A road-legal Bond villain’s Jaguar supercar that was never made available to the public is to go on sale with a price tag of around £2.5million, This is Money can exclusively reveal.
The orange Jaguar C-X75 – with a chassis number ending with the iconic ‘007’ – is one of a handful of specially-made cars commissioned to play a pivotal role in 007 movie Spectre during a dramatic duel through the centre of Rome with James Bond, as played by Daniel Craig in an exclusive Aston Martin.
The revamped Jaguar is being sold for a client by UK-based specialist luxury and supercar dealers Kaaimans International after secretly undergoing detailed engineering and trim work to transform it from a big screen film stunt car into the road-legal supercar it was originally destined to be.
It is one of just four surviving stunt cars made for the 2015 Bond movie – a fifth was destroyed during filming.
The stunning two-seater C-X75 was originally created and unveiled with a flourish in 2010 as a 200mph prototype plug-in hybrid electric Jaguar supercar – but the project was later axed by the British car-maker on economic grounds.
However, the car itself did live again to be seen on the big screen with a handful built to order for the 2015 hit film.
Seven C-X75s were used during filming in total, though two were genuine prototype C-X75 hybrids (both used only for slow-moving and interior shots) that are today deemed ‘priceless’ and have been retained by manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover for its own collection.
The remaining five cars were crafted exclusively for the movie by the technical and engineering department of the Williams F1 team in a matter of months before filming started – the fifth taking just 12 hours to make, one Williams Advanced Engineering bod revealed to MailOnline and This is Money motoring editor Rob Hull in 2015.
Each of the movie-exclusive C-X75s featured a V8 engine taken from the Range Rover Sport SVR and had a unique space-frame chassis (much cheaper than the genuine C-X75 carbon fibre tub) and upgraded suspension to perform jumps during filming.
They were also fitted with manual handbrakes, gearboxes and clutches to make jaw-dropping skids in front of the Colosseum in the movie easier to master.
One was even converted into a ‘pod car’, with a seat and all driving controls encased in a roll cage mounted on the roof so stunt drivers can manoeuver the vehicle during scenes with Spectre henchman, Mr Hinx, played by actor Dave Bautista, filmed sitting in the car.
Of the four surviving movie creations, two are in the hands of ‘serious collectors’ in Switzerland.
One of the four was offered to collectors at RM Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi auction in November 2019. However, with an estimate of $800,000 to $1.2m, it failed to make its reserve and was not sold.
In the movie we see Craig as Bond, driving a limited-edition Aston Martin DB10 (and one of just 10 Astons specially created for the movie), being dramatically pursued at night through Rome and along the river bank of the Italian capital by the Jaguar driven by Spectre agent Mr Hinx, as played by Dave Bautista.
The Jaguar movie car ‘007’ is one of two C-X75s currently owned by the collector client, who previously bought the ‘001’ chassis model.
This he plans to keep for himself. But the ‘007’ chassis model is up for sale.
Both are the subject of detailed work with specialists to make them properly driveable and road legal, says Gary Tolson, co-owner of supercar specialists Kaaimans International based in Tollerton, Nottinghamshire, which is handling the sale.
The prestige dealer had previously bought both cars privately – and sold them on to the current owner.
Conversion work to the stunt cars to comply with road legal status includes: new fuel tanks; a new emissions-compliant exhaust system; a new speedometer; a proper handbrake; replacement glass; new carbon fibre; upgrade of electrics, electronics and parts where necessary; electric mirrors; and new interior trim and seats.
It rides on 20-inch wheels at the front and 21 inch at the rear.
After the work it will be IVA certified as road legal (Individual Vehicle Approval from the government’s Vehicle Certification Agency or VCA) and, once suitably taxed, insured and MOT’d will be able to be driven legally on UK roads.
When the original Jaguar C-X75 prototype was launched more than a decade ago, and before its movie fame, it was hailed as ‘the E-Type for the 21st century’ and ‘the sexiest Jaguar ever’.
Mr Tolson said: ‘It’s a very rare car with an impeccable Bond pedigree. It’ll cost around £1m to convert it so the price we’re looking for it to fetch will be around £2m to £2.5m. We expect the work to be completed soon ready for sale in early Spring.’
He said: ‘It’s one of only four stunt Jaguar C-X75s used in the movie Spectre. Our client also owns another – with the chassis number 001 – which he plans to keep. But chassis ‘007’, with that iconic James Bond number, is up for sale.’
Mr Tolson added: ‘The other two stunt Jaguars are with serious collectors in Switzerland who both also own an Aston Martin DB10 as a matching pair from the movie, so they are unlikely ever to sell.
‘Jaguar Land Rover retains two other C-X75s which are the original pre-production prototypes.’
Why Jaguar ditched C-X75 hypercar production a decade ago?
The stunning Jaguar C-X75 supercar has had a sadly chequered history.
Designed by Jaguar’s former legendary design boss Ian Callum, the Jaguar C-X75 supercar had originally been created as a prototype cutting-edge plug-in hybrid vehicle with four electric motors and a unique ‘turbine’ propulsion system.
It was a star of the 2010 Paris Motor Show and was hailed as ‘the E-Type for the 21st century’ and ‘the sexiest Jaguar ever’.
Technical difficulties meant the planned propulsion system was later changed to a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid power 1.6-litre four cylinder engine linked to two powerful electric motors, and able to accelerate from 0 to 60mph in under three seconds with low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Just 250 C-X75s were due to be built between 2013 and 2015 as part of a collaboration with Williams, combining race engineering with cutting-edge environmental technology.
However, the model, which had been due to go into full production with a near £1million price-tag, never made it to showrooms.
Jaguar deemed it unsuitable to launch a seven-figure, limited-run supercar in 2012 because of the recession, choosing to pull the plug on the project to focus on its bread-and-butter mainstream vehicle development.
However, in September 2015 a modified stunt version of the C-X75 was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show ahead of its starring role in the Bond movie Spectre.
