According to famed head designer, Ian Callum, the Jaguar C-X16 concept that was unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show is not the successor of the classic E-Type, despite being the first two-seater in Jaguar’s line-up since the iconic car of the late 1960s and ‘70s.
The C-X16 is as sleek and sporty as we’ve come to expect from a Jaguar and, according to Callum, this is the car that the brand has always needed. “We’ve used the last six years to re-establish the Jaguar brand. To give it an identity,” Callum said. “And now we can build on that base. The C-X16 is a car that I’ve always felt needed to be in the range. It will form the core of the Jaguar product line-up in the future,” he said.
The styling is typical of Jaguar and Callum, having penned the lines of the brand’s modern vehicles along with modern Aston Martins. There’s quite a bit of Ferrari California in the front-end, but the rear is very distinctive. The side-profile is sleek and, according to Callum, the big grille will be Jaguar’s new face in the future.
“I wanted people to feel like they are driving the car even before they get behind the wheel,” Callum said. Ironically, in a past interview with CAR, Callum commented on his boyhood fascination with the Jaguar E-Type and how “it looked like it was driving very fast even when standing still”.
The car is only a concept, but a production version is scheduled. The concept looked very much like a production-ready vehicle.
It is powered by a 3,0-litre V6 with twin-scroll turbochargers, which develops a healthy 280 kW and 450 N.m of torque. It is mated with an eight-speed ZF transmission. But, the car is also a hybrid and features a “push to pass” system. With the push of a button, the 70 kW/95 N.m electric motor is called to action and send an extra surge to the rear wheels – giving it the unbelievable overtaking performance of only requiring 2,1 seconds to accelerate from 80 to 120 km/h. It requires 4,4 seconds to reach 100 km/h from standstill and has a limited top speed of 300 km/h.
The plus side of this system is the car’s unbelievable fuel economy and emissions, pushing out only 165 grams of CO₂ per kilometre.
Keep visiting the website, our Facebook page and CARmagblog.co.za for regular updates from the Frankfurt Motor Show. For a full report, be sure to get the November issue of CAR magazine.