Jaguar gears up production for the C-X75 electric supercar

Plus a Ferrari reunion at Pebble Beach, a Niki Lauda biopic and more motoring news from around the world.

The Jaguar Cars Ltd. C-X75 concept supercar will be developed as a green vehicle. Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg

Silent, green Land Rover

A South African Land Rover specialist has developed a battery-powered Defender for big game drives.

Barker Performance Products developed the 'Lectric Landy with support from Land Rover's development specialists. The 300V, 27 kW-hour, air-cooled lithium-ion battery pack was provided by Axeon.

Kevin Flynn, the managing director of Jaguar Land Rover for sub-Saharan Africa, told iol motoring web site: "The all-electric game viewer concept has zero tailpipe emissions, thus offering a clean and silent operation, and reduces the impact on the highly sensitive environment in which these vehicles operate."

The concept came about after a request from Londolozi, one of South Africa's top game parks, for an ecologically sensitive vehicle with dependable off-road abilities.

Because the vehicle carries the Land Rover badge it had to meet the off-road performance standards of an ordinary Defender. The Barker team took it to a vehicle testing facility where it was tested by the Land Rover Experience, who had nothing to do with the project until then, and the EV off-roader passed.

Jaguar gears up production for the C-X75 electric supercar

Jaguar has announced it will launch the C-X75 concept car as an exclusive hybrid supercar.

"People expect Jaguar to be innovators that is when Jaguar is at its best," said Adrian Hallmark, the Jaguar brand director.

"The C-X75 received an incredible reception as a concept car. We've been building on that momentum and there is a clear business case for this exclusive halo model. No other vehicle will better signify Jaguar's renewed confidence and excellence in technological innovation than this."

The C-X75 will be developed in association with Williams F1, which will provide its engineering expertise in areas including aerodynamics, carbon composite manufacture and hybrid technologies.

Instead of the concept car's twin turbine engines, the production model will have a small, 1.6L petrol engine to generate power for four electric motors operating each wheel.

Only 250 examples will be built, each costing between £700,000 to £900,000 (Dh4.2 million to Dh5.4) depending on market and local taxes.

GM investing in Corvette plant

General Motors announced last week that it will invest US$131 million (Dh481m) in the Bowling Green assembly plant to provide production of the next-generation Chevrolet Corvette.

The GM North American president, Mark Reuss, told Reuters that the revamp of the Kentucky plant will produce a new version of the Chevrolet Corvette. "It has a completely different look. Don't ask me how or what, but people will be really surprised, in a good way."

The investment in the plant will create 250 new jobs for the area, with some being filled by laid-off former workers.

The state of Kentucky approved $7.5m in tax incentives for GM to invest in the Bowling Green plant. Corvettes have been made at the plant since 1981.

"This is a significant day for anyone who believes that America should build world-class, high-performance products," said Reuss. "Corvette has no domestic peer for performance and pedigree and stands alongside the world's best supercars with almost 60 years of continuous heritage.

"This investment in Kentucky is among $3.4 billion made in the United States since mid-2009 to keep or create more than 9,000 jobs for American workers."

Pebble Beach plans birthday celebration for the 250 GTO

This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most desirable Ferraris of all time; the 250 GTO. To honour this landmark, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is attempting to bring together as many of these iconic vehicles as possible.

Only 39 models, including a single prototype, were produced, and the event organisers are expecting more than 20 to attend.

Some of the GTOs have sold for more than US$30 million (Dh110m) in recent years.

"The Ferrari 250 GTO is one of the great sports racing cars of all time," said Ed Gilbertson, the chief judge of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. "The GTO beat everything in the world for about three years running, which is quite an accomplishment when you consider the marques that were racing at that time."

At last year's Concours, 12 of the 16 surviving Jaguar XK-SS models attended to honour that marque's 75th birthday.

Oscar-nominated scriptwriter penning a Niki Lauda biopic

Peter Morgan, the Oscar-nominated British scriptwriter (for both The Queen and Frost/Nixon), is collaborating with Niki Lauda on a script about the three-time Formula One championship winner's 1976 season.

The film will be set during Lauda's most dramatic season when he was almost killed in a crash at Nürburgring. Lauda had tried to have the race boycotted because of safety concerns, but it went ahead. Lauda's Ferrari swerved off the track on the second lap, hit an embankment and rolled back into the path of a Surtees-Ford car driven by Brett Lunger. Lauda's car caught fire and he suffered horrific burns before he was pulled from the wreckage.

Lauda joked to Vienna radio Oe3 that he is giving some thought to which actor might depict him.

"Anyone who is 25 or 26 with his right ear burnt off and dreams to be made up to look like me can start making plans," he said.