Meet the villain's $1 million Jaguar from James Bond's 'Spectre'
Last year, Jaguar rolled out its "Good to be Bad" advertising campaign with a glorious Super Bowl Commercial.
But with the latest Bond flick, Jag has taken it to another level.
Not only is Jaguar providing the main villain car — its Land Rover sister brand will provide a Defender and Range Rover Sport SVR for evil transportation, as well.
Driven by "Mr. Hinx" — played by Dave Bautista — the C-X75 chases ...
... James Bond in his custom-built Aston Martin DB10.
The Jag features a standard supercar layout, with its engine mounted behind the driver, but in front of the rear wheels.
On the other hand, the DB10 features a more conventional front-engined layout found on most GT sports cars.
For most people, "Spectre" will be the first time they set eyes on the menacing Jag supercar.
In reality, the C-X75 debuted at the 2010 Paris Motor Show to great fanfare.
The award-winning show car is the work of Jaguar design director Ian Callum.
Callum is no stranger to the Bond film series. Sir Ian famously designed Bond's Aston Martin Vanquish, which appeared in 2002's "Die Another Day."
The original C-X75 show car was created to commemorate the Jaguar brand's 75th anniversary.
One of the car's coolest features was its gas turbine powerplant.
In 2011, Jaguar announced that the C-X75 would be developed into a hypercar, carrying a $1.1 million price tag.
The C-X75 prototypes were built by Williams Advanced Engineering, the engineering development arm of the championship-winning Williams Grand Prix team.
For the planned production cars, Jaguar replaced the turbine with a gas-electric hybrid system.
The production prototype C-X75s are powered by a 1.6-liter, turbocharged and supercharged 4-cylinder engine. Combined with an electric drive system, the C-X75 enters battle with more than 850 horsepower.
According to Jaguar, the hybrid hypercar is capable of sprinting from 0-100 mph in just 6 seconds, with a theoretical top speed of 220 mph.
Although test drivers have consistently surpassed the 200 mph mark, it's unclear how close the development team got to hitting the 220mph target.
Open the upswinging scissor doors on the prototype and you'll find an ergonomic carbon-fiber-lined interior.
The steering wheel and the center console can also be found in Jaguar's F-Type.
Sadly, Jaguar scrapped its plans for the production car in December, 2012. The company cited the ongoing global economic crisis as the reason for the decision.
Had the C-X75 entered into production, it would have been the fourth entrant into the ultra-exclusive, million-dollar hybrid-hypercar club that currently consists of ...
... the McLaren P1 ...
... the Ferrari LaFerrari and ...
... the Porsche 918 Spyder.
Fortunately for disappointed fans of the car, Jaguar decided to call it up for one more tour of duty.
For the Bond film, the C-X75 would undergo one more major transformation.
The movie Jags have had the advanced hybrid powertrain replaced with the company's monster 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine found in everything from the F-Type sports car to the Range Rover Sport SUV.
Although not as fast the planned production car, with more than 550 horsepower available, the movie car has plenty of juice to make them rumble.
Plus, the Jag V8 is renowned for making some of the boldest, nastiest, most aggressive sounds in the automotive kingdom.
In total, the "Spectre" production required five examples of the villain Jag.
Williams Engineering constructed four brand new cars ...
... while Jaguar repainted one of its hybrid prototypes orange to use for beauty shots in the film.
Although the Jag featured film-specific modifications, it was not a bespoke design like the Aston Martin DB10.
Jaguar's official stance is that the C-X75 development program has been canceled. With the widespread popularity of the James Bond movie series, interest is beginning to build once again for a production C-X75.
So, if you are a fan of the C-X75, keep your fingers crossed. Or better yet, go down to the Jaguar dealership with your checkbook and your exploding pen and convince them personally.
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