Jaguar's Bold, Brash New Car Is The Perfect Concept (And The Haters Are All Wrong)
Jaguar is readying its much-needed reinvention, and if you thought the British automaker would play things safe, you might want to sit down before looking at the new Jaguar Type 00 concept. Unveiled today at Miami Art Week, the all-electric coupe is a big, bold, and undoubtedly controversial slap in the face of traditionalism.
Pronounced "Type Zero Zero," the name is arguably the clearest nod to Jaguar cars of old. The first Zero is a reference to its fully-electric, zero-emissions powertrain, which will rely upon a completely new Jaguar Electrical Architecture (JEA). The second is a reference to its role at the foundation of a new (and hopefully profitable) Jaguar.
Jaguar
It's fair to say the reaction to Jaguar's rebrand announcement in November wasn't universally positive. The automaker's new logo, accompanied by a high-fashion promo reel, prompted confusion among some and outright vitriol among others. What you can't deny, though, is that it was effective to propel the car company into the headlines.
Big and unapologetic
The same is undoubtedly true for the Jaguar Type 00, and if reactions to the leaked exterior images earlier are anything to go by, not everyone is entirely familiar with the point of a concept car. Like the best such examples of the breed, the near-Brutalist coupe envisions a completely new, challenging design language. No mere evolution of Jaguar's current — aging, and poorly-selling range — Type 00 flirts with a new silhouette and a new palette of materials as it hunts down a fresh interpretation of modern luxury.
Jaguar
On the outside, that means a blank paper rethink of what the future of Jaguar should look like. The new logo is joined by the familiar cat "leaper" and applied to blunt surfaces unadorned with unnecessary detailing. Hints of Art Deco in the narrow lighting front and rear, along with bold sculpt lines, sit alongside a glassless tailgate and a panoramic glass roof that has been finished to blur with the bodywork.
Jaguar
Jaguar has readied a pair of Type 00 cars for Miami, one finished in Satin Rhondon Rose as a nod to the American city's pastel architecture, and the other in Inception Silver Blue to tie into the automaker's U.K. heritage. Either way, no small amount of the charm is in the detailing, like Jaguar-etched brass insets by the butterfly doors that hinge out to reveal side cameras.
An interior that borrows from luxury architecture
It's a big car — the wheels are 23-inches in diameter, matching those of the similarly-sizable Rolls-Royce Spectre — and while the lengthy hood takes up a lot of that overall scale, the interior is suitably airy. A brass spine, almost 11 feet long, runs the length of the cabin, one of several matching details that frame travertine stone and wool-blend textiles that might more commonly be expected in luxury homes.
Jaguar
The patterned roof is designed to cast interesting shadows on those materials, while the technology — like twin widescreen dashboards displays — scurries out of sight when not required. Storage areas similarly rely on powered doors, ensuring the clean lines go uninterrupted.
Jaguar
It certainly doesn't look like a lightweight EV (though neither is Spectre, and that can still do 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds) and Jaguar isn't talking performance or drivetrain details from the new JEA.
For debate, not production
A design concept, of course, isn't meant to answer every question about engineering and performance. Nor, indeed, is it meant to please everybody. Instead, it's a route to prompt discussion, and on that basis the Type 00 — and indeed the whole Jaguar rebrand — has been a huge success.
Exactly how many of the people who've decried the new logo, and who aren't fans of this new electric aesthetic, have ever actually owned a Jaguar in the past — or would've been likely to buy one in future — is unclear. Still, the fact of the matter is that Jaguar is now back in discussion, which is more than you could say for immemorable models like the F-Pace and XF that are currently on dealership forecourts.
Jaguar
The bigger question is whether Jaguar can maintain this momentum, until an actual production car is ready. For that — a fully-electric four-door GT, which Jaguar expects to do up to 430 miles on a full battery (on the EPA cycle), support rapid charging of up to 200 miles of driving added in 15 minutes, and all with the promise of a premium price tag nudging the automaker up in the echelons of luxury motoring — we'll have to wait until late 2025.