Jaguar to offer 'Ring Taxi

Jaguar is to start running passenger rides around the Nordschleife in the company's first 'Ring Taxi. The British car manufacturer has chosen to use a specially modified XJ Supersport for the hot-laps, and it will be based at the Jaguar engineering test centre which is located near the Nurburgring.

It might not seem like the obvious choice of car, but Jaguar insists the XJ is often the one car in its range that surprises people the most with its dynamic ability. The XJ's aluminium structure means that the XJ is incredibly strong and light, but more importantly fast.

The XJ Nurburgring taxi is based on a long wheelbase XJ Supersport with Sport Pack option, meaning that the 5.0-litre supercharged V8 pushes out 503bhp, and the optional Speed pack allows a top speed of 174mph.

Inside, the usual leather seats have gone, replaced by four fully-harnessed race seats, with a bespoke roll cage. Other than these changes (and the matt grey paint) the XJ is identical to a standard road car.