Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) wasestablished to produce exclusive Jaguar Land Rover cars. South Africa was recently added to the division's VIP list and will see a quartet of new models, some of which will be available in very limited numbers.

The launch of SVO in Johannesburg was held in conjunction with the news that Jaguar will send five XEs up the hill during the Simola Hillclimb in May 2016. Cars.co.za has already secured one of the cars by winning the Hillclimb Media Challenge in 2015. Make sure you enter our competition by designing the car we will be driving up the hill. Read more about the competition here.

Project 7

Just five Project 7s will make it to Africa. The Project 7 is the result of a designer’s doodle that turned into a real-life project. It mixes a Le Mans winning D-Type with the current F-Type. The SVO team then increased the power output from a V8 F-Type R to 423 kW and 680 Nm, which translates to a claimed 0-100 kph of just 3.9 seconds. The SVO team also tweaked the suspension and exhaust to complete the race-car feel/realise gobsmacking performance.

Read more about the Project 7 here

Other SVO models coming to SA

In August, the F-Type SVR will arrive. It has the same power output as the Project 7 (423 kW), but the maximum torque is ramped up to 700 Nm. The F-Type SVR is equipped with all-wheel drive and a special titanium exhaust. Owners will also be able to customise the interior.

Read more about the F-Type SVR here

Range Rover SVAutobiography

This is the most luxurious Range Rover that you’re likely to see. The rear seats are 24-way adjustable and designed from special Bridge of Weir leather. The carpets are deep pile mohair specification and there’s a built-in Champagne chiller in the rear console. How grand!

Range Rover SVR

The Range Rover SVR was first seen at last year’s Jaguar Simola Hillclimb and it settimes similar to that of an F-Type. It takes an already insane Range Rover Sport and turns the dial to extreme. It’s supercharged V8 can catapult the two-tonne Rangie from 0-100 kph in just 4.7 seconds, the firm says.

Read more about the Range Rover SVR here

Future projects

Members of the SVO crew were able to give us some insight into their upcoming ideas at the launch event. They will be introducing (or rather, re-introducing) the Lightweight E-Types. The original Lightweights are built using modern methods, but in the same shape as the originals. They will also use the same engines as the original cars for even more authenticity. For the affluent few, it might just be the perfect modern day classic.

Further down the line, Land Rover is looking to make a wild off-roader. Not in the way the Range Rover SVR does things, but something more like "Dakar rally meets Land Rover Defender". Watch this space…

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