Jaguar will reveal a dramatic new sports car concept at the Paris motor show this month. The car is tipped to be badged Jaguar F-Type.
It will preview a fresh styling direction and makes a fitting celebration of the company’s 75th anniversary.
Details of the still-secret car have emerged from Tata sources and been reported this week in Autocar India.
The concept will be about the size of an XK and aims to embody Jaguar beauty and to celebrate the firm’s hard-won reputation as a sports car maker.
Inspired by Porsche
Some of the inspiration for the show car is the success of the Porsche 918 revealed at Geneva.
Unlike that car, however, Autocar understands that the Jag isn’t slated for production but will pave the way for the next phase of Jaguar’s new models, kicking off in 2012 with the new XK.
It also neatly marks the end of one phase of Jaguar design and the start of another.
Today’s XK began the Ian Callum-inspired reinvention of Jaguar’s model range, moving through the XF and culminating in today’s XJ.
New grille design
One of the key design features likely to change in the future is the oval, E-type-inspired grille that has identified Jaguar’s sports cars.
Callum has previously told Autocar that the current oval grille can’t be stretched to fit the face of bigger cars without compromising its elegant proportions.
Instead, Jaguar plans to move to a single grille design for its saloons and sports cars, based on the oblong XF/XJ design.
The Paris concept is highly likely to give a first glimpse of the oblong grille on a sports car, a design theme that Autocar has explored in several artist’s impressions.
Another breakthrough for the concept is understood to be a hybrid powertrain. Details are few, but it could be based on a V6 petrol, possibly turbocharged, and linked into ZF’s new eight-speed auto, which Jag is planning to fit to future models.
This transmission can incorporate a ‘ring’ electric motor positioned ahead of the torque converter, which neatly packages the EV drive unit in a conventionally sized vehicle powertrain.
Jag concepts – the story so far
1999Concept-R Important because it started a shift towards contemporary styling.
2000F-type Generated huge excitement. But Jag couldn’t find a way to build it.
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Re: Secret Jag concept for Paris
Shame on you Autocar! First you get us all sweaty-palmed at the thought of an exclusive rendering of the proposed new Jaguar look, and then you present us with a scarcely Jaguar-ised version of the Aston Martin One-77! Surely you could have come up with a slightly more inspirational rendering than that? Or are you trying to tell us that after the mind-blowing design of the latest XJ Jaguar will now be reverting to their pre-Callum era Aston Martin-look-a-like sport scar designs? If I may add my own little prediction here: don't expect the concept to reveal much about the design of the upcoming saloon cars at all. Someone at Tata-Jaguar said a short while back that the design-study of the 'small sports car' Jaguar had shown a few years back is a reality for production so I expect this concept to sport a heavily reworked version of that SLK-sized concept's styling. Maybe they've already got a larger, more Callum-ised version on the drawing board already and might be planning on revealing not only the XK-replacement but also a 'family look' that will be shared between XK and ''small XK'' and help to really differentiate the sports-cars from the saloons?
Re: Secret Jag concept for Paris
I agree with Grunt. You can't assess desirability with a tape measure. It's composed of looks, steering feel, chassis response, stability under braking and various other faculties that constitute soul. I'm 6 ft. 4ins and ran an Alfa 1600 GT Junior for 5 years (the Bertone shape from the '60s). I had to fold myself up like a Swiss army knife to get behind the wheel and my chin was practically on my knees but boy did I love that car! The entire time I drove a friend''s Ford GT my head was up against the roof, but did I get out my tape and start tut-tutting? Damn right I didn't! . Are we to conclude that the Lagonda is crap because there's less space in the back than in a Honda Jazz? Some posters are likely to find greater inner peace with a subscription to Domestic Appliance Monthly.
Re: Secret Jag concept for Paris
Careful Aly- you'll give our resident German Troll a heart attack if you go around debunking his 'anything British is crap' theories with such common sense as this.
:-)