Nine years ago Jaguar unveiled the C-X75 concept, a turbine-generator hybrid electric supercar. It was far and away the most advanced Jaguar in the company’s lengthy history, and arguably Ian Callum’s most fetching design of his entire career. This dream-worthy car was included in a mostly shit James Bond film before it was indefinitely shelved. Now the Spectre-tacular looks of the concept could make its way back into the real world as a replacement for the F-Type.
Recently retired Jaguar designer Callum told Autocar “We could get quite close [to the concept]. There’s still a formula within Jaguar for a front-mid-engined car. I have a preference for mid-engined cars. It’s certainly something I would like to see.”
“For an electric sports car,” he added, “you could make a shape like [the C-X75] with the batteries in a T or H-shape through the middle. Or you could make it as a longitudinal internal-combustion mid-engined car. It would be short enough. So the style won’t dictate the drivetrain, but the drivetrain may dictate the style.”
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This seems to intimate that Jaguar is banking on electric tech for its next Porsche 911-fighter sports car. Autocar’s takeaway here is that if Jaguar opts for an electric F-Type replacement, it may look quite close to the mid-engine C-X75. If, instead, Jag wants to continue to offer their customers an internal combustion V8, potentially with hybrid assist horses, it may stick with a front-engine layout.
The current F-Type is still soldiering on for another 3 years with some minor updates in the pipeline, so we won’t be seeing this supposed J-Type any time soon. If Jag has plans to develop a new platform for its sports car, however, it’d better get off the pot and make a decision soon.
This, of course, is a rumor that has been floating around for over a year, so I won’t be holding my breath. I’ll believe it when I see it.
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