Rendered Speculation: Jaguar C-Type draws its claws
Jaguar's owner Ratan Tata has made it clear that he wants to expand Jag's sportscar offerings beyond the scope of the current XK, and this is what the British rumormill has cooked. Dubbed the C-Type, the renderings depict a compact two-door roadster to rival the likes of Porsche's Boxster, BMW's Z4, Mercedes' SLK and Nissan's 370Z. With a lightweight aluminum chassis and powertrain options to potentially include a 235hp V6, 380hp V8 and 3.0-liter turbodiesel, the C-Type could offer exciting performance in a compact package, like Aston's Vantage, but at a fraction of the price. Although in the present climate Jaguar would do well to take things one step at a time, the report speculates that the diminutive C-Type could come in addition to a 911-rivaling E-Type successor and an R8-battling supercar. Likely? Not quite. Exciting? Most definitely. Hat tip to Mo for the news![Source: Auto Express]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Hike15 2:34PM (6/03/2009)
I was hoping to see more e-type, but this looks good alongside what jaguar offers currently
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Aspherical 2:35PM (6/03/2009)
Very sexy. And such a tease....
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inline6 2:38PM (6/03/2009)
This sucker's 2 t's-HOTT.
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Cougs 2:39PM (6/03/2009)
Not bad - i'd rather see it come from the pen (or digital design board) of I.C. and have it be official...but not bad at all.
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Doogs 2:42PM (6/03/2009)
Jaguar has needed this car forever. Looks like they're revisiting the F-Type idea from early this decade. About friggin' time.
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evilspoons 3:23PM (6/03/2009)
Wow.
This should be on sale right now, that looks absolutely fantastic.
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British_Rover 3:25PM (6/03/2009)
Jag needs to make a inline six powered Z4 sized roadster/coupe. They already have a nice inline six from Volvo being used on the LR2 and there is a Turbo Version of that motor that makes 280ish hp. Spin the boost up a bit and destroke the motor for some extra rev range and 320 plus hp would be easily obtainable.
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Motor_Yakuza 3:31PM (6/03/2009)
If I had 1$ for every great looking drawing auto express made and that didn't made it to production, I would be buying Donald Trump's organization.
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Val 8:32PM (6/03/2009)
Amen to that...
Alex 3:40PM (6/03/2009)
This may not be immediately in the cards for Jaguar, but you know Ian and his crew have doodle sessions where they contemplate the next vehicles they want to design for Jaguar. There is no reason to think that Jaguar in the next decade can't be what Audi is to this decade.
Major changes are afoot at Jaguar and we are all going to be greatly appreciative of the efforts.
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Motor_Yakuza 4:04PM (6/03/2009)
"There is no reason to think that Jaguar in the next decade can't be what Audi is to this decade. "
tata ain't Vag group
Rich 6:05PM (6/03/2009)
Completely off base. To continue where Motor_Yakuza left off, Tata has no Lambourghini, no VW, no Seat... It's got a long way to go before it can get to where VAG was a quarter of a century ago.
GreatCarz 4:16AM (6/04/2009)
Whatever Rich. Ever hear of a very small British sports car company called Lotus. Or maybe a small German sports car company called Porsche. If you have great talent then you will have great product. I think Jaguar has some great designers and engineers just waiting for the green light on some phenomenal future products. Jaguar has finally been set free to produce the cars they want.
GreatCarz 4:29AM (6/04/2009)
Actually my post is more directed at Motor_Yakuza. Jaguar and Land Rover operate independent of Tata. They aren't trying to be a VAG. Read my above post.
"Major changes are afoot at Jaguar and we are all going to be greatly appreciative of the efforts."
Definitely!
BoxerFanatic 3:41PM (6/03/2009)
Bloody gorgeous.
Liftback coupe with supercharged AJ-III 5-liter V8, a manual or dual-clutch gearbox...
Painted R-spec Kyanite Blue.
But it should be named XKF. The E-type was not hyper expensive when it was new... nor should this be. I am kind of dissappointed that the XK8 has gone so far up-market, and gotten away from it's true sports car XK roots, more toward touring, which was XJ's role.
I would bring the XK nameplate back down out of the upper atmosphere, between 40 and 65K, depending on options, perhaps with a base V6, V8 and R-package supercharged V8... somewhat alongside XF. But XKC, D, and E have already been used. Don't re-use them, this is a new car, not a retro-rehash. Nor should it be a straight re-hash. XF sedan and XKF coupe/convertible would fit well together as a model line.
This would BLOW Z4 out of the water. It might also seriously undercut the Aston Martin Vantage's appeal, by being more attainable, and still quite attractive and V8 powered. They are no longer automotive siblings, so one does not have to cater to the other's market position. Jag can give Aston a long-reach uppercut, if it wants to.
If they feel the need to keep the XK8's lux role and price point, on it's next revision, rename it and appoint it to XJ coupe and convertible, alongside the new XJ sedan, with visual commonalities to the XJ sedan. Throughout the late 70s to mid 90s, the XJ was offered as sedan, coupe, and convertible, distinct but similar.
But it isn't the same as a mid-engined Porsche, or a mid-engined Audi. For that, they need a halo car, more in the vein of the XJ13, and the XJR15, and the flat-as-a-pancake XJ220, but brought down to the ~$100K pricepoint to start, with an aluminum mid-engined AJ-III chassis, perhaps with a V12 adapted from the AJ-V8 series. They could even call it XR, with the R-spec logo built right into the definition of the name.
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Yaroukh 4:58PM (6/03/2009)
holy f... just stunning 8O
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Rich 6:07PM (6/03/2009)
I thought they killed Pontiac and the Solstice?
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asifgrkhan 12:48AM (6/04/2009)
that is rich.
are you blind?
EXP Jawa 7:55PM (6/03/2009)
That's an attractive design, but personally, I think that they should refrain from reissuing the C-Type name unless the car is extraordinary. That's a part of Jaguar's heritage that shouldn't be tossed around lightly.
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john 9:35PM (6/03/2009)
The problem that Jag has now, and has had for the past 20 years or so, is that they forgot that the reason the E was so successful is that it was CHEAP. Everyone seems to forget that. The E-Type was an inexpensive sports car that had category-beating performance. This car needs to be Miata priced with Z4 performance. As the owner of an E-Type, I've been dreaming of a modern incarnation for years but all these concept cars miss the point, which is cheap/performance/fun.
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