If there's one thing guaranteed at a motor show, it's the unveiling of a concept that's achingly desirable but will always be denied production status. Peugeot has been particularly good at it with stuff like the Onyx, and this year's
Frankfurt show
will feature beautiful show ponies such as the
Opel Monza
Volvo Concept Coupe
The Jaguar XK180 is the archetypal show car that never was. Well, not directly or immediately that is. A shortened XK chassis, supercharged V8 from the XJ and an auto gearbox... this was the Y2K F-Type. It was even slightly heavier than it should have been given its aluminium construction.
But here's the thing. The F-Type is a hugely desirable sports car that looks amazing. For visual drama though, the XK180 runs smoky rings round it. Oh sure, that voluptuous windscreen must be hugely impractical but it creates a wonderful speedster look. The rest of the design is actually quite simple; the wheels are big but use only five spokes and no aspect is particularly outlandish.
Basically, it looked (and looks) production ready. The F-Type is undoubtedly a great Jaguar sports car, but that doesn't stop us wondering what might have been with the XK180...