of an individual car than an F-TYPE”.

Callum said the big obstacle facing the SVO team was making a business case for his more bespoke take on an F-TYPE, including working out how much customers would be willing to pay for it.

The Scottish Jaguar designer says that while customers might be prepared to pay around $1.8 million for an ultra-limited supercar like the C-X75, it might be more difficult working out what they’ll pay for a “modified F-TYPE”.

Featuring a single rear buttress, an 80kg weight saving, bespoke chassis tune and a more powerful 423kW version of the firm’s supercharged 5.0-litre V8, the Project 7 can hit 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds and has a maximum limited top speed of 300km/h.

Pushing for a Project 7 sequel is SVO boss, John Edwards, who told Auto Express that the limited-run F-TYPE took Jaguar Land Rover’s management by surprise.

“We said we’d build 250 examples of Project 7. We kind of plucked that number out of thin air, really. I personally had to guarantee we’d sell 250; as it turned out, we could have sold 500”, claims Edwards.

Without confirming how the next Project 7 would take shape, Edwards ruled out “custom bodies” but said he wanted to push the “cosmetics of the car to the limit”. The SVO boss also said he made a “conscious decision” to make the recent F-TYPE SVR four-wheel drive.

This decision has been claimed to leave the door wide open for an even more powerful, faster, lightweight rear-wheel drive version of the F-TYPE.

Just 10 of the 250 Project 7s will make their way Down Under, each selling reportedly for almost $340,000 -- a significant premium over the European cars.

Despite this, all examples have already been sold ahead of the car's Australian debut, which takes place in Sydney tomorrow.