BUYING AFFORDABLECONVERTIBLES
44 |JaguarWorld/July 2019
Thebiggestissuebyfar,though,is
corrosiontotherearunderbodybracesdue
towhatJaguarreferstoas,‘Insufficient
zinc-nickelplating.’Althoughthisismainly
surfacerust,itisstilldisappointingfora
relativelynewcar,andwillbecomeworseif
leftuntreated.Thankfully,asofDecember
2018 ,Jaguarisrepairingor–insomecases
–replacingthesebraces.
AlongwiththeCabriolet,theF-TYPEis
theonlytwo-seaterhere.But,unlikethe
XJ-S’gargantuanluggagearea,ithasthe
smallestbootofthefive:aminiscule 196
litrescomparedtotheXJ-S’ 479 litres.It’s
enoughforapairofsoftovernightbags,
butyou’dbehardpressedtosqueezea
F-TYPE CONCEPT
AftersuchapositivereactiontotheXK 18 0,Jaguar’smanagement
decidedtoproducearoadversion.Thejobofdesigningthecar
felltothemanbehindthe 180 ,KeithHelfet,whoadmittedinthe
September 2012 issueofJaguarWorldthathecreateditforhimself.
“Itseemedtomethatalight,nimble,no-frillssportscarinthe
spiritoftheE-typewasaholeinthemarket.Besides,itwasthecar
thatIwanted.”Andthat’swhathedesigned.Clearlyinfluencedby
theE-type,itwaslinkedtotheXK 180 byitswraparoundscreen.
YetwhilethatcarwasaV8,thisonewouldhavebeenpowered
byJaguar’s3.0-litreV6,whichwouldstillhaveresultedina
spiritedperformance.Basedonitssize,goodlooksandproposed
performance,therewasonlyonesuitablename:theF-typeConcept.
Unsurprisingly,whenthecardebutedatthe 2000 Detroitmotor
showitwasarunawaysuccess,andit’ssaidthatJaguartook 50 ,0 00
ordersaftertheevent.Yet,despiteaninternalprogrammetoturnthe
F-typeConceptintoaproductionmodel,theprojectwascancelled.
The2 000 DetroitshowcarisalsopartoftheJaguarDaimler
HeritageTrust.ONETHATGOTAWAY
week’sshoppinginthere.Plus,thecabin
canbetightfortwoadultsandthere’slittle
interiorstoragespace.
Performancefromthe2,995ccV6is
eager,responsiveandinstant.Squeezingthe
throttleresultsinasuddenburstofdelicious
acceleration,anexperienceheightenedbythe
distinctivewailfromtheactiveexhaust.The
eight-speedautomatic’boxchangesdown
quicklyandefficiently,aidingrapidprogress.
Asix-speedmanualwasanoptionforthe
F-TYPEV6sbetween 2015 andearly 2019 ,but
we’dsuggestyouignoreit–it’sterrible.
Thesteeringisquickandimmediate
and,thankstoJaguar’sadaptivedynamics
system(againpartoftheStrim)that
activelycontrolsverticalbodymovement,
rollandpitch,there’splentyofgripand
verylittlebodyroll,allowingthedriverto
carvethroughcornerssmartlyandwith
confidence.Thedownsideisthatithas
theharshestridequalityofthefivecars,
thumpingoverthesamebumpsintheroad
thattheXJSglidesover.
TheF-TYPEremainstheepitomeofa
Jaguarsportscar.Goodlooking,goodto
driveandnowgoodvalue,ifyou’relooking
foramodernconvertible,ithastobeon
yourlist.Thanksto:owner,RichWest