SPY PICS: Jaguar F-Type

Jaguar’s keenly anticipated F-Type looms ever closer – a global debut at September’s Paris motor show is tipped – and the accompanying images from Carparazzi provide yet another look at the upcoming roadster.

The fast-tracked development of the compact drop-top is a result of the positive response to the C-X16 concept revealed at last September’s Frankfurt motor show. Thus Jaguar’s Global Brand Director, Adrian Hallmark, confirmed at this year’s New York motor show that the production version would be called the F-Type.

As per its XJ sibling, the F-Type will be underpinned by a lightweight aluminium platform, with the company promising it will “deliver stunning sportscar performance”.

Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum adds: “A true sportscar needs to be pure in both its purpose and its form; to have the opportunity to produce such a car for Jaguar has been a privilege both for myself and for my team.

“The C-type, D-type and E-type Jaguars were all sports cars that held true to this principle in their era, and the F-Type will hold true to that same principle in its time, a time that is soon to arrive.”

As previously reported, the F-Type will initially be offered with a new 3.0-litre petrol V6 fitted with a twin-vortex Roots supercharger – a combo that will be good for about 250kW in standard form, and 280kW in high-output guise.

The blown V6 is likely to be joined in due course by a higher-end version that scores Jaguar’s familiar 5.0-litre supercharged V8, albeit potentially in mildly detuned form to provide breathing space for the larger XK.

The F-Type is due on sale in 2013 and, although its market positioning is yet to be confirmed, it’s believed the coupe and convertible’s pricing will place them somewhere between Porsche’s Boxster/Cayman and the 911.

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