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After the furore over the Jaguar Type 00, I was nervous to see the finished car – but I love it
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I’m rubbish at Poker. I’ve got the sort of face that gives the game away and reveals my most secret inner thoughts. I’m very lucky that I get to see new cars before most people. But sometimes it’s difficult when the covers get pulled off a new car, with its designers eagerly looking for signs of approval, and all I can give them is a face that looks like it has just smelled baby sick.
And so, after being one of the first on the road in the new all-electric Jaguar, I was ushered into the big white design studio at JLR’s Gaydon, Warwickshire headquarters to see another camouflaged version of the car I’d just been in, and something else hiding under a crisp silk sheet. A very large, crisp, silk sheet.
The long bonnet from the Type 00 concept was very much in evidence, along with a low roof and stubby tail. The proportions and shape under the cover looked very similar to the car first seen in Miami a year ago… and then the cover came off.
Now, I’m not allowed to go into too much detail about what I saw, other than to say it’s clearly related to the concept. It’s now a production-ready car with four doors, but still with big wheels. It’s no less striking and many of the stunning and unique details from the show car have made it through to production.
But here’s the thing – it looks even better than the Type 00; more resolved, more interesting and with some fantastic details that are more real-world than the concept, but even more stunning.
You’ll be able to judge for yourself when you see the car next summer, but chatting to Andrew Wheel from the JLR design team – fronting up in the absence of JLR’s departed but definitely not fired former Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern – it was a design-first project, which caused more than a few challenges for the engineering team.
Wheel and his colleagues gave me some insight into some of the clever thinking that overcame many of those challenges – the engineering team is eager to be able to share them with the world next year – but it’s clear that no stone was left unturned in the desire to stick to the original design.
Is the new Jaguar beautiful? I don’t think so, certainly not in the traditional sense. It’s striking, bold and I just couldn’t stop staring at it. And when the cover went back on, I felt disappointed – I wanted to see it again. For me, that means it’s a great piece of design.
I had a sneak peek at the interior, too. Most concepts get some of the wackier elements toned down for production. But some of the best, most outrageous stuff from the Type 00 has made it through to the inside. It’s luxury, but not as you might currently know luxury – and that’s good.
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JLR often talks about ‘Modern Luxury’, but I certainly left feeling that the car was Modern British. Is that what Jaguar boss Rawdon Glover was looking for? “It’s more Jaguar than British,” he says. “There are lots of sports cars out there and there are lots of sedans that are extremely comfortable, but perhaps a bit anonymous. So, it’s definitely a Jaguar thing.”
Tom Bury, Jaguar’s product and services marketing director, took us back twelve months and the reaction to the combined launch of the new Jaguar brand and the Type 00 concept. “The reaction shows people care,” said Bury, “But it’s the next stage that’s most important. We’re still very confident.”
That also comes from the CEO PB Balaji who may have only joined JLR just a few weeks ago, but as CFO of owners Tata, has been part of the project since 2021. “He’s very confident,” said Bury.
There’s not only change at the top of JLR, but the car market has also changed a lot since 2021 with many manufacturers rowing back from their all-electric plans. Not Jaguar, though. “Every future Jaguar will be electric,” Bury confirmed.
He also thinks that people will buy into “Jaguar and design first, electric second”.
And that design for the new model, which Bury refused to even give us a hint of a name – although I reckon Jaguar Type 01 is still a possibility – was frozen back in 2021 and locked before the Type 00 concept was designed. “The design from 2021 still stands today,” said Bury.
But it won’t be until next summer that the world gets to see the new all-electric Jaguar GT and 2027 before customers get their hands on the first cars. So, has the recent cyber-attack on JLR delayed things? “There can’t be zero impact,” replied Bury.
The challenge ahead is whether luxury car buyers embrace this new, very different Jaguar and put it on the same level of exclusivity and value as the likes of Bentley and Aston Martin. As everyone at JLR always remind me, Jaguar needed to change.
From what I’ve seen so far, it’s got the looks and the feel of a very different and very desirable luxury car. And that, at least, should give it a fighting chance of success.
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