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Jaguar XE SV Project 8: Meet the most powerful road legal Jaguar ever

The XE SV Project 8 promises huge horsepower and a limited production run. It is also the second Collector’s Edition sports car from Jaguar Land Rover’s secretive SVO division.

The Jaguar XE S and its 3.0-litre supercharged lump is a bit of a handful, but it will have absolutely nothing on the XE SV ‘Project 8’, which is the work of Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) team.

The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Collector’s Edition promises ‘supercar performance and dynamics in a sedan’ (saloon to the rest of us). To live up to such a lofty claim, the 5.0-litre V8 from the F-Type SVR has been squeezed under the bonnet.

The difference is that where the British-built F-Type SVR develops 567bhp (and a whole lot of delicious noise), the 5.0-litre V8 in the XE SV Project offers 600PS (591.6bhp). That makes it the most powerful road legal Jaguar has ever built.

Jaguar is holding back the full specification until the 28th of June, 2017, which means we have no juicy performance figures to share. But we can certainly hazard a guess it will be brutally quick, given that the F-Type SVR manages 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds and has a stop speed of 200mph.

Just to prove how good the XE SV Project 8 is to the world, it is currently being put to the test around the Nurburgring Nordschleife while covered head to toe in camouflage to avoid completely ruining the surprise.

A mere 300 cars will be built by hand, mirroring that of the stunning F-Type Project 7, which is another creation from SVO. A price is yet to be confirmed, but expect quite a few zeros.

“The time is right for SVO to produce the most extreme performance road car in the history of Jaguar,” commented John Edwards, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations.

“The SVO team is possessed by the spirit of performance and committed to creating the most thrilling driving experience imaginable,” he added.

The XE SV Project 8 car will appear at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on the 30th of June, 2017, a mere two days after its motionless reveal. We are sending Jaguar a selection of the finest biscuits to ensure we get to drive it.

Before then, you can check out pictures of the prototype doing its thing at the legendary Nurburgring and read our review of the less powerful but still hugely fun 2017 Jaguar XE S.

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