Jaguar Land Rover reportedly is negotiating to buy the historic home of British motorsport – the Silverstone racing circuit in Northamptonshire.
The Coventry Telegraph said the Tata Motors-owned maker is "understood" to have made a bid for the circuit which currently hosts the British Grand Prix. The property is believed to be valued at almost GBP23m and JLR is thought to have major plans for the site, should a deal be agreed.
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It wants to create a five-star hotel, a Jaguar Land Rover heritage centre, motor industry museum, vehicle design workshop, offices and a visitor centre at the Northamptonshire venue, the paper said.
A source "close to Jaguar Land Rover" told the paper: "They have been trying to buy Silverstone for a while now. Talks are still ongoing an the deal isn't sealed yet. They are interested in it for testing cars and the motorsport side."
Talks between the car maker and the British Racing Drivers' Club are continuing, the paper added, with the Tata board having agreed to the project.
The report noted Silverstone's managing director had said in September the future of Formula One's British Grand Prix was at risk without major investment in the race track.
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By GlobalDataCoventry University automotive expert David Bailey told the Telegraph the deal would be a good move for Jaguar Land Rover.
He said: "I think this makes sense on a number of levels. The whole experience side of buying a premium car is becoming more important. They are offering a service as well as a new car. The opportunity to have heritage vehicles at a site like Silverstone would be a very attractive proposition internationally. And there is a big cluster of motorsport activity there. JLR would be tapping into a lot of expertise and linking better with motorsport."
The paper said JLR plans for Silverstone were also thought to include using it as a base for up to 1,000 sales and marketing staff and 700 engineers.
An offer has been made to the British Racing Drivers' Club for the 249-year leasehold of Silverstone, which first hosted the British Grand Prix in 1950.
The automaker has a number of administration, engineering and manufacturing bases in the West Midlands. It recently intervened in plans for a 'new town' residential property development near its Gaydon engineering HQ in Warwickshire and a planned development of some 4,000 houses was reduced by around 1,000 after the automaker expressed concerns over having room to expand. Neighbour Aston Martin has also been in the news recently about a possible relocation as well.
A spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover told the Telegraph: "Jaguar Land Rover continually looks to invest and grow its business operations in the UK. We constantly evaluate a wide range of opportunities which are confidential. We have no further comment to make on this matter."
Porsche's UK unit runs driver experience and other events at Silverstone and there has been social media speculation as to the future of that should a rival automaker take over the circuit.
