.jpg)
The queue starts here and now. The Jaguar E-Type is back in the form of the Jaguar C-X16and comes with the promise of a showroom sticker that will undercut the Porsche 911, as well as performance to top an Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
Officially it's just a concept car, but the C-X16 revealed last night in Germany is much more than just a piece of motor show frippery. It as real as any car that is destined for production and even more tasty than it looks in pictures and video.
Best of all, it finally delivers on every promise made by Jaguar Cars since the company escaped from Ford. The XF has provided the heart - and the cash - but the new sports car is the soul.
"This is Jaguar at its purest. It is emotional and exciting," says Ian Callum, the design chief at Jaguar. "This is a Jaguar. But re-interpreted in a very modern way."
Callum has done some very good cars in the past, from the original Volvo C70 to the Aston Martin DB7, but this rates among his very best work. He knew when he started that the C-X16 had to be better than good, and a landmark car for a company with a sports car history that stretches back to the SS and includes the C-Type, D-Type and XK series. He also knew that it was never going to stop as a show car.
Jaguar executives are still denying a serious production plan, but they're as convincing as a dentist who says "This won't hurt a bit".
Two years is a good guess at the showroom timing for the car, and even Jaguar's brand director Adrian Hallmark says the target price in Europe is equivalent to about $80,000-$105,000. However before you start saving, remember that's without the usual Aussie taxes and tariffs being applied, so expect to pay a lot more than that -- and possibly even closer to $200,000.
He also says the car will crack 100km/h in less than four seconds, has a top speed held back to 300km/h, uses race-style 'push to pass' technology and will match the emissions of a hot hatch at around 165grams/kilometre.
"We knew we couldn't go on much longer without a true sports car at the heart of our range," says Hallmark, speaking at the Jaguar press preview the night before the opening of the Frankfurt show.
"This concept takes the Jaguar sporting mantra and makes it thoroughly new. This is our vision."
