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Ian Callum makes the Jaguar C-X75 concept street-legal

Unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, the Jaguar C-X75 could have been one of the British brand's wildest and coolest models. It received the green light for production, got canned, and resurfaced in the 2015 James Bond movie Spectre before disappearing for good. However, not everyone has forgotten it: Callum, the design firm founded by former Jaguar design boss Ian Callum, has made a C-X75 street-legal. Precisely how Callum's customer ended up with a C-X75 remains a mystery. The example modified is one of the four surviving stunt cars built by Williams Advanced Engineering for Spectre, so it might be the one that auction house RM Sotheby's offered at its Abu Dhabi sale in November 2019. The car was estimated to sell for anywhere between $800,000 and $1.2 million; it ended up not selling during the auction. Regardless, Callum was the right person to take on the Herculean task of making an obscure, experimental supercar street-legal, as he led the team that designed the model. His company made hundreds of small but significant changes including replacing the glass, adding a quieter exhaust with catalytic converters, making tuning changes to the supercharged, 5.0-liter V8, and fitting additional switches inside. Interestingly, the stunt cars were built with foam door mirrors. These had to be replaced with real mirrors fitted with turn signal repeaters. The team also took advantage of the tear-down to make visual improvements, such as reducing and aligning the panel gaps. The C-X75 received a new coat of paint, and engineers made changes to the suspension system — they notably adjusted the ride height. It helps that this version of the C-X75 uses an engine already approved for road use; the V8 has powered the Range Rover, among other cars. Callum's street-legal Jaguar C-X75 will make its public debut at the Bicester Heritage Scramble event held in England on April 21, 2024. Related video: Featured Gallery Ian Callum's street-legal Jaguar C-X75 Aftermarket Jaguar Coupe

Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations could build standalone models

Jaguar Land Rover may be set to turn its Special Vehicle Operations division into something much bigger than a mere in-house tuner. Bloomberg spoke to the head of JLR's high-performance, customization outfit, John Edwards, who hinted that his team may move beyond simply modifying F-Types, Range Rovers and the like. "We're certainly looking at that, and we've got the capability to do that," Edwards told AN. "Is there an opportunity for us to do a completely standalone car? Maybe." Such a move into full-scale, standalone models would be a big step, particularly for a division that's still kind of in its infancy. Bloomberg references the success of Mercedes-AMG, but the German division has had the benefit of decades of growth. AMG spent years and years building high-performance versions of all manner of mainstream Mercedes vehicles, before moving onto cars like the SLS AMG and AMG GT, which have no mainstream analog. In other words, AMG had a long time to develop a reputation building high-performance vehicles that people know and recognize before it moved into building vehicles of its own. We aren't entirely convinced that SpecOps wouldn't benefit from taking a similar approach, delivering additional SVR vehicles, like the rumored XE SVR, before striking out on its own. We'd like to know what you think, though. Is it already time for Special Vehicle Operations to build standalone models, or should it learn to walk before it runs by modifying more of Jaguar Land Rover's existing product. Have your say in Comments. Related Video:

Jaguar XJ could move to all-electric platform late this year

The Jaguar XJ is getting a little long in the tooth. The current generation of Jaguar's flagship sedan debuted back in 2009, making it one of the oldest vehicles still on the market. This week, Autocar reported that a new XJ could debut late this year and would move to an all-electric platform. That would place the XJ straight against cars like the Tesla Model S and upcoming Porsche Mission E, presumably sharing parts with the upcoming I-Pace electric crossover. While a couple of refreshes have kept the Jaguar competitive, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series and Audi A8 have gone through full redesigns since the XJ debuted. (Two for the Audi). Compared to the Germans, the Jaguar looks and feels dated, especially when it comes to technology, active safety and alternative powertrains. In the U.S., the XJ is only available with either a supercharged gasoline V6 or V8. The competition from Germany, Japan and the U.S. all offer some form of electrification. Moving to an all-electric powertrain would be a huge shift for Jaguar and is sure to spark some debate among enthusiasts. The British automaker has previously stated it plans to electrify all new vehicles after 2020. Look for electrified variants of current models to be available, too. The new XJ is rumored to be co-developed with a new model called the Road Rover, a sort of high-riding sedan or wagon in the vein of the Audi allroad or Volvo V90 Cross Country. Like the XJ, the Road Rover would use a battery electric powertrain. Look for more news on both models later this year. Related Video: