Reinventing an icon..

Swallows Racing has always been at the forefront of reinventing the wheel so to speak developing the power hungry AJ16 engine, developing the manual conversion to the S-Type R and now making the drivers Jaguar even better with manual conversions for the X150 body shell.

The X150 has been the greatest of a generation and what’s not to love, from stunning looks to powerful engines and handling its the ultimate mix of all 3 however as driving purists would agree it is missing the all important ingredient.. a manual gearbox.

We are currently developing this on our test bed Palmer sport XKR and are very close to being able to make this into a package for road cars, as well as custom flywheels and clutch the ZF 6 speed manual gearbox gives a beautifully smooth power delivery and due to the very nature of a manual box does not give any transmission losses unlike the auto ZF which looses roughly 50bhp.

The basis for this recipe has been used by Aston Martin for years across the range and unfortunately when the X150 body style was released we were not given this option, The ZF 6 speed box coupled to the V8 gives a more organic feel to the driving experience while the ability to unleash all the power in the lower rev range means its even harder to loose your licence. A raw mechanical feel coupled with a guttural exhaust note and surge is the ultimate drivers package and options that all R models should have been available with in our opinion.

In order to keep the conversion as high quality as possible the pedal assembly is genuine Jaguar components which keep a factory feel and the shifter kept in the same J-gate recess, the pedal feel is firm giving a sense of meaningful throw to it and the 6 speed box flows through the gears seamlessly. It was very important to us that the prestige of the marque kept its character and build quality throughout this project making at a true contender for best GT cars.

We have been working tirelessly over the last few months to get this package right for the X150 body and are currently on the final step of getting the shifter ergonomics in place in order to keep the natural factory centre console look and feel, the clutch compound options also give you a more tailored feel to the package from everyday driving to race. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few months as we complete this last step and extensively test the package on the Palmer sport XKR on and off the track ready for orders.

If you would like any further information on our manual conversion packages for the X100 and X150, give us a call and see how we can make your pride and joy a more engaging drive.