Jaguar Lay Claim To Gold Medallists
Jaguar and their Academy of Sport programme has produced three gold medals at this year’s London Olympics.
Not that you saw the medallists speeding along in the cars on court and track but they do drive Jaguars, so the Big Cat company are laying claim to them in an attempt at creating publicity to let us all know about Jaguar’s sales increase this year of 19%. Well, I’m writing about it, so it must be working!
Cycling knight Sir Chris Hoy drives a XKR special edition Speed and Black convertible in traditional British racing green and he says: “This is a terrific firm and they have great new models on the way to give them a bright future..”
Tennis Gold and Silver medallist Andy Murray drives the same XKR model (but not in green) and Jessica Ennis has a XKR Coupé as part of Jaguar’s Academy of Sport programme, which helps to mentor and train a cross-section of Britain’s up-and-coming young stars from a wide range of different sports.
And all this comes on the back of the XF Sportbrake estate — which goes on sale later this year — being support vehicle for another golden boy Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky’s Tour de France win.
And now Jaguar are aiming to become top of their own medal table with a number of new car launches with Dumfries-born head of design Ian Callum pulling the strings.
First up is the XF Sportbrake estate this autumn with its official global launch taking place in the Scottish Borders.
Then it’ll be the much-awaited E-type successor — the F-type – available in convertible and coupé versions, with a 3 litre turbocharged V6 engine that shoots it from 0-60mph in under five seconds.
And finally the C-X75 supercar concept is the ultimate piece in the Jaguar jigsaw. Due in late 2014, the electric/petrol hybrid power machine is part of parent company Tata’s £2.3billion investment into Jaguar/Land Rover.
It’s all part of investment, just like the Academy of Sport (£350,000 in the case of that) aiming to produce the Best of British.
But speaking of that, what is it with the XKR Speed and Black that attracted Sir Chris Hoy and Scot-claimed Brit Andy Murray to it?
Well, the speed bit of the name comes from Jaguar removing the 155mph top speed limiter, allowing the XKR to hit 174mph. , and also from changes aimed at keeping the XKR stable at higher speeds, including a revised front aerodynamic splitter and larger rear spoiler, plus bodycoloured sills and rear diffuser.
There’s also a Speed Pack (for extra cost) that adds the final individual touches, with gloss black replacing the chrome front grille and window surrounds, alongside 20in gloss black alloys with red brake callipers. (THAT’s the Black bit)
And you get three colour options — Ultimate Black, Polaris White and Salsa Red. If you are Sir Chris Hoy, you also get a Racing Green option. I’m guessing you aren’t so forget that bit. If you are,; congratulations, Sir Chris, on your medals.
A price tag of just under £80,000 is a lot. The XKR is so good you don’t really need to spec it up. But if you want to pay for individuality and exclusivity then this Speed and Black version delivers that.
And if you can afford the price tag, then spec’ing it shouldn’t be too bad on the pocket either.