Effortlessly bringing the Grace, Space and Pace that Jaguar once had!
Portofino
JAGUAR XJC
CLIENT NEEDS
Create an elegant cruiser that personifies the classic Jaguar moniker: Grace, Space and Pace.
Subtlety is key, an almost back-dated version, devoid of extraneous trim that looks elegant and classy in any situation.
Bespoke touches throughout but nothing screams “modified”. Power should be “ample”.
OUR SOLUTION
Subtle details adorn this car, form the slightly raised rear arches, to the slim, custom made single-piece bumpers.
The interior is a masterclass in “less is more” with a completely redesigned dash and console facia taking inspriation from earlier XJ’s and other jaguar models. Effortless grunt comes from Jag’s Supercharged AJ16 24V inline 6 which is mated to a Getrag 5 speed manual transmission.
The classic interior looks bely some series technology though, with twin ECU Master 16 Channel Power Distribution Modules heading up the electrical system and a ECU Master Pro 8 ECU running coil-on-plug, twin knock sensors and twin wideband lambda sensors making sure the engine is as efficient as it is reliable.
KEY FACTS
- Supercharged 4.0 engine
- 5 speed manual transmission
- F1 spec electronics and wiring
- Redesigned dash
- Modern Air Conditioning
THINKING OF STARTING A PROJECT? HERE ARE THE NEXT STEPS...Long time followers of Retropower might recall that, almost a decade ago now, we were commissioned to build a one-off Jaguar XJC restomod, a car we subsequently called ‘Project XJC430.’ The build in question served to both inspire the imaginations and tax the collective abilities of everyone at the company at that time, but, at the risk of sounding immodest, we – and the customer, more importantly – were overjoyed with how the completed car turned out.
Comfy, fast and designed to take advantage of some of the big Jag’s core capabilities (not least its well-designed suspension and exquisite exterior styling), ‘Project XJC430’ proved to be a big hit, and has since come to be one of the builds by which our company is most readily associated with, as well as a showcase for what a Retropower project can become.
All of which helps to explain why, when the chance to again work on a big cat coupe arose at the end of 2023, we grasped it with both hands. The build, this time called ‘Project Portofino,’ a nod to the beautiful Italian resort we hope the car will look right at home cruising around once finished, is no mere recreation of ‘Project XJC430’ (that’s simply not our style), but it will draw on many of the lessons we learned during its creation and will be built to a similar brief – i.e., big, comfy, fast, well-appointed and impeccably styled.
To this end our preliminary design tasks have been centred upon enhancing Jaguar’s own work, with the revisions we’ve planned for the interior drawing heavily on the dashboard and centre console of the original Series One XJ. We’ll be treading a similar route when the time comes to ‘tweak’ the exterior, and we plan on blending key styling quirks present on the original, factory car and those we implemented on ‘Project XJC430’, albeit with enough distinctions to make clear that ‘Project Portofino’ is no mere tribute act.
Another area where this Jag will differ from its forebearer will be its drivetrain. Whereas ‘Project XJC430’ was powered by a GM LS3 ‘crate engine’ and gearbox, Portofino will be motivated by the supercharged Jaguar AJ16 engine, the one factory fitted to the XJR. This will be joined to a manual gearbox, so while Portofino is being built with grand touring in mind it will still be able to provide ample engagement for whoever is lucky enough to be behind the wheel.
At the time of writing Project ‘Portofino’ is in its formative stages: it has been stripped to a rolling shell and has had its underseal painstakingly burnt and scrapped off. It’s now midway through an extensive metalwork phase, one focussed on removing rot first and foremost, then the more enjoyable, custom fab-work everyone at Retropower loves and enjoys so much.
