Is this the sexiest car on the planet? Jaguar unveil new F-Type two-seater and 'spiritual successor' to the classic E-Type

Jaguar today unveiled its sexy new two-seater F-Type roadster – the spiritual successor to the legendary E-Type sports car of the 1960s.
The uncompromising convertible designed to take on the might and performance of Germany’s Porsche is to have its official unveiling at next week’s Paris Motor Show, some fifty years after the car which inspired it.
Jaguar Land Rover bosses say their British challenger will  go into direct competition with the likes of  Germany’s Porsche 911 – causing some to dub it the ‘Porsche-buster.’
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The 'Porsche buster': Jaguar's new two- seater F-Type roadster, the spiritual successor to it's iconic E-Type sports car, has been released 50 years after the original went on sale

Shrouded in secrecy: The new F-type as disguised prototype at Goodwood. The official reveal in Paris next week is heralded as a 'truly significant day' by the motoring giant

The scintillating  sports car with contemporary styling and a particularly cute rear will offer drivers a  choice of two 3-litre V6 or an even more powerful 5-litre V8 engine fitted to an eight-speed gearbox offering blistering performance and superb handling.

Will it fit in my garage?

New Jaguar F-Type

Price: From £55,000

On sale:
Soft top roadster from next Spring
Hard-topped coupe from 2014
Built: Castle Bromwich, Birmingham
Length: 14ft 8 inches
Width: 6ft 4 inches
Height: 4ft 3 inches
Weight: 1.6 tonnes
Seats: 2
Engines: 3 options
Supercharged 5.0 litre   V8 (495PS)
Two supercharged 3.0 litre V6 (340PS and 380PS)
Top Speed: around 190mph
0-60: Just over 4 seconds.
MPG:  circa 30mpg
C02: from around 200g/km

The F-Type is being seen as the ‘spiritual successor’ to the E-Type of the 1960s, but is pitched as a truly 21st century car in terms of design, technology and performance.
It will sit in size below the  larger XK grand-tourer sports car but is expected to give a massive ‘halo’ effect to the whole Jaguar brand.
The higher performance F-Type  models  will accelerating from 0-62mph in less than five seconds and have top speeds well  in excess of 155mph and in some cases nudging 190mph. The open-topped roadster  will cost  from  around £55,000 when they goes on sale in Spring. A hard-topped coupe version  is expected to follow in late summer 2014.
Jaguar released some early official photographs after some of the images and details leaked out.
Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar global brand director, said the F-Type's launch in France will be a ‘truly significant day’ as the firm returns to the sports car market.
He said: 'As its sporting forebears did in their era, the F-Type will break new ground by delivering stunning sports car performance while vividly demonstrating Jaguar's cutting-edge engineering technologies and world-class design excellence.
Ian Callum, director of design who created the car and has promised to buy one for his heirs out of his own money , added: ‘A true sports car needs to be pure in both its purpose and its form; to have the opportunity to produce such a car for Jaguar has been a privilege both for myself and for my team.’

Iconic: The original Jaguar E-Type was manufactured by the car giant between 1961 and 1974

A 'proper' sports car: The original Jaguar E-Type was 'pure in both its purpose and its form'

Evoking the old-school Hollywood glamour of fifty years ago

Jaguar confirms that it is has agreed a collaboration with singer songwriter Lana Del Rey as part of launch plans for the Jaguar F-TYPE

Seductive pop songstress Lana Del Rey has been chosen to  help ‘collaborate’ in the launch of Jaguar’s sexy  showroom-ready F-Type sports car at next month’s Paris Motor show.

In a contemporary twist on the traditional girl on the bonnet, the sizzling 26-year-old American singer-songwriter whose concocted stage-name alone (her real name is Lizzy Grant) evokes Hollywood glamour of a bygone era, will play a part in lifting the covers off the two-seater roadster.

Her best known hits from the perhaps less aptly titled album ‘Born to Die’ include the melodiously melancholic ‘Video Games’ and ‘Blue Jeans’ . But Lana has shown her automotive credentials with a track called ‘Driving in Cars with Boys’  and has been photographed driving down Hollywood’s Sunset Strip - in a vintage Mercedes-Benz made by Jaguar’s German arch-rivals.

Jaguar’s global brand director Adrian Hallmark said: ’Singer songwriter, Lana Del Rey will collaborate with Jaguar on the launch of the all-new F-TYPE, a two-seater sports car that is a vivid representation of the vitality of the Jaguar brand.’

He said: ‘The C-Type, D-Type and E-Type Jaguars were all sports cars that held true to this principle in their era, and the F-Type will hold true to that same principle in its time, a time that is soon to arrive.’

 

James Blackwell from the Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club described it as ‘gorgeous’ adding: ’Jaguar built its success on proper sports cars and, after the E-Type, all models had rear seats and were designed to be grand tourers.

Seductive advertising: Singer Lana Del Rey has been chosen to help 'collaborate in the launch of Jaguar's sexy showroom-ready F-Type sports car

‘Now they're bringing it back and the F-Type is very exciting. It looks gorgeous and has a lovely presence with its aggressive styling.
‘I'm sure it is going to be an amazing success, everything Jaguar seems to do at the moment turns to gold.’
Disguised version of the F-Type have been on the road and at exhibitions but this is the first time the undisguised car has been seen by the public. A prototype of the car codenamed  the C-X16 coupe concept was shown at the Frankfurt motor show 12 months ago.

The revival of a motoring legend

The new Jaguar F-Type roadster will be built at booming Jaguar Land Rover’s Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham as part of ambition expansion plans for up to 40 new vehicle variants.

In July the firm created 1,100 new jobs at the West Midlands where the new F-Type is being built alongside the new Jaguar XF Sportbrake, the mid-range XF saloon, the XK sports tourer  and flagship XJ models.

It also has factories at Halewood on Merseryside and at Solihull near Birmingham, as well as a design and engineering centres in Coventry and at Gaydon in Warwickshire.

Now owned by Inida’s giant TATA group, JLR  employs  around 24,000 people and in 2011/12  celebrated record profits of £1.5 billion – up £392m on the previous year. Pre-tax profits rose by  a third ( 32per cent)  to £333 million for the first quarter of the current tax year  with more than 85,000 cars sold in the three months to June 30.

Jaguar Land Rover has created  more than 5,000 new jobs in the past two years, while also supporting an estimated 190,000 jobs with UK suppliers.

Sales of all models have soared by  20 per cent in the 2011-12 financial year boosted by exports to major markets such China and Russia.

It is a remarkable turnaround for the once-loss making Midlands-based car maker  bought by India’s giant Tetley Tea-to –Corus Steel  industrial conglomerate TATA from Ford for £1.5billion in June 2008.

The oval grille, such a prominent feature of Jaguar sports cars throughout history, has been axed in favour of a more modern four-cornered mouth.
The bonnet has a clamshell design, and there’s a prominent power dome as part of its sculpted shape.
The headlights are vertical in design and feature a distinctive LED strip that curves from the outside in.
Jaguar has previously confirmed the F-type’s engine line-up will consist of its all-new supercharged 3.0-litre V6 and a new version of its familiar supercharged 5.0-litre V8. The former will be available with either 335bhp or 375bhp.
Each of the three petrol engine choices will send power to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Stop-start technology will also be standard.
The F-type is based on a shortened version of the XK’s all aluminium monocoque and body, but the car will be tuned for a greater driver focus. Bosses have previously said that even the entry-level F-type will be ‘a more focused driver’s tool than the XKR-S’.