Rare Rides: The 2015 Jaguar C-X75, as Seen in Spectre
Today’s Rare Ride is a fairly elaborate concept. A project that came a long way but was not to be, in a case of much ventured and little gained.
It’s the Jaguar C-X75, from 2015.
Jaguar debuted the C-X75 concept in 2010 at the Paris Motor Show. Looking to the future, Jaguar’s concept was a plug-in hybrid, with propulsion provided by four electric motors — one at each wheel. Combined, they produced a total of 778 horsepower. The batteries for the motors were charged by dual diesel turbines, instead of a standard internal combustion engine. Paris was impressed, and Jaguar continued its work.
Along the way, the brass at Jaguar realized the concept version of the C-X75 may have been too optimistic. Revisions were drawn up, and the diesel turbines were dumped in the bin. Their replacement was a singular (supercharged and turbocharged) gasoline engine, mated to two electric motors rather than four. Now, Jaguar was convinced it could produce the C-X75.
The time was May of 2011, and the price estimate for the new plug-in hybrid supercar was between $1.15 and $1.48 million. Jaguar planned to build no more than 250 examples of the C-X75, making it very limited-production. Said production would be in conjunction with the experts at the Williams F1 team. But more changes were in store.
This time, the changes were of the termination variety. By December of 2012 there was a slight economic issue happening around the globe, as the Great Recession spread from North America to Europe. Jaguar, realizing it was the wrong time to introduce such an expensive car, cancelled the project.
Before tossing all of its work, Jaguar produced five developmental prototypes. Word is they sold three at auction, one was sent to a museum, and Jaguar kept the fifth one for its own purposes. A couple of years later, the most recent James Bond film, Spectre, was underway. The filmmakers approached Jaguar about using the C-X75 in the film. Jaguar agreed, and set to work making a few more C-X75s.
Reportedly, though the Bond cars look just like regular C-X75s, they’re not related. The exterior panels are a faithful representation of the prototypes’ outward appearance, all wrapped around a WRC-spec space frame. Of the seven cars provided for Spectre, four of them were stunt vehicles. Today’s Rare Ride is number 001, and was likely used in the film’s very boring chase with a Aston Martin DB10 (though the one in the movie was painted orange). Power for the movie vehicles matches the lesser spec of the developmental prototype cars, so the speed should be there. Just don’t expect an interior in your movie prop.
Price is on demand, and the C-X75 is located in England.
[Images: seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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Probably the only redeeming feature of the film besides the intro scene.
Jaguar should still build a car like this but at the Porsche 911 price point.