Jaguar to build C-X75 hybrid supercar in 2013

Jaguar today confirmed it would build the super-fast, clinically-clean C-X75 hybrid supercar – in association with Williams F1. The Jaguar C-X75 hybrid will go on sale in 2013 for around £840,000. Jaguar C-X75 supercar: production confirmed

The news means the gorgeous Paris 2010 concept car has made the leap from show to showroom – and Jag vows much of the clever tech will appear on the production car.

Top speed is claimed at more than 200mph while 0-60mph takes 'less than three seconds'. It'll sprint to 100mph in less than six, making this hybrid supercar comfortably the fastest Jaguar of all time, even eclipsing the XJ220.

Pretty much, if you believe the claims. Yet since it employs hybrid tech, CO2 output will be 'significantly' under 99g/km.

Williams F1 is teaming up with Jaguar on the hybrid tech, which mates a 'state-of-the-art, small-capacity, highly boosted internal combustion engine' with an electric motor on each axle and lithium-ion battery technology from Williams. The Jaguar C-X75 will be four-wheel drive, and able to drive using just the combustion engine, in EV mode (with a range 'in excess of 30 miles' thanks to a plug-in facility) or use a combination of the two to record its stellar performance claims. Expect three different drive modes: EV, Normal and Track.

CAR understands the engine will be a 1.6-litre four-cylinder, pointing to a unit being readied for the proposed F1 downsizing regs in 2013. CAR understands that it will be both turbocharged and supercharged, while its compact size allows it to be mounted low in the car for optimum weight distribution and to retain the concept’s stunning silhouette. The full technical specification will be announced later in 2011.

The micro-turbines that featured in the C-X75 concept won't appear in the road car at first, but parent company Tata has a taken a signigicant stake in Bladon Jets (the British firm behind the technology), and will 'develop this very advanced technology as a medium-term aspiration that will play a part in Jaguars of the future'.

Let's hope that the C-X75 isn't struck by the same optimistic claims that wrought such trouble during the Veyron's gestation – or the Jaguar XJ220’s. The last Jag supercar was meant to have scissor doors, a screaming V12 and four-wheel drive, none of which made it to production.

But Jag points to its all-carbon chassis, a kerbweight rumoured to be around 1450kg and plenty of aerodynamic, carbonfibre and hybrid expertise at Williams F1, which should see the supercar use the latest tech. Jaguar claims that production of the C-X75 will create more than one hundred highly-skilled jobs in the UK.

'The C-X75 received an incredible reception as a concept car,' said Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar's brand director. 'We've been building on that momentum and there's a clear business case for this exclusive halo model. No other vehicle will better signify Jaguar's renewed confidence and excellence in technological innovation than this. People expect Jaguar to be innovators – that is when Jaguar is at its best'.

Expect the the C-X75 concept car's stunning good looks to be translated almost undiluted into production as well. 'We were always determined that the Jaguar C-X75 would be as striking on the road as it was in concept form,' said Ian Callum, Jaguar design director. 'This will be the finest looking and most innovative Jaguar ever produced. Even in the world of supercars, we can still produce the most beautiful.'

Just 250 Jaguar C-X75s will be built, with 200 destined to be road cars and 50 designated as racers, but the C-X75 name is expected to be dropped for production. The order books open today, deliveries start in 2013 (just as plug-in hybrid tech arrives on other Jaguar road cars), and this amazing car is priced at £700k + local taxes. That's £840,000 if you're a potential UK customer.

By Tim Pollard