On the cold, grey morning of November 12, an ultra-modern office complex in the British Midlands transformed into a locked-down fortress hiding sensitive intelligence. A series of dark, dignified Land Rovers delivered lone agents from around the world to the building’s glass entrance for a top-secret briefing.
While grim security guards in suits and ties monitored proceedings, each attendee surrendered his or her phone at the door before staffers led them through hushed hallways to an isolated exhibition space where the subject of all the cloak-and-dagger proceedings hid in the dark behind a pristine, diaphanous metallic screen.
The covert visitors that day were automotive journalists, and they flew into London and rode to the corporate headquarters of Jaguar in Gaydon to see the car that would redefine and rebrand an 89-year-old automaker that’s worried about seeing its 100th birthday.
Despite building a beautiful performance car like the recently discontinued F-Type, a popular SUV in the F-Pace and an I-Pace EV that was the first car in history to sweep every award at the New York International Auto Show, Jaguar suffered through revenue issues in recent years. Battered by its German rivals, the iconic British carmaker and partner brand to Land Rover and Range Rover brought up the rear in sales.
Facing ennui at least and extinction at worst, the minds behind Jaguar made a decision that will make or break the company — and the world is beginning to see the result of that strategy now. Jaguar shut down its entire product line, with the F-Pace the last to fade in 2025, choosing to turn away from its history and become the most avant-garde car brand in the world.
I stood amongst those writers gathered in secret to see the first concept car this new direction produced. Herded down a dark passageway toward the vehicle starring in this show, we saw a new “artist’s mark” and “J-A-G-U-A-R” logo printed across multiple displays in a round, sans serif font more in tune with a Dune movie premiere than a classic British heritage company.
As we approached the metal barrier that would give way to unveil Jaguar’s future, we stared curiously at the surrounding images that would soon fill the company’s advertising: androgynous models in gauzy fabrics marching to club music while slogans promised to “Create exuberant.”
The message was clear: The days of Jaguar as a historic British concept were gone — banished to the past with the familiar trappings of polished wooden steering wheels, worn leather upholstery and hand-stitched Harris Tweed accents. This new Jaguar philosophy is colorful, diverse, environmentally concerned and entirely focused on the future.
After a silent moment when all on hand assembled in the corporate event space, ethereal music heralded the parting of the screen and the emergence of the Jaguar Type 00. Standing atop massive 23-inch alloy wheels in a light metallic pink, the electric vehicle’s sleek and low profile stretched beyond the length of most 21st-century cars.
Two visual cues honored Jaguars of the past, including the classic “Leaper” cat logo and an extended bonnet and sloping cockpit that echoed the lines of Jaguar’s most famous creation, the legendary E-Type. But that’s where the similarities end; only a futuristic EV could offer the square-jawed front end (sans grille) and a back bumper view cutting the profile of a flying saucer.
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Our correspondent recounts his four-day drive behind the wheel of a D-type Continuation in the latest entrant into the pantheon of road ralliesAs I walked around the machine and leaned into its white, stone-highlighted interior, I declared Jaguar’s goal to design a new car totally unlike anything it built before, or unlike anything any other automaker is currently offering, a rousing success. The Type 00 has the “car of tomorrow” look other disruptor creations like the DeLorean of the ‘80s or the Tesla Cybertruck of today shot for and missed. The new Jag will catch and hold the eye as an entirely identifiable and unique creation.
It’s true that the automaker is swimming in the shallow end of the pool when it comes to specs and details so far. The company’s focus right now is all about image, visuals and attitude, and they’re staying away from talk of motors and suspension or torque and top speeds. They’re taking the win and showing the world what advanced luxury cars should look like in the years to come.
Now, the big question is: will anyone buy it? Though the Type 00 is only a design concept and won’t see production, Jaguar spokespeople insist the first sedan the company will eventually sell for north of $100,000 will look very much like the prototype unveiled that chilly morning in Gaydon. Just as the concept car already split the automotive world down the middle when it debuted to the public this week — with responses ranging from “Jaguar is taking a risk to define the future of automobiles” to “they’re trashing decades of beloved British car history with pandering, disjointed and desperate messaging and design” — the EV that finally takes to the road in a year or so will face ongoing controversy.
The ad campaign highlighting the brand reinvention did not fare well in the U.S. market. When leaked images of the Type 00 appeared online ahead of Monday’s reveal, conservative commentators were quick to brand the pink car as “woke,” primed as they were by the eccentric marketing that was released earlier. Some charged Jaguar with failing to read the room and stumbling into a political storm similar to the disaster that beset Bud Light after it partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender spokesperson. While Jaguar’s messaging might play better in the U.K. or Europe, the tone of these ads might’ve felt more at home in 2020 (when much of this redesign was probably put into motion as it takes years to design a new car).
Unfortunately for Jaguar, it’s 2024 and an America making a “right turn” with a conservative government and less tolerance of cultural and social experimentation either doesn’t know what to make of the automaker’s new image or already outright rejected it.
That’s the potential tragedy looming over the debut of the Type 00. Jaguar did its design and engineering job right and delivered the sort of car their rebirth promised. Still, in much of the world, the branding controversy around the car was received so poorly that many buyers will never give the coming production vehicle a chance due to ego or politics.
Jaguar’s hope now is there are enough well-heeled, open-minded youthful buyers around the world who want the eyes on them the Type 00 will undoubtedly deliver.
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