Jaguar F Pace Guinness World Record
We saw this one coming. Last year, we drove the Jaguar XK180, a fabulous beast that had no chance of making production. Then we concluded (Car and Driver, June 1999), "If and when Jaguar decides to build a new two-seater, it should be smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the XK-series, rather than a heavy hitter like the XK180."
Well, here is that car: the F-type roadster, unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It transfers the XK180's style to a smaller package that to our eyes looks even better and shows what a Jaguar prepared to compete with the Porsche Boxster or BMW M roadster would resemble.
The F-type is a real concept car in the sense that it has not been fully engineered. That is unusual for Jaguar but could be because it is not ready to reveal the layout and technicalities of the X400, the small Jaguar sedan that will compete with the BMW 3-series scheduled to arrive next year.
Logically, a production F-type would be related to the X400. Its wheelbase, at 94.5 inches, is about the same as a BMW Z3's, and the Jaguar roadster might be expected to have the same kind of relationship with the sedan that the Z3 does with the 3-series. So don't be misled by the information that the show car has the 3.0-liter V-6 engine, five-speed manual gearbox, and rear-wheel drive of the S-type. Revealingly, Jaguar's blurb says that all-wheel drive (expected to be available on the X400) is "a production-feasible option."
So, mechanically, the real thing -- if there is to be one -- will differ from this prototype. The F-type concept is to test customer reaction. "The world is our focus group," jokes Jaguar managing director Jonathan Browning, although he goes on to say, "The F-type is a clear signal of Jaguar's intent to return to the true sports-car market in which we were so successful in the 1950s and '60s. It would attract a new generation of younger sports-car buyers to the Jaguar marque."
This is the smallest Jaguar since the '50s D-type sports racer. At 162.0 inches long, it is 13 inches shorter than an E-type (XK-E) and 25 inches short of a current XK8 and XKR. Keith Helfet, the senior Jaguar designer previously responsible for the XJ220 and the XK180, says that for the F-type concept, proportions were everything: "We have tried to make a simple, elegant statement in form."
When the XK180 was put through its paces, it became clear that it needed more aerodynamic work. To Helfet's disappointment, it grew a big chin spoiler and wing on the tail. Although the F-type has not yet been tested in the wind tunnel, Helfet is confident it will be stable -- and without protruding wings. He considered a deployable spoiler like the Boxster's but applied racing principles instead, fitting an upswept undertray and "fences" under the rear lights to reduce air pressure underneath the tail to reduce lift or perhaps provide downforce. At the front, a wing across the lower air intake is designed to adjust its rake with increasing speed.
Inside, the classic aluminum dash with its long row of dials follows the XK180 idea, which was itself inspired by the lightweight racing E-types of the '60s. The gear lever and switches are machined from solid aluminum; they look terrific.
You may wonder how the low, speedster-style windshield and fixed, curved side windows would have to be modified to make the car street legal. Helfet says that would not be too difficult but admits that the market for a car in this form would be too limited and they have yet to devise a roof. There has not been time -- it is only eight months since Jaguar management gave the go-ahead for the F-type concept.
A production version will take a little longer --let's guess 2004.
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Jaguar F Pace Guinness World Record
Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15140491/jaguar-f-type-news/
