Future Sports Cars Sneak Preview: 2009 to 2012
2012 Jaguar F-Type
Jaguar could very easily end up with the coolest sports car of the 21st century.
By Ian Adcock
Ratan Tata, the soft-spoken urbane boss of the Indian giant conglomerate that has acquired Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3 billion, was understandably very coy about his plans for the two iconic British brands at the Geneva show, as the deal still had to be confirmed.
That was finally done in late March — so what does the future hold for one of Britain's premier marques? One new car that seems a betting certainty is a successor to the fabled E-Type, to be dubbed the F-Type.
In 2000 Jaguar unveiled an F-Type concept at that year's Detroit show to much acclaim. Its swoopy curves and retro machine-turned fascia drew a lot of admiration, but it was ditched in favor of more mainstream products.
Now, it seems that the F-Type might just be resurrected under Jaguar's new owners. Certainly the important players within Jaguar, from design to engineering to marketing, want it.
But how? The simple route is to chop down the XF's platform, making it into a narrower and shorter 2-seater, while still using the XK's aluminum suspension components to save weight (just as the XF does).
Don't think a future F-Type will be simply a slimmer version of the XK. Instead, take the E-Type, morph it into the radical C-XF concept and XF production car and then develop those themes to become the F-Type. Jaguar could very easily end up with the coolest sports car of the 21st century.
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Slideshow: Future Sports Cars Sneak Preview
