Project 7 is special one-off Jaguar, which made its debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and promises, says Jaguar, to reflect the heart of the company’s sports car DNA.

Supposedly inspired by a simple sketch, a small team of Jaguar designers have tuned and customised the company's new F-Type sports car into a homage to the Jaguar E-Type sports car of the 1950s.

Although it is not intended for production, Project 7 is not merely a static concept, but a fully-functional, high-performance sports car in its own right ready to drive on the streets of Britain.

The cars rigid aluminium architecture helps contain the 550PS version of Jaguar’s 5.0 Litre V8 Supercharged engine – an increase of 55PS over the standard, if you can call it that, F-Type V8 S. Power is delivered through Jaguar’s 8-speed Quickshift automatic transmission and Electronic Active Differential.

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But the design team didn't stop there, they tinkered with the aerodynamics as well to include a carbon fibre front splitter, side skirts, large rear diffuser and a fixed rear spoiler with a 14-degree angle of attack, giving Project 7 a low, unified, muscular stance.

The side louvres and bonnet vents are also carbon fibre, while the carbon fibre and aluminium wing mirrors draw inspiration from those on Jaguar’s C-X16 sports car concept, from which F-Type is derived.

The windshield has been lowered, while a new nose design incorporates revised air intakes and headlights with gloss black surrounds instead of chrome. The car sits on 20-inch Blade forged-alloy wheels with carbon fibre inserts just to rub it in further.

To enhance the racing experience even further, the driver sits in a composite bucket seat, lowered by 30mm, and is held in by a four-point racing harness. The passenger seat is replaced by a unique helmet holder. It's just you and the road.

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The seat and the insides of the doors are finished in a quilted racing-style diamond pattern. There are carbon fibre inserts on the console and SportShift selector, the start-stop button is gloss black and the steering wheel is equipped with machined aluminium paddles. Nothing has been left untouched or looking shabby.

Oh, and the project took just eight weeks to complete and get on the road. No easy task.

According to design director Ian Callum, the car “opens up an insight as to where the F-Type could go” and we can certainly see that should Jaguar want to get back into racing, this would clearly appeal to those who came to watch.