Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover announce Pebble Beach premieres
Three storied British brands will be debuting all-new vehicles at Monterey Car Week.
Aston Martin, Jaguar and Jaguar’s SUV-building cousin Land Rover all announced their plans Monday for the upcoming events the week of Aug. 11, culminating in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Aston Martin officially will debut the V-12 Vantage Roadster it announced in July. The car is the drop-top version of the V-12 Vantage coupe that’s been terrorizing the road since last year.
With a V-12 engine making 565 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque, this new roadster will do zero-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and can hit a top speed of 201 mph. That makes the V-12 roadster the fastest convertible Aston has ever made.
The company is also bringing the DP-100 Vision Gran Turismo concept car. This car was designed in the digital realm for the Gran Turismo 6 video game. But it’s now crossing into the physical realm with Aston bringing a full-scale model to Carmel, Calif.
In the video game, the DP-100 is a mid-engined car, with a twin-turbocharged V-12 powerplant bolted directly behind the driver and passenger. It makes an estimated 800 horsepower. But the prototype won’t be drivable.
But this car does matter to more than just pixilated drivers and racers. Aston is on the cusp of the next generation of its sports cars, which will start trickling out in 2016 or 2017. The DP-100’s design cues could tease what its production cars will look like.
Both Astons -- real and prototype -- will be on display at the Quail, a Motorsports Gathering in Quail, Calif., on Aug. 15.
Car fans in attendance will also have a chance to see what Jaguar and Land Rover are bringing with them.
Land Rover’s new Range Rover Sport SVR will make its world debut. This 550-horsepower, high-performance version of the Range Rover Sport is the first from the brand’s new SVR speed-hunting division.
Full details of what makes this vehicle go will be announced at its debut, but all that power is likely from the same 5.0-liter, supercharged V-8 that is in a variety of Jaguar cars (including the F-Type Coupe we recently tested).
In addition to the tuned engine, expect a variety of suspension and aerodynamic upgrades, and a price tag that accelerates toward $100,000 as easily as the rest of the vehicle.
Land Rover’s corporate cousin Jaguar will also debut a new vehicle -- the new F-Type Project 7 -- a production model of the concept it brought to Pebble Beach last year.
A low-volume, specialty version of the F-Type Convertible, the Project 7 updates the body with a carbon fiber aerodynamic fairing covering the folded roof and various other body modifications (front and rear bumpers, rear spoiler, etc). It’s an homage to Jaguar’s iconic D-Type and marks the 60th anniversary of that Jag.
Jaguar hasn’t announced which engine it will cram under the Project 7’s hood, but expect the same 550-horsepower supercharged V-8 that’s in the aforementioned Range Rover Sport SVR. That engine and horsepower are currently available in the F-Type Coupe, but is detuned in the regular V-8 convertible for “only” 495 horsepower.
The Jaguar Project 7 and the Range Rover Sport SVR will be on display at the Quail on Aug. 15.
