The hidden place in Coventry where Jaguar Land Rover has its toy box

JLR
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


It’s common on the A45 or A46 near Coventry to see cars dressed up in camo, disguised as they move from facility to facility. These are almost always Jaguar or Land Rover products and it’s an interesting little remnant of the motor industry’s presence in the area.

What you might notice is that seeing these becomes even more common around the old Ryton Plant site in Ryton-on-Dunsmore. So as I saw one of these on the outer ring road, I decided to follow it to see where it ended up.

Where it ends up is very special indeed. Because while Lode Lane and Castle Bromwich make the Jaguar and Land Rover cars, Ryton is where they make the toys.

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Obviously, they are cars as well - they will fulfil the basic car function of getting you from A to B. But Ryton is where JLR’s Special Vehicle Operations is, and they promise to give you much more than that.

Special Vehicle Operations is to Jaguar and Land Rover what AMG is to Mercedes or what Skunk Works was to Lockheed Martin. It is where they take a selection of their vehicles to have all sorts of goodies attached to them.

SVO‘s 20,000‑square metre facility is described as a “centre of excellence”. Divided into four key zones, they consist of a VIP commissioning suite, manufacturing facility, paint facility and an F1‑style technical suite

You want it fast? This is where the Range Rover Sport SV is developed - a 625 horsepower monster of an SUV.

If you’re after something to pose around the more fashionable parts of town, SVO will work with you on the finishing touches of your customised luxury car after a one-on-one consultation with one of their specialists. The interior and exterior touches can be specially customised to your taste.

A Range Rover Sport SVR used in the James Bond movie Spectre
A Range Rover Sport SVR used in the James Bond movie Spectre. The standard version available to consumers was developed at Ryton.

Further down the road from SVO, there’s Jaguar’s classic centre. For those with a passion for classic cars and very deep pockets, they provide genuine parts and accessories to keep the best examples of Jaguar’s storied back catalogue on the road.

If you’ve got even deeper pockets, this is the home of Jaguar’s continuation series of cars. Where the limited edition D-Type and C-Type racers of the 50’s have been constructed for a select few exclusive customers. And if you do have an old Jaguar sitting about, this will be the place where Jaguar themselves can carry out a complete restoration.

This all came from banal curiosity and what I ended up stumbling upon was a bit of an analogy for the British car industry as a whole. For decades, this site pumped out Hillman’s, Chrysler’s, Talbots, and eventually Peugeot’s until the mid 2000’s.

Like so many mass manufacturing facilities for vehicles, this plant eventually shut down after Peugeot decided not to retool with its new models. What replaces it is a much more bespoke and unique approach to vehicle production.

The industry has shifted and with Britain’s most recognisable brands being at the premium end of the spectrum such as Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, and Lotus, facilities like the one at Ryton demonstrate how Britain excels at low volume, high quality automotive products.

To use a clothing analogy, the UK’s domestic motoring brands have moved from focusing on the George by ASDA end of the spectrum to the Giorgio Armani end. So if you see a car all dressed up in camo around Ryton, you might be fortunate enough to catch one of JLR’s most unique creations.