Where's the real racing car Jaguar? PH Blog
Matt's not sold on Jaguar's arrival into Formula E; here's his alternative Jaguar racing plan
Formula E hasn't convinced me yet. The argument is made far more eruditely than I could on Jalopnik but, fundamentally, I don't think it makes for an especially thrilling race series. The cars aren't very fast, the lack of noise is odd and how eco-friendly is having two cars for a single race? It should be the vanguard of EV tech, yet at the moment it all feels a bit contrived.
For a brand like Venturi, building an EV product range from Formula E makes sense. But there's not going to be an all electric Jaguar for a while, and would you really buy an F-Pace hybrid because of Jag's Formula E involvement? The collaboration between Jaguar and Williams for the C-X75 already seemed to work rather nicely for hybrid development too.
Putting aside the true relevance of Formula E, I'm personally disappointed as a fan that this is the path Jaguar has chosen. Think of the cars in Jaguar's glorious racing past: various D- and E-Types, the XJS, the XJR-9, the saloons in touring cars; there are so many iconic cars that have captivated audiences for decades and continue to do so. Can you imagine that happening with the I-Type 1?
I don't wish to discount Formula E entirely, because I think there's the potential for it to be a truly innovative and groundbreaking series. But I don't think now is the time for Jaguar to be involved. Of course it requires participation to advance further, which gives us stalemate. As a crowd pleaser for 2017 though, and a tactic to draw young people into the brand, I have another way.
F-Type GT3. Obviously. It makes so much sense. The renders have already been done and look superb. But think about it. It could use the production car's V8 - giving a tangible link back to the showroom - with the weight saving tech used in the racer also able to benefit the road car. We all know Jags could use shedding a kilo or two, after all.
There's a Bentley factory team to battle for British V8 glory, plus all the rivals from the road on circuit too: Audi R8, Nissan GT-R and AMG GT to name three. Factory developed and raced by extremely competitive private teams, they would provide perfect opposition. Imagine the PR opportunity from beating the Germans in Germany. On top of this, championships like the Blancpain GT3 are brilliant to watch. The cars and powertrains are diverse, providing real entertainment for the fans disillusioned by more homogenous formulae. Stood as the sun goes down, watching a 911 through Eau Rouge with sparks flying off it, is not a sight you forget.
And imagine an F-Type doing that! Despite a vastly improved product line up, Jaguar still has an image issue. Namely, that only old people buy their cars. I appreciate I don't speak for every 25 year-old lad in the country, but knowing the Audi R8 racer uses very nearly the same engine as the production V10 makes the road car a lot more appealing. That it's so successful (and looks so damn good) as a racing car only heightens that. I'd wager that people in their 30s and 40s who could afford an F-Type would still be excited by a motorsport effort.
There was a lot of discussion last week about the role of Formula E in bringing young people to the Jaguar brand; here I can't comment, because being 11 and watching racing cars seems a long time ago. Are today's kids inspired by electric racers? Or the old and loud ones, with silly spoilers and big engines? I'm fascinated to know.
Is Formula E the right move for Jaguar? Or is there another motorsport alternative other than GT3? I'd love to know your thoughts. In the meantime I'll be watching all the D-Type, E-Type and XJS videos I can find.
Matt
[Jaguar GT3 renders: James Gibson]
The 5.0 V8 is a bit of an old dog by now, not really up there with the rival power plants but it could provide either a fitting swansong for the engine or as a testbed for a new engine, which is surely on the cards soon.
Now, I'm no fan of Formula-E but imaging the board presentation to get this signed off versus the one to get a "maybe come 10th GT3 programme" agreed it's easy to see why this is the chosen route. Racing may be in their DNA (or whatever BS they use to justify wheeling our D-types and E-types at classic meetings) but no one at Jag is agreeing to cut marketing budgets focussed on selling cars now in favour of a few enthusiasts seeing an F-type mid-pack at Oulton park I'd wager.
ETA: And just because the renders look nice and the classic sponsor livery makes the heart beat fast does not mean it will be easy/possible to make it into a competitive GT3 car...
Now, I'm no fan of Formula-E but imaging the board presentation to get this signed off versus the one to get a "maybe come 10th GT3 programme" agreed it's easy to see why this is the chosen route. Racing may be in their DNA (or whatever BS they use to justify wheeling our D-types and E-types at classic meetings) but no one at Jag is agreeing to cut marketing budgets focussed on selling cars now in favour of a few enthusiasts seeing an F-type mid-pack at Oulton park I'd wager.
ETA: And just because the renders look nice and the classic sponsor livery makes the heart beat fast does not mean it will be easy/possible to make it into a competitive GT3 car...
I really don't understand the Jaguar marketing strategy at the moment. They seem to miss the irony in simultaneously trying to trade off the racing heritage of the brand, by keeping a heritage fleet of racers and rolling it out at every opportunity, but entirely failing to make any of the current cars relevant in any way to modern racing.
Don't get me wrong, I adore what they do with the heritage fleet, but they should realise that an enormous portion of the brand value they currently have comes from the racing exploits of the 1950s and 1960s. The way to make the brand seem less "old man" now is to continue this racing heritage in meaningful ways (F-type GT3 is perfect example).
or to complain that only old people are buying sports cars.
It has nothing to do with motorsport for me. If someone made a basic, but beautiful sports car that you didn't need to be a junior stockbroker to afford, I'd have got one, as it is, I have classic cars.
What are the options today for an ordinary young person? And I'm going to stretch that definition to a fairly well paid one, let's say a mid 30-35k salary, who might actually get approved for a car payment of £400 pm for instance.
I appreciate the concept of the GT86, but it's a visual mess.
The latest MX-5 is criminally ugly, and the Fiat 124 is no improvement.
There isn't really anything that entices me currently, and every emerging sports car that initially promises to be "affordable"
turns out to have a 60k plus list price. I'm sorry, but that doesn't constitute as affordable for me.
The opel concept currently looks promising, but will it materialise?
The Alfa 4C, the new TVR, every Porsche (4 cylinder or not), they're all aimed at a similar demographic of "50+ year old with surplus buy-to-let cash to burn, and a youth to rekindle."
Fair enough, only old people can afford them, that's the way it is. But I wish we'd stop fuelling this infuriating myth that young people aren't interested in these brands and cars; that as an age group we're some kind of mystical Gen Y that needs a special App, or marketing stunt to beguile us, or worse still that there's something we'd rather be doing with our incomprehensible hipster youth values than buying cars at all.
Now, I'm no fan of Formula-E but imaging the board presentation to get this signed off versus the one to get a "maybe come 10th GT3 programme" agreed it's easy to see why this is the chosen route. Racing may be in their DNA (or whatever BS they use to justify wheeling our D-types and E-types at classic meetings) but no one at Jag is agreeing to cut marketing budgets focussed on selling cars now in favour of a few enthusiasts seeing an F-type mid-pack at Oulton park I'd wager.
ETA: And just because the renders look nice and the classic sponsor livery makes the heart beat fast does not mean it will be easy/possible to make it into a competitive GT3 car...
Added to that, the fact that customer racing in GT3 means Porsche, Mercedes, Bentley et al all make a profit selling racing cars and spares! Added to that, the fact that most of the bill payers (successful business owners) are all in the *ehm* more mature category, and from what I'be seen, with good customer support, the car would be a huge success.
Personally I fear Formula E is another series similar to A1GP. Incredibly well marketed, and on the face of it, a strong, we'll run and well backed Formula which, in reality, is actually a bit of a smoke screen for wannabe Bernie's and Toto's who are trading companies, sponsors and backers off against each other in an elaborate game of chess which hides the likely lack of money, poor viewing figures and imminent demise. Although I do actually hope this isn't the case...
Added to that, the fact that customer racing in GT3 means Porsche, Mercedes, Bentley et al all make a profit selling racing cars and spares! Added to that, the fact that most of the bill payers (successful business owners) are all in the *ehm* more mature category, and from what I'be seen, with good customer support, the car would be a huge success.
Personally I fear Formula E is another series similar to A1GP. Incredibly well marketed, and on the face of it, a strong, we'll run and well backed Formula which, in reality, is actually a bit of a smoke screen for wannabe Bernie's and Toto's who are trading companies, sponsors and backers off against each other in an elaborate game of chess which hides the likely lack of money, poor viewing figures and imminent demise. Although I do actually hope this isn't the case...
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