Filed under: Coupe, Hybrid, Performance, Jaguar



"We feel we could make the car work, but looking at the global austerity measures in place now, it seems the wrong time to launch an 800,000-pound to 1 million-pound supercar."

Those words are from Jaguar Global Brand Director Adrian Hallmark, and as true as they may be, it still stings a little bit. After all, we've been looking forward to the Jaguar C-X75 ever since word came from Jolly Olde that it was green-lit for a short production run.

Some of the cool bits and pieces the world will now be without: a powerful but relatively miserly 1.6-liter turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder engine, two electric motors driving all four wheels and a carbon fiber chassis developed by Williams F1. Sigh.

All is not lost, however. According to Autocar, Jaguar says five working prototypes will be completed, and as many as three of those will be sold at auction, though we don't know if they will be legal for street use. Jaguar will also be able to carry 60 percent of the C-X75's weight-saving and hybrid powertrain technology in future products.

And, lest we forget, those wealthy individuals holding out for a ridiculously fast and stupendously expensive hybrid supercar can always plunk down some cash for the Porsche 918...Jaguar C-X75 production run canceled originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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Jaguar has canceled its plans for limited production of its C-X75 supercar. The British manufacturer's global brand director Adrian Hallmark confirmed to Autocar that the decision not to put the radical hybrid into production had been taken due to the current global economic crisis.

Five working prototypes will continue to be developed until next May. Up to three of these will then be sold at auction, while one will go into a future Jaguar museum and the other will be kept by Jaguar for running demonstrations.

"We feel we could make the car work, but looking at the global austerity measures in place now, it seems the wrong time to launch an £800,000 to £1 million [$1m-$1.6m] supercar," said Hallmark. "This is backed up by other products from us that people are screaming out for."

The C-X75 was first revealed as a concept at the Paris auto show in 2010. Its hybrid drivetrain included a pair of gas turbines to power the car once charge from the four electric motors, one mounted at each wheel, had expired. In May 2011 Jaguar confirmed the C-X75, which features the marque's first bonded carbon fiber chassis using Williams F1 expertise, had been signed off for production, albeit without the gas turbines.

The original drivetrain had been replaced with a turbocharged/supercharged 1.6-liter engine and two electric motors, mounted at either end of the car, driving transaxles and powered by a liquid/air-cooled battery pack. The combined power figure of the hybrid drivetrain was 888hp and combined torque 590lb ft. The C-X75 could crack 0-60mph in 2.8sec and promised 0-100mph in less than 6.0sec. An all-electric range of 60 miles was quoted.

Hallmark said the undisclosed investment in the C-X75 would not be wasted, and 60 percent of its technology would filter through to future Jaguars. The hybrid technology, he said, could be used on a three-cylinder engine to give it the power of a six-cylinder engine.

The C-X75's sophisticated aerodynamics should also influence future Jaguars, while the high-pressure supercharger technology could be used on future performance Jaguars with four-cylinder engines.

Hallmark said around 100 expressions of interest had been taken in the C-X75, with the maximum number of cars to be built capped at 250.

The C-X75's carbon fiber chassis was developed with the Williams F1 team. Hallmark said the relationship with Williams would end in May when the project died, but he expected the pair to work again in the future.

Source: Autocar