There's a train of thought, we know, that Bertone's B99 take on the baby Jagconcept is a team effort between the famous Italian styling house and Jaguar. But all we got from senior Jag execs who saw it at the Geneva show was a sense of polite bewilderment.
Causing particular amusement and/or concern (we weren't quite sure which!) was this fantastically over-appendaged 'GT racing' version.
Here's an edited excerpt from the press release:
"The carryover components of the original sedan (front doors, greenhouse, hood and trunk) are very obvious but the 2.5 meter wide body leaves no doubt, the race version is just as wild as every Jaguar in the jungle, ready to eat the competition alive.
"Now the Jaguar racing dynasty has a new member, the B 99 GT."
Well sorry chaps, but perhaps it doesn't...
The 'regular' B99 is a little more plausible than the racer, we thought, and has some attractive angles as PHers have already pointed out following our pre-show story. However the rear doors appeared to be on the small side, so perhaps it wouldn't be very practical as a production saloon. It might have formed the basis of a nice Jaguar coupe in the early 1990s, though.
That said, as a nod to modernity, the B99 has been conceived with a hybrid 'range-extender' system that uses a 170hp engine, lithium ion batteries and twin in-board electric motors on the rear axle for propulsion.
The press release has got a bit of guff about the B99 'looking poised and ready to pounce', but this is by far the best bit:
"An old Jaguar slogan was: "Grace, Space, & Pace". Bertone research for the B99 concept could be summed up in: "Cunning Glamour with Race-Bred Innovation."
Not a line we expect to see featured soon on a double page ad in the Sunday papers...