Top Gear Magazine’s Convertible of the Year 2013, FHM’s Drop Top of the Year 2013, Recombu.com’s Best Performance Car, Stuff’s Car of the Year 2013, NYIAS 2013 World Car Design of the Year, and 2013 Golden Steering Wheel Award.
No, you haven’t stumbled onto Wikipedia. Those are just a few of the honors the press have lauded upon the Jaguar F-TYPE. In nearly every article, review and blog post about it, two of its characteristics are consistently noted: 1) It constitutes an actual, historical moment for Jaguar as its first new sports car in 40 years, and 2) It’s a terrific sports car with a decidedly old-fashioned nature.
In today’s world of Bluetooth, autosync, touchscreen everything, social media galactic connectivity integration, old-fashioned is probably the boldest descriptor to possess in the automotive world. Old-fashioned says that as great as all that technology is, tech is not the soul of a sports car.
That soul is alive and well in the F-TYPE (along with an over-sized touchscreen display, we should add) with seating close to the ground so you can feel every curve and rise in the asphalt beneath you. The F-TYPE’S exhaust note is something we can attempt to communicate with words, but it exists on a visceral plane of reality that English’s 26 letter alphabet would struggle to capture. Suffice to say that its throaty, enticingly warbling roar is present whether you choose the 3.0-liter V6 (340 hp), 3.0-liter V6 Supercharged (380 hp) or 5.0-liter V8 Supercharged (495 hp).
It’s worth noting that a number of reviewers have said that while the 5.0-liter V8S version gives you the feeling of early astronauts leaving earth on a Saturn V rocket, the most appreciable versions of the car are either the V6 or V6S simply because the pairing between acceleration and handling is more balanced. Put plainly, having fewer horses to feast upon keeps a jungle cat lean and more agile in the hunt.
All in all, not only will the Jaguar F-TYPE be remembered in Jaguar’s history from here on out, it was also one of the best cars to come out in 2013 in the world. Stop by Jaguar Land Rover Cary’s brand new facilities to try one out for yourself.