From concept to Bond star and now on the road, the Jaguar C-X75 is now street-legal thanks to CALLUM Design
The Jaguar C-X75, famous for its supporting role in James Bond film Spectre, is set to hit the public road for the first time at the Sunday Scramble at Bicester Heritage in Oxfordshire on Sunday, April 21.
The C-X75 began life as a concept car, designed by a team at Jaguar headed up by Ian Callum, now of CALLUM Design, and built with help from Williams Advanced Engineering. The original concept was powered by two diesel micro gas turbines which in turn would charge on-board batteries and power electric motors. This was deemed too complex for production, with a high-tech turbo- and supercharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder hybrid unit planned instead. Alas, in December 2012, all production plans were cancelled.
The first road-going Jaguar C-X75 is a former James Bond stunt car. Just like its original concept versions, these film cars were originally produced in partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering
The closest the Jaguar C-X75 came to hitting the road was for the production of the aforementioned 2015 James Bond film. Famous for its inclusion in a car chase scene also featuring the one-off Aston Martin DB10, the C-X75 was brought to life for stunt purposes with a WRC-spec spaceframe and supercharged dry-sump Jaguar V8. Just seven cars were made for the film: two with full interiors and the rest reserved for more serious driving and stunts.
The example brought to the road by CALLUM Design is one of these stunt cars. Approval for registration required some significant changes, including a modified exhaust with catalytic converters, new glass in the windows and the addition of indicators. It’s a process that CALLUM Design has experience with, having previously converted examples of the otherwise track-only Aston Martin DB4GT Continuation for legal road use.
The C-X75 began life as an ambitious concept car powered by a hybrid-electric system incorporating two gas turbines
“Stunt cars are arguably the true stars, bringing to life the legendary scenes that stay with us as car enthusiasts,” said CALLUM engineering director Adam Donfrancesco. “So few actually survive the rigours of filming; preservation was key whilst meeting the legislation and it’s great we can reveal it [the C-X75] to the enthusiastic Scramblers.”
The finished article will be on display in The Armoury at the April Scramble at Bicester Heritage but the event is currently sold out. For more details, visit the Bicester Heritage website here.
The Jaguar C-X75 was one of three models supplied by JLR for the production of 2015’s Spectre. The quick release bonnet clips seen on this stunt car have been removed on the new road-going example
