Pim,
The S-type guesses were actually quite close to its launch date, too. And
these guys had spy photos to work from. There were some good pictures of the
camouflaged cars that outlined the basic body shape. Everyone was trying to
guess what the S-type looked like underneath the canvas and screwed-on
panels. The biggest mistake the guessers made was the front end. They were
all over the map. I remember someone posted a link to one that they dubbed
the “barbecue grille.” It was hideous. The final product looked far better
than any of the guesses.
At this point, AFAIK no one has any spy photos of the XF, otherwise they’d
have been published. What the mags have been doing is taking styling cues
from Ian Callum’s previous designs, picking up on some if his design
philosophy (such as coming up with a distinct marque identity, specifically
the grille) and pasting them together to create this car. “Conceptions” have
been lifted from the R Coupe, the RD-6, and Callum’s earlier designs. In
this case, they have Porsched the XK body shape into a 4-door, taken
Callum’s concept of an instantly recognizable Jaguar grille, and morphed the
X350 grille to the XF.
Thank goodness these “artists” aren’t designers. Remember, too, that
publishers are in the business to make money and that a nearly baseless
creation of what some geek with a computer and 3D rendering software thinks
the XF will look like, stirs controversy, brings attention, and sells
magazines. In short, don’t get exorcised about anything you see in a
magazine, unless it’s specifically stated to be an actual, undoctored
photograph.
I can guarantee one thing. This car is not going to look like a traditional
Jaguar. It will be as different from the current saloon line-up as the XK120
was from the x.5L Saloons and SS100, or the E-type from the Mark 1, IX, and
XK150. If it’s not, I’ll be the one who’s disappointed. In fact, even if the
design takes “a little getting used to,” I’ll be less disappointed by that
than another one of the endless variations on a stale theme.
Jaguar needs re-inventing. Ever since Sir William left the day-to-day
operations of the company, design has fallen into a state of conservatism.
It’s almost as if they feel that he had an unarticulated magic formula from
which they couldn’t depart. I don’t blame this on the designers, but
marketing, which has trumped design since Ford’s takeover. What they failed
to recognize was that Lyons’ formula was change – radical, redefining
change – every decade or so, to something completely, jaw-droppingly new.
1948, 1961, 1975. For the saloons, it was a bit less radical but still
redefining: 1951 (Mk7), 1961 (Mk 10), 1968 (XJ). And what since? Nada. It’s
been evolutionary.
The most tranquil seas mean the boat’s not rocking. It also means one isn’t
going anywhere. Jaguar and Ford management have not wanted to rock the
Jaguar boat for about three decades. The marque loyalists are those of us
who remember when the boat wasn’t just rocked, but taken out and sunk so a
totally new one could be built. It’s human nature that the people who
remember the last redesign express a fondness or even a preference for what
would soon be the old design. Extend that long enough, though, and you end
up with an “old man’s car” (to tie into a recent thread). I have no doubt
that there will be people who won’t like Ian Callum’s redefinition of
Jaguar, but remember that a new generation of enthusiasts is going to
re-evaluate Jaguar based on his creations. It really doesn’t matter what we
think, because Jaguar hasn’t been surviving rather poorly on our loyalty.
What matters is if heads that have not been turned by the last thirty years
of Jaguars are turned by the XF.
“Mark 1” Mark Stephenson
'52 XK120 S673129, '59 Mk1, '84,'85,'86 &'95 XJ6-----Original Message-----
From: owner-jag-news-discussion@jag-lovers.org
[mailto:owner-jag-news-discussion@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf Of Pim van der
Schaaf
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 3:35 PM
To: jag-news-discussion@jag-lovers.org
Subject: RE: [jag-news-discussion] Nex Jaguar XF
In reply to a message from Mark Stephenson sent Sat 23 Dec 2006:
It’s quite close to the launch date, so it would not surprise me if it
actually looked like this. It would actually disappoint me …
Cheers,
The original message included these comments:
Possibly, but probably not. I use the artist’s conceptions of the
S-type as
–
Pim, 1968 Sovereign, http://www.vanderschaafonline.nl Rotterdam, Netherlands
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