Jaguar F-Type will rival Porsche 911

The British marque used the New York motor show to confirm the C-X16 concept coupe revealed late-2011 will go into production as the F-Type.

The name’s a deliberate attempt to evoke the 1960s E-Type, the car Enzo Ferrari once called “the most beautiful car ever made”. But we’ll have to wait a little longer to decide if the modern interpretation lives up to its storied predecessor’s style and grace; Jaguar chose to only show a heavily camouflaged prototype in New York, holding the production version for a reveal later this year.

The F-Type roadster will be the second two-door model in Jaguar’s range after the XK Coupe. It’s expected to be more hard-edged than the grand tourer XK, Jaguar promising it will "focus uncompromisingly on delivering driver reward".

Unlike the C-X16 concept, the all-aluminium F-Type will not be a coupe, at least not initially. A soft-top roadster will be the first version to market when production starts mid-2013, though Australians are likely to wait until 2014.

A coupe version will follow, both strict two-seaters and likely to be powered by an all-new family of turbo-four petrol and diesel engines.

Jaguar has also promised a high performance engine “to at least match” the concept’s 280kW supercharged V6, which also featured an F1-style “push-to-pass” hybrid system good for another 70kW.

As for pricing, with the Australian launch at least two years away it’s too early to know for sure, but we're confident eager buyers will need to write six figures on their cheque.