Jaguar reverts to Type

When Jaguar revealed its 'production concept' car, the C-X16, in Frankfurt last year speculation soon followed as to its likely name once in road-going form. It would be the first two-seater from Jaguar since the idolised E-Type, but company spokesmen made it known early that the new model would not be named the same.

"It's almost taboo," Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar's global brand director said after the show reveal in September. "We have more imagination than that."

In short, the choice of F-Type was considered sensible since the brand has previously offered the C, D and E-Type models. The S-Type name was implemented for its large saloon while Jaguar was under Ford ownership; alongside the Mondeo-based 'compact' X-Type offerings (the X-Type was also available as a wagon). The X-Type models were made until 2009 at JLR's Halewood plant in Liverpool which also builds the Freelander, and the S-Type was built at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham.

In reality, Jaguar already cleared the way for the Type series nomenclature to be re-explored when it ceased producing the X-Type models, and the S-Type was replaced with the XF in 2008.

The X prefix could be assigned to Jaguar's saloon (and wagon) four-seater models, leaving the 'Type' nomenclature to its sports cars. Jaguar isn't likely to run out of variations to add to the system which serves XF, XK and the XJ flagship models.

Those model names would remain intact "unless we add more models or they [the current offerings] were dramatically different in size," Jaguar Cars Australia spokesman Kevin Goult told motoring.com.au.

"Fortunately we used the back-end of the alphabet for the S and X models," Goult said.

The speculation has perhaps come about due to the name given to the C-X16 concept, which employs letters and numbers, suggested Goult. But that's simple to explain: 'C' for concept; 'X' as part of 'experimental' (considering the concept drivetrain's modernity) and '16' because the show car is designer Ian Callum's sixteenth Jaguar...