Good news sports car fans, remember Jaguars CX-16 concept that everyone including your granny suspected Jaguar would build? Well surprise surprise Jag are going to put it into production next year. And they are going to call it… the F-type, as in the one that comes after E, unashamedly showing that the new F will be the spiritual successor to the E-Type 37 years after its production ended.
More good news is that the car will remain almost unchanged from the concept we saw last year. Apart from the roof going missing of course because the F will at first only be available as a soft top. Everything else that was good looking about the concept will remain, such as the low wide stance, long bonnet, short tail and beautiful front end. A coupe will appear a little while after launch, so any buyers out there who don’t fancy feeling the wind in their hair, or should that be lack off, will be catered for.
In the engine department the concepts hybrid V6 has been dropped in favour of a traditional albeit all new V6, likely to come in 250bhp naturally aspirated guise or obnoxiously loud and supremely epic 375bhp supercharged guise. A hybrid is probably still in the pipeline, but not for a good few years.
To match the power output Jaguar are also keen to point out that the F-Type will be an out and out sports car getting back to Jags racing routes, not a big GT like the XK. The F-Type will use a shortened and lighted version of the XK’s chassis and have a rear diffuser similar to that on the CX-16 concept. These elements alone point to a car that will be good if asked to go round a corner.
The draw of the original E-Type was that it offered supercar beating performance for mundane Morris Minor money, unfortunately times have changed and the F-Type isn’t going to come cheap. Prices are likely to start at 50k rising to 75k for the supercharged R. Putting it, as expected, slap bang in the firing line of the Porsche 911, the F-types closest best-selling rival. Jaguar are pretty confident though that the F will attract plenty of new buyers and hopefully entice some out of their 911’s too.
So Jaguars new F-Type, its sexy, fast and a million times more stylish than a 911. Want one? I bet you do. And as a foot note it’s also going to be built in Britain, so buying one would aid our struggling economy, there really doesn’t seem to be many negatives with this F-Type.