No Rival In My Eyes

[daro911]

This is the car we have all been waiting for "" it's Jaguar's much-rumoured small two-seater roadster. And we've caught the first prototype testing near to the Big Cat's Coventry home.

The new model, codenamed XE, will sit beneath the current XK in the firm's line-up and is thought of as a spiritual successor to the legendary E-Type. Aimed at stealing sales from Porsche, it will carry a price tag somewhere between the Boxster and 911, boasting a compact body, two seats and a folding canvas roof. It will be one of Jaguar's biggest sellers in Europe, the US and the Far East.

Underneath the skin lies a modified rear-wheel drive aluminium chassis from the XK, with a much shorter wheelbase "" something that is obvious from the XK-based prototype caught in these pictures near to Jaguar's Whitley engineering centre.

Details surrounding engines are limited, but it's expected that the XE will feature a range of new V6 units, hooked up to the company's six-speed automatic gearbox. As well as high performance supercharged R versions, there's a very definite possibility that diesels will feature too.

Insiders have revealed that Jaguar is set to take the wraps off a concept for the new XE in early 2012 "" potentially at the Geneva Motor Show "" while sales of the new model will start in 2013 with a price tag between £40,000 and £50,000.

Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/269236/jaguars_new_xe_roadster.html#ixzz1Q6IrRH7y

 

[spyderman]

That's not a Boxster rival - it would be too lardy and the engine's in the wrong place! More like an Aston rival.

 

[Dylan1]

Looks like a slk rival[]

 

[944s2]

Damn just what I was typing []

 

[Buddy]

Or Z4

 

[daro911]

Jaguar's long-awaited "˜new E-type' is now just 18 months away from a public unveiling. After two abortive attempts to replace the iconic E-type, Jaguar insiders say that this all-aluminium car will finally step confidently into the gap left by its historic predecessor.

One suggestion is that the production car will be launched at the Detroit motor show in January 2013, some 50 years after the introduction of the "˜Lightweight E-type', which competed at the Sebring 12 Hours and Le Mans in 1963.

These scoop shots taken near Jaguar's Whiteley research and development centre reveal an early engineering prototype based on the current XK cabriolet.

The new E-type is expected to come in both cabrio and coupé versions and most models will be powered by a V6 petrol engine. A V8 version is expected further into the future. There's no news on whether a V6 diesel engine will be made available, though the new architecture is expected to be capable of accommodating the engine, unlike today's XK.

Although the original aim was to build a roadster that competed directly with the Porsche Boxster, the final car is both wider and longer than the Porsche. The new E-Type will be based on the same basic aluminium structure as the next-generation XK. Both cars will be built at Castle Bromwich, near Birmingham.

Creating two cars of a different size out of the same basic architecture has provided a significant headache for Jaguar engineers, but insiders say that the final car will be nearly the same width as today's XK but some 250mm shorter, at around 4.55m long.

As can be seen in these scoops shots, most of the length reduction has taken place between the trailing edge of the driver's door and the rear wheel arch. However, this short-tail, long-nose, stance is a direct reflection of the proportions of the original E-Type.

The grille shape and headlamp layout is, though, expected to be closer to the CX-75 supercar concept.

American demand for a new-generation XKE (as the E-type was known in that market) is expected to be significant, especially among affluent female buyers who make up a significant proportion of Jaguar's Stateside customer base.