2011 Bertone B99 GT

(from Bertone Press Release)  Jaguar B99 GT: Mr. Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Dr Jeckyll and My Hyde” novel helps us all understand how great paradoxes can coexist inside the human soul. Jaguar has thrived on such a powerful duality for decades, combining the subtleties of exclusive luxury cars perfectly suited to red carpet evenings and the predator-like brute force of the full race cars perfectly suited to 24 hour race track punishment. For this reason Bertone has decided to transform the elegant B99 luxury sedan into a GT race track monster.

The carryover components of the original sedan (front doors, greenhouse, hood and trunk) are very obvious but the 2.5 meter wide body leaves no doubt, the race version is just as wild as every Jaguar in the jungle, ready to eat the competition alive. The overall height car has been lowered 100mm compared to the street version, and has been given a mere 50mm ground clearance along with a perfectly flat belly for aerodynamic efficiency. The Pirelli PZero race tires are 325/30/19. The giant front spoiler pulls in the cooling air while the giant rear extractor returns it. The side spoilers are filled with giant exhaust side pipes. The rear spoiler is a traditional bi-level race spoiler. The interior has been completely emptied and filled with a safety roll cage, a full race drivers seat and a few minimalist instruments. The graphics are in bright fluorescent green in contrast with the silver body and the carbon fiber aerodynamics components.

In order to meet the demanding performance requirements on the track, the modular “pure” hybrid system in the B9 has been modified to include two additional Lucchi electric engines for a four-wheel drive layout producing the equivalent of 725 kW, around 980Cv. Now the Jaguar racing dynasty has a new member, the B 99 GT.