Jaguar’s SVO Confirms Work On Upcoming Project 9

Jaguar’s latest high-performance vehicle, the XE SV Project 8, is still being refined before production starts in June. The British automaker may still be working on its current Project 8 vehicle, but it already has plans for a new Project 9.

John Edwards, Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations boss, confirmed the news to Top Gear. “There will be a Project 9,” he told the outlet. “But there’s no decision what it will be yet. It doesn’t necessarily have to be high performance. We’re making up the rules as we go along.”

That’s a different philosophy from the previous Project-branded cars that Jaguar has developed before. The savage F-Type Project 7 came out in the summer of 2014 and was the fastest and most powerful Jaguar in the company’s history. The vehicle was powered by a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 that produced 567 hp (575 PS) and 501 lb-ft (680 Nm) of torque. Thanks to aerodynamic alterations and various weight-saving measures, the Project 7 was a riot.

The XE SV Project 8 was made in a similar light to the Project 7. Jaguar took a four-door XE and bestowed it with the same amount of power as a supercar. Once again, SVO stuffed a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 into the engine bay that generated 591 hp (600 PS). The team modified a bunch of components to make the vehicle insanely quick around a track.

Both the Project 7 and Project 8 were high-performance machines, but they were very different from one another. One was a coupe that was inspired by Jaguar’s vehicles that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Project 8 on the other hand, was a hardcore example of a pedestrian sedan. So it will be interesting to see what direction Jaguar takes with the Project 9.

Even if the Project 9 isn’t a high-performance vehicle, you can bet on it being a limited-edition model. The Project 7 was limited to 250 units, while 300 examples of the Project 8 were made.