C X75

"We feel we could make the car work, but looking at the global austerity measures in place now, it seems the wrong time to launch an 800,000-pound to 1 million-pound supercar."

Much has been said about the upcoming C-X75 from Jaguar, but now we have some real, tangible news. The hybrid supercar will be fitted with a 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-four capable of, apparently, 500 horsepower.

We can appreciate a good track car as much as the next enthusiast, but we're beginning to bemoan their creation as a way out for automakers to charge wealthy customers obscene amounts of money for cars they're not even legally allowed to drive on the road. (As least, not in countries were homologation can't be circumvented with a sufficient bribe to the right bureaucrat. Which we're not entirely sure includes these United States.)

Jaguar has a bit of a tricky history with supercars. The only previous example it actually built was the XJ220, which remains an impressive specimen even 20 years later, even though it never quite lived up to what the original concept car promised those who put down their deposits. Then in 2010 the British automaker unveiled the C-X75 and our hearts stop

Could Williams emerge as the outsourced competition department for Jaguar? It very well might if Adam Parr has his way. The chairman of the Williams F1 team and its related subsidiaries is enthusiastic about his company's collaboration with the British automaker, and is keen to see it move forward into new areas.

Autoblog's Top 10 Concept Cars of 2010 – Click above to read the list

Jaguar C-X75 Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

Jaguar C-X75 concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

At the end of August, Autocar revealed details of a concept car that it said Jaguar would bring to this week's Paris Motor Show. That concept car is now said to have a name – C-X75 – and not much else is known about it beyond the speculation we already have.