All Entries Tagged With: "jaguar design"
What Makes a Jaguar, “A Jag-u-ar”?
- The essential elements of Jaguar design
- Ian Callum’s team should avoid Germanification
- Keep the sex please, Jaguar’s British
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Jaguar Cars
NO, seriously.
What makes a Jaguar a “Jag-wharr” “Jag-u-ar” or a “Shagwharr, baby, yeah!” ?
Coming down from the summer’s high of witnessing the troubled Brit car maker launch something – anything – that could be considered exciting, fresh, and new, yours is compelled to pick up a fresh blogger’s grenade, pull the pin and…
Can’t throw it. Won’t.
The world needs Jaguar now more than ever. We need a car company that promises to deliver what we’ll call the “everyday exotic”.
“Everyday” meaning a car that’s produced in some volume with a wide range of engine and trim options that inevitably includes a low-spec variant that has a euro-zone friendly diesel engine and an interior trimmed in velour.
By “exotic”, I refer to an automobile that makes your hand stand on end or at least prompts a second, lasting glance.
Neither BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus are in the business of building everday head-turners.
The latest generation 5er, E-Class, and GS and their higher and lower stablemates are quite doomed to automotive anonymity thanks in large part to their ubiquity and that they share the same design elements from like-minded studios.
Jaguar’s team, led by the talented Ian Callum, is badly tempted to follow this terribly efficient Teutonic trend. They’re prepared to sacrifice the marque’s quintessentially British heritage by playing ze Germans’ game; borrowing heavily from Audi’s middle-of-the-road German aesthetic while pitching an emphasis on technology.
Technology isn’t sexy. Sleek, lean, power and grace is. Which brings us nicely back to our nugget: what makes a Jaguar, a Jaguar?
It’s sex appeal, ladies and gentlemen.
Time’s up. Throw the grenade!
Big Tease? 2010 Jaguar XJ
Coventry’s 2010 Jaguar XJ teasing us
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Jaguar.com
FROM the top things look promising.
But will Jaguar parlay the C-XF’s (cast your minds back to ‘07) raw sex appeal into the 2010 XJ sedan?
Original Concept: Jaguar C-XF
Can they pull off a feat which would not only capture our imaginations but open the way for other marques to copy Jag’s new creative height making our streets hotter?
Or will Coventry’s cat cough up just another hairball as lumpy and gooey eyed as the XF?
Unoriginal Result: Jaguar XF
For all the technical – ahem - charm that the British car maker has spread into its bread ‘n butter, pray-this-works midsize executive carrier, the C-XF’s luv was gone by the time the – aaahhheeemmm- pragmatic production sedan merged into traffic.
Pardon…it’s dusty in this blogosphere.
Jag selling practical and techy like Ze Germans? C’mon.
Wisely, Coventry is promising Teutonic-grade power – enough to shift plate tectonics with a supercharged 510 hp V8 option.
But aside from being able to start and drive (fast) anytime and every time, the next XJ had better reintroduce sex into the relationship or Coventry’s cat has had it’s ninth.