RE: Jaguar F-Type: the inside story

RE: Jaguar F-Type: the inside story

Friday 13th April 2012

Jaguar F-Type: the inside story

What to expect from the most eagerly anticipated new Jaguar in half a century



"I don't think you'll be disappointed", says Jaguar design director Ian Callum at the New York Auto Show, talking about the looks of the new Jaguar F-Type. So, will it be just like the C-X16 that caused such a stir at Frankfurt last year? He's giving little away.

The concept has no aero aids, he reveals, the low tail is "something to think about" and the side-opening tailgate will go as it's not practical enough. "However," he adds, "as a designer, you learn with concepts not to over-promise."

"It's a Jaguar," confirms Jaguar brand director Adrian Hallmark. Yes, and also the most eagerly anticipated new Jaguar in decades.

Sports car sales may not be huge - the total market was only around 65,000 units last year - but the effect they have is enormous. "Nobody can get their head around what a sports car can do for your image," says Hallmark. The power of the segment is way beyond what its sales suggest. This is a vital car.


Jaguar's plan is clear
It knows it, too. "This is not trial and error," states Hallmark when asked why the time is now right for the F-Type. "We have taken it very seriously. We know it has a position."

Which is? A two-seat sports car that carries forward Jaguar's experience in a sector that, back in the 1950s, it virtually defined. Even the name deliberately references this. F-Type has been chosen, says Hallmark, "in the spirit of the C-, D- and E-types - the cars that, from a sporting and performance perspective, defined the brand credentials for more than 60 years."

Stated competitors (it'll be priced from around £55,000) include the Mercedes SL, the Porsche 911, and "lower-priced cars from those rivals" (think Boxster, Cayman, SLK AMG). Even so, Jaguar is not seeking to emulate them, but to create its own clear position: "The Jaguar will have a different character - it will be a true sports car."


Dynamic promise
As for what this means dynamically, Hallmark is clear. "Performance and character should start where the XKR-S finishes in terms of precision, agility, responsiveness, even if it has less pure horsepower than the 550hp RS."

The F-Type will also demonstrate Jaguar's trademark 'duality'. It will, says Jaguar, work equally well cruiser and focused sports car.

There will be four powertains and, although no technical details are being revealed (no more news on just what that wailing Nurburgring test car is, then - although the rumourmill suggests a V6 derived from Jaguar's 5.0-litre V8...), Hallmark says one powertrain will match the quoted performance figures of the C-X16: 180mph-plus, 0-60mph in under five seconds.

The trick hybrid setup, complete with push-to-pass button, is also an option, but not at first.


All-aluminium - and roadster before coupe
The C-X16 will be built at Castle Bromwich upon a full aluminium monocoque which Hallmark promises will be lightweight. Jaguar has form here so the mistakes of past (see our F-Type development history below) will not be repeated.

Jaguar is, however, starting with the convertible rather than the coupe. Start off engineering it as a convertible and you can build in all the necessary rigidity: this means the open-top car will be lighter and better than if it were a conversion - while the coupe will benefit from a platform even stiffer than it may otherwise have had.

It won't have a retractable hardtop either. If you ask why not, you quickly sense Callum doesn't like them. They jar with the Jaguar design philosophy, they take up space, the benefits in refinement are never fully realised and "they move the weight distribution dramatically to the rear". Fabric it is, then.


E-Type: the elephant in the room
So is it the new E-Type? Callum has previously rolled his eyes at this question, but Hallmark makes Jaguar's position clear. "The name 'F-Type' tells the right story. We are NOT doing the E-Type, we are doing our own thing."

Jaguar wants the F-Type to be the logical progression from the E-Type rather than a revival of it. Indeed, Jaguar tested 30-40 names: for both 'traditional' and 'progressive' potential buyers, F-Type worked.

"A Jaguar with an alpha-type name should always be our most extreme sports car." From what Hallmark and Callum are promising, the F-Type will be just that.

Callum in particular appears confident: "I've been waiting 50 years to do this. You don't have to explain this car ... it speaks for itself."

From what we've heard so far, the ingredients are there: "very focused" XKR-S 'plus' dynamics, C-X16 looks, sub-911 prices... Here's hoping Callum is right: nobody wants to be disappointed by the F-Type.


Jaguar F-Type: three decades in the making...

Spring 1980
: 'F-Type' project begins, using the platform of the XJ40

July 1982: Two models, codenamed XJ41 (coupe) and XJ42 (convertible) are signed off for production

March 1986: Initial target launch date (later revised to late 1988 due to delays with XJ40)
1987: Project reviewed

1988: XJ41 and XJ42 mules are sent to customer clinics for appraisals

1989: Ford buys Jaguar. Launches review of all projects in development: finds XJ41/42 are late and massively overweight

March 1990: Project is cancelled

1998: XK180 revealed, a radical 450hp two-seat roadster designed by Jaguar Styling's Keith Helfet

2001: Jaguar F-Type concept is revealed and later confirmed for production: target is 25k cars a year, with a target price from £30,000-£40,000. Scheduled launch date is 2004. Design started by Keith Helfet and finished by Ian Callum.

May 2002: F-Type project is halted

September 2011: Jaguar C-X16 concept is revealed at the Frankfurt motor show

April 2012: Jaguar F-Type is confirmed for production, with a launch date of summer 2013


 

Author
Discussion

Oddball RS

Original Poster:

1,757 posts

217 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
I must have got mixed up somewhere i thought this was a sub XK class or car???

A Scotsman

1,000 posts

198 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
I'll wait for the coupe.

Council Baby

19,741 posts

189 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
I nagged my local dealer for further information and tried to put down a deposit when this was first announced in 2001... the original concept, although impractical and subject to change, looked fantastic and the target price point was massively appealing. For some reason I'm not feeling it now though, perhaps it's an age thing, a price thing or just that the concept seemed to stand out a lot more from the crowd at the time and this seems somewhat less individual now than I thought it was going to be 11 years ago.




Frimley111R

15,537 posts

233 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
Oddball RS said:
I must have got mixed up somewhere i thought this was a sub XK class or car???
I think this is a sports car/smaller whereas the XK is a GT/cruiser/larger.

Twincam16

27,646 posts

257 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
Can I say I'm more than a little excited. However...

The undoing of this car could be its gearbox. If they truly want to take the fight to BMW and Porsche, it needs to have a properly responsive 'box - either a traditional H-pattern manual or a paddleshift which changes gear precisely when the driver wants it to.

Otherwise, if it's slushbox-only, then no matter how good it is as an autobox it'll still be in SLK-ville.

zebedee

4,589 posts

277 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
I am excited about this car but find it odd to see the XKR-S described as a 'precision' tool. Love that car too but from what I read the only precise thing is that you know precisely how to leave the road backwards on any given bend - just accelerate!

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
Agree twincam, a slush box is a total no-no for this car.

lordlee

3,137 posts

244 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
I can't wait for it to hit the showrooms so that I can get a test drive. For me its the most exciting product to come out for quite some time. I really hope it lives up to the hype.

Snowboy

8,028 posts

150 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
Looks a little bit like an S2000.
That's not a bad thing though.


Rumblestripe

2,916 posts

161 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
This just in...

F-Type canned AGAIN!*












  • joking (not funny, I know)
Edited by Rumblestripe on Thursday 12th April 17:06

[AJ]

3,079 posts

197 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
The test mule looks a lot like an MX5 with a big engine. Lets hope it drives like one!

ApGt

43 posts

143 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
Listening to the sound bite on the F-type website it unfortunately sounds like an auto.
If Jaguar really wants to define itself as a bit different, give us a really slick shifting manual!

monthefish

20,439 posts

230 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
the article said:
Sports car sales may not be huge - the total market was only around 65,000 units last year
the article said:
Stated competitors (it'll be priced from around £55,000) include the Mercedes SL, the Porsche 911, and "lower-priced cars from those rivals" (think Boxster, Cayman, SLK AMG).
So the total market for the above named cars (plus those not mentioned) is around 65,000 units?

kambites

67,462 posts

220 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
I assume that means the UK market?

stinkysteve

732 posts

196 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
Oddball RS said:
I must have got mixed up somewhere i thought this was a sub XK class or car???
+1

I was expecting it to start around £40k?

NSBlake

10 posts

197 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
Snowboy said:
Looks a little bit like an S2000.
That's not a bad thing though.
Was just about to post that (certainly not a bad thing) - are the photos of a "funny painted" actual car or will it look different?

Raitzi

640 posts

211 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
side opening doors are also not practical

urquattro

755 posts

185 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all

Reading this Jaguar article I feel there is no danger to the E Type legend and reality, slso its value will not diminish as this F Type appears to be a middle of the road, soft top current sportscar without radical appeal. I hope it works but that picture of the prototype really wants binning as it adds nothing to the car's charms - it just looks an ungratious car to me, personal view only of course.

monthefish

20,439 posts

230 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
kambites said:
I assume that means the UK market?
But presumably Jaguar will be going for the world market with this car, so why quote a UK market? What relevance?

Thom

1,716 posts

246 months

Thursday 12th April 2012
quotequote all
Fail.

It looks like Jaguar aren't capable of putting out a proper-looking car since the D-type.