Back in November of last year, Jaguar seemed determined to prove that all they wanted to do was set everything on fire and then hire a bunch of ex-theater-kid dorks to dance on the ashes in 2017-era Fashion Week getups. They did a dramatic rebrand and showed a new logo that looked like they had taken all of Jaguar’s storied history and given it a nice soaking in urine. When they showed their new concept car that promised to be the new direction of Jaguar design, the Type 00, our captive designer Adrian Clarke wrote a piece titled Why Does The New Jaguar Type 00 Look Like A Concrete Shithouse?
As you may have inferred, nobody was really thrilled with the new direction of Jaguar design.
Now, though, the Type 00 concept has been seen out in public, on real public roads, in a real city, and I think I may somehow be warming up to this strange thing?
Here, you can see it in Paris, gliding around and looking like it somehow doesn’t exactly fully exist as part of our reality:
The Jaguar eventually came to a stop by the curb and disgorged strangely elven-looking actor Barry Keoghan:
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One interesting detail that was revealed was how the trunk is accessed on the car:
Now, I’m still not down with the no-rear-window look, because that’s just stupid and that retractable panel absolutely could have been a rear window, but it’s good to see how the cargo area is being treated here. It’s not exactly cavernous, but I’m still hoping at least some portion of that vast, runway-sized hood may be hiding a nice coffin-shaped frunk under there.
It may be the striking blue color, it may be the cartoonishly-exaggerated proportions, but whatever it is, this thing does have presence. It feels otherworldly and strange, I think in large part due to the minimal surface detailing and low-polygon, gouraud-shaded look of the thing, and as it slinks down a street it absolutely commands attention.
I think that’s kind of the whole point of this car, which means it’s doing its job successfully, which is all one can expect of a car. Of course, this is a concept car, still full of all sorts of concept car frippery and possessing a gleeful ignorance of practicality and regulations, so it can pull this sort of thing off with ease.
But it does give me some hope; hope that Jaguar will continue to make cars that turn heads, cars that when you encounter them, it feels like something special has happened in your day. I think the original E-Type had that quality, albeit in a more conventionally lovely way, but I do think some production version of the Type 00 may be able to pull it off as well.
This could end up being something akin to the Tesla Cybertruck, design-wise, in the sense that while I may not particularly like it specifically, I like that it exists, and I think the overall car-space is better for having such outliers in it.
This thing is out there in the world, but doesn’t quite feel like a part of it. It’s aggressively artificial, contrived, the polar opposite of anything natural, something that kicks the idea of harmony down to the ground and then gives it a silver lamé jumpsuit and a bottle of vodka-spiked blue Gatorade by way of apology. The apology is insincere, too.
But that’s what I like about this thing. It’s unashamed and a little ugly and brash and showy and striking and it turns mundanity into an event. So good for you, Jaguar. Maybe you’re actually going to fight your way out of that pit of irrelevance with enough loud madness. That is, if you can pull off a production version that somehow keeps all of these elements, which will be no small feat.
Despite my better judgement, I think I’ll be rooting for you.
I’d rather see something provocative and controversial than another milquetoast safe play. Good on you Jaguar. I’m still not quite on board with the design, but it is growing on me.
My main thought of the Jaguar concept is that the three colours they’ve shown it in are all absolutely stunning, a reminder of how dull most car colours are these days.
If it was shown in a shade of grey/silver it would be far less attention grabbing.
Maybe I’m the only one but ever since it launched I love this thing. I even think the rebranding with that posh Jaguar font looks pretty natty. If you objectively look at every Jaguar car produced in the last 30 years I think they are all awful. The retro pastiche cars under Ford were awful and set the brand back years. I wasn’t even a fan of the Ian Callum cars that people actually liked such as the XK. If a Jaguar is about making a statement, and presence and luxury and having a posh aura completely different from what you would get with the German brands then I think this concept is pretty successful. I only wish I could afford one.
Hiro Protagonist has become the top pizza delivery driver and is now the underboss of the fragmented west coast pizza mob, that trunk is handy for pizza storage – and weapons. As he forges alliances in the metaverse, and outside it, he will soon become the don of the west coast pizza underworld. A bloody battle will follow as he seeks to take all nationally. The Jaguar signals his presence, and is symbolic of his brutal quest to establish enough wealth to eventually cure the virus plaguing the metaverse… but at what cost?
It is strange, and I’m sure in person it impresses. I’ve yet to feel drawn to it in any way, but there’s always tomorrow. Also, I have not a single clue who that actor is or what he’s done, but I’m in my fifties, so that’s hardly a surprise. 😉
One, it’s uglier than a donkey’s a$$.
Two, it’s tiny! At one point it passes a Lexus ES taxi and appears to be significantly smaller than it.
Gosh whatever you do, don’t dent any of those panels
it looks like Tron art superimposed on reality
Looks like it’s made out of reclaimed 55 gallon plastic drums
I like the rear and taillight treatment
It just looks very original and “futuristic”
Kind of the anti pole of giant tail light assemblies that then have one small led element in them and a maybe a thin strip. (Yeah, fuck you tesla model 3 and your 5 alibaba SMD LED brake lights. So dumb.)
I’m with ya Torch. Folks – it looks like the Batmobile from the 90s animated series in frozen Eatoril Blue paint. I can dig it.
Also, it’s a concept car folks – it supposed to be impractical. If you want practical, they’d show off a homely, beige, Camry/Civic wagon. On second thought…
I also like it, but that color/paint texture makes it look fake. Like a video game that didn’t render correctly. I wonder how that effect translates in person.
No, on every level.
This really seems like a styling mess.
Or a life size Hot Wheels Concept design.
No.
This car represents a future I don’t want to live in. One with absolutely no spirit, much less soul. This car says to me, “This is the future of Jaguar whether you like it or not, and you probably don’t, and we don’t care.”
This car looks like it was designed with the Lego kit in mind.
Well, they had to come up with something special, to be noticed among the opulent chinese luxury EV’s out there. But I guess the appeal of Made by Western Carmakers is over.
I kept looking for six fingers and three lips.