Welcome to my first blog post. Not that I'm a particular fan of the term blog, but here we are. Although this one isn't really a blog post, more an ode to a moment of madness, a car derived from the spirit of fag packet ideas. The Jaguar Project 8. This is the kind of car that emerges when enthusiasts get a hold of the check book. It's not massively comfortable, but then it has a record at the Nurburgring. It's definitely not cheap, but then I'd pay for a leaping cat on the side and a rear wing the size of a ironing board.
It will take you to 200mph with the traditional Jaguar AJ-V8 that has been around slightly longer than Edinburgh Castle and still won't die, as Jaguar will now build the Ford-based engine in house.
I'm at Mallory Park. The fuel tank is brimmed and the constant drizzle of the British autumn has abated. I take a slow lap around, entering the never-ending right-hander Gerard's. Once you exit Gerard's and your organs have settled back into place, a quick, tight left and right sends you up through the esses and up to Shaw's hairpin, the tightest and slowest corner on any track in the UK. Once you have been spat out the other side you encounter the Devil's Elbow. The off-camber left hander, hey that rhymes, that throws you to the other side of the track and down onto the start/finish straight. I stop at the line and myself and the Blonde take a walk through the pits to the paddock. There is something strange about an empty racetrack paddock. Empty 90% of the time and then full for a day or two, then empty again. The Steve McQueen quote, "Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting", applies more to an Infield Paddock than to anything else.
It isn't completely devoid of activity. There is a chap doing some weed killing and a man in a digger doing some... digging. The large expanse of bare concrete is getting a little cracked and worn in places. In this space the greats have stood, tinkered, smoked and snuck in a quick drink. Niki Lauda, Ronnie Peterson, James Hunt, if they raced and had long hair, they were here, climbing through the ranks to Formula 1.
We return to the car, and settle back into the Project 8. At first glance the interior is no different to a standard Jaguar XE. Apart from the exhaust value button and the Track Mode selector, and the fact the steering wheel is on the left. The doors are the same as the original car, and that's about it. Every other panel has been played with. Whether it is the hexagonal Heritage Lozenge grill or the or the marvellously sculpted buttocks. The steering wheel has been Alcantara-ed which for some reason makes my arms ache after a while.
Enthusiast driven projects tend to be quite pricey, this one will set you back £155,000. However at the time of writing there are 8 Project 8's for sale on Autotrader. 300 of these cars were built. Some started a new life at the Nurburgring as Race Taxi's, others took longer to find homes. In 2015 250 Project 7s were built. A more appropriate number for this type of vehicle. I am fan of manufacturers making forward looking, special cars. Much more than recreating or making continuation classic models that end up not being road legal. Cars that celebrate the joys of the internal combustion engine in the 21st century, last hurrahs, cars that show that the age of petrol won't go quietly. Cars that will be seen through the same rose tinted glasses that we look at cars of the 60's and 70's.
The Project 8 is a perfect example of engineers having a bit of fun. Sometimes it ends up costing more than they thought, or perhaps more than it should. However in a motoring world where you are inundated with Micro SUV Hatchback X-DriveCrossoverGrandLanders with Town and Country AdventurePackPRO Kit Design, all over the bloody roads. A 4-seater 200mph track-time destroyer with a boot big enough for a suitcase and a case of champagne sounds, pretty good to me. Oh yes, and the sound. No complaints there! - Charlie_drives
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