Second life: cancelled Jaguar C-X75 supercar made road-legal
Callum has converted one of four C-X75 prototypes into a road car, bringing the stillborn hypercar back to life
The Jaguar C-X75 is a what-might-have-been hypercar of the modern era, but there’s a new, unexpected twist in its story. British firm Callum – co-founded by the C-X75’s original designer Ian Callum – has brought the aborted model back to life by converting one of four surviving prototypes for road use.
Conceived as a celebration for Jaguar’s 75th anniversary in 2010, the C-X75 was tipped for production with a carbonfibre chassis and a hybrid 1.6-litre four-cylinder powertrain from a defunct Cosworth F1 project. Unfortunately the car never reached production, instead finding fame as a Bond villain’s car in the 2015 film Spectre.
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Now, Callum has re-engineered one of the four stunt cars used for the movie to make it road-legal. The stunt cars had a conventional tubular spaceframe chassis and Jaguar’s 5-litre supercharged V8, and Callum’s engineering team has applied a host of modifications to pass Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) for street use.
E-marked glass has been installed, along with interior switchgear and a quieter exhaust with catalytic converters. The engine management software has been recalibrated to suit the new system.
The stunning Callum-penned design remains largely intact, with minor changes – including new door mirrors and side repeaters – to pass homologation. The stunt car’s quick release bodywork latches have been removed too, with tighter panel fitments, refinished paintwork and exposed carbon.
The chassis setup has also been adapted for the road, with a lower ride height and re-tuned dampers designed to perform on tarmac roads – rather than the Roman cobble streets that featured in Spectre.
The road-going C-X75 will be shown to the public in April at the Scramble car meet event at Bicester Heritage. ‘Stunt cars are arguably the true stars, bringing to life the legendary scenes that stay with us as car enthusiasts,’ said Callum’s engineering director Adam Donfrancesco. ‘So few actually survive the rigours of filming, preservation was key whilst meeting the legislation and it’s great we can reveal it to the enthusiastic Scramblers.’
