Why Jaguars Were the Ultimate Christmas Gift for Two Sports Heroes

Soccer superstar David Beckham and MotoGP champ Kevin Schwantz both treated themselves to custom Jags.

We must not have gotten the memo, but apparently an amazing Jaguar sports car was the preferred gift to buy yourself this holiday season, judging from David Beckham’s purchase of a limited-edition Jaguar Project 7 and the Christmas Eve delivery of MotorGP world champion Kevin Schwantz’s customized 1964 Jaguar E-Type.

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Schwantz bought a ’64 E-Type Roadster and had it rebuilt by Classic Jaguar, in Austin. The car’s 4.7-liter six-cylinder produces 370 horsepower and 435 lb. of torque, making it “one of the fastest 50-year-old cars on the road,” the shop boasts.

Meanwhile, British auto blog Motoring Research reports that England’s most famous soccer star bought himself a 575-horsepower, $200,000 F-Type Project 7. The car features upgraded suspension, carbon ceramic brakes, carbon fiber aerodynamic aids, and sticky Continental ForceContact tires.

Schwantz says his classic cat is similarly upgraded, with Wilwood brakes, stronger Borrani wire wheels and modern tires. Although his intent is to cruise Texas hill country enjoying the sound of the car’s inline six-cylinder exhaust note, Schwantz is a racer who lives very near the Circuit of the Americas, so the old Jag needs to be ready for its inevitable track laps. 

Schwantz has room inside for Tank, his four-legged best friend to ride along. Beckham, on the other hand, will have to leave the kids at home when driving with his wife, Victoria, in his new two-seat Jag. But maybe that was the whole idea.

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