The Jaguar XE SV Project 8. It’s a super-fast Jaguar saloon powered by a supercharged, 5.0-litre V8. In fact, as of this week, it’s officially the fastest production saloon in the world.

That fact was proven when the Project 8 recently took on the 3.6-km WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca. It did it in 1m37.54s – almost a second faster than the previous production sedan record.

Okay, you might think, so the Project 8 is fastest around one track – what does that prove? Well, not much, but this lap record comes hot off the heels of another lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, where it set a time of 7m21.23s, making it comfortably the fastest production saloon to take on the track.

Obviously, you want one. It’s a racing Jaguar with a 600 bhp engine and a 3.3-second 0-100 k/h time. Oh, and a top speed of 321 km/h. But there’s going to be a problem with that – only 300 are being built, and they’re going for AED 720,000 apiece.

Still, you do get something very special for that. Aside from having blistering speed, each of the hand-built Project 8 cars are modified at the SV Technical Centre in Coventry, UK, to accommodate the specially tuned, supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine and a bespoke rear differential.

And unlike most high-performance production sedans, the all-wheel-drive XE SV Project 8 is studded with genuine motor racing technology such as F1-style ceramic wheel bearings, adjustable ride height and adjustable camber.

The front and rear fenders are bespoke to accommodate larger, wider, wheels which are necessitated by the larger brakes. The V8’s power is routed through all four Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres through an eight-speed Quickshift automatic ZF transmission

In order to achieve this performance, the car receives significant aerodynamic and suspension upgrades, including a ‘Track’ mode for maximum downforce and further improvements to the damping, throttle and steering response.

Project 8 is available in two specifications. The standard four-seat model features Jaguar’s latest front Performance seats with magnesium frames, plus a more heavily contoured rear squab to maximise support. The optional two-seat Track Pack includes lightweight front carbon fibre racing seats with four-point harnesses fixed to a harness retention hoop in place of the rear seat.

Want to see the XE SV Project 8 in action? Just check out the video below.