Arden Jaguar Lightweight A-Type RSIt all sounded a little too good to be true, a 500-bhp Jaguar XKR generating 494 lb-ft (670 Nm) of torque and weighing just over 3,000 lb. The extensive fat-trimming project was by Arden, the German company that has been turning out seriously quick Jaguars for more than 20 years.
When we arrived at Arden, A-Type #001's electronics were in bits, and a team of mechanics spent the whole day working on the silver monster. And when the A-Type was finally ready to roll, the mechanics eyed the sky with a tut. Even the slightest semblance of rain would have brought this short test to a premature halt.
For a road car, the inability to run in rain might be considered a major handicap, but this is no real road car. It's legal and technically for sale, at EUR278,000 ($350,000), but it's really a showcase of engineering capability from arguably the world's leading Jaguar tuner.
Of course, Michigan-based Rocketsport Racing and Jaguar North America have now developed a 550-bhp XK-RS concept, and that machine hitting the market would be a good thing, as it would push Arden to produce an improved and more powerful car than this A-Type.
Finally, as the light began to dip behind the horizon, the RS burst into life, and immediately the sheer pent-up aggression of this free-revving engine seemed totally out of place in a Jaguar, but this is no ordinary cat. The rear wing, a real racing number, gives a clear indication that this isn't a fat man's commuter transport, as do the menacing grilles, stainless-steel exhaust system, six-piston calipers on the front wheels and swooping body kit. All sitting perhaps a little too snugly on 20-in. wheels wrapped in sports rubber.
But under the skin is where this car seriously digresses from the Jaguar mold. As well as a full rollcage criss-crossing through the car, strengthening it and making the most of the specifically designed adjustable suspension system, Arden has also removed everything possible to reduce weight. That means the interior is race-car sparse, with Recaro seats, four-point harnesses and, apart from the Alcantara-clad red dash and seats, no real trim. Even the door handle has been reduced to a stretch of cable, and the dash is a mass of fuel pumps and electrical switches. Don't ask if there is a stereo. The footwell is bare metal with weld marks clearly visible on the floor, and even extra strengthening beams running along the rollcage have been drilled incessantly to shave off every last piece of weight.
The result is a car 660 lb lighter than the original, with a six-speed manual gearbox and a healthy dollop of horsepower. It predictably took off like a bullet, after spinning the wheels a little, even though we were limited to short bursts of acceleration.
The sheer noise inside the car was incredible, a mixture of pure revs and gearbox whine with no insulation whatsoever. This is not a long-distance car, though, it's an ear-bleeding special edition meant for hellraising small measures.
The 60-mph mark falls in 4.4 sec. and one violent judder from the gearshift mechanism, gnashing teeth as it takes off down the road. It scorches all the way to 201 mph as well. And this, just shading the right side of the magical 200-mph mark, shows how the A-Type has been tuned for headline-grabbing figures.
It doesn't achieve them with the finesse of a road car; in fact, the A-Type Lightweight is a brute of a machine that wouldn't serve anyone well on Hollywood Boulevard or Monaco's promenade. On fast, twisting sections of road, though, it is an intoxicating machine, grand entertainment, an exercise in engineering and a great novelty. If only for a short time.