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The Sexy Cat is Back

See more photos of the 2014 Jaguar F-Type here on Artvoice Daily.

2014 Jaguar F-Type

One look at the 2014 Jaguar F-Type, and you realize that Jaguar’s new owners understand the brand way better than Ford did when it was a part of their “Premium Automotive Group.” It wasn’t a stretch to say that perhaps a Jaguar or two looked more like a tarted-up Ford Taurus than a genuine Jaguar.

Well, no more of that stuff! The F-Type is a genuine sports car whose name deliberately reminds you of the legendary E-Type (XKE) which was born in the 1960s, and is still considered one of the most beautiful automotive shapes ever to see pavement. I spent part of a yucky afternoon in the warmth of the West-Herr Jaguar showroom, where a gorgeous Firesand F-Type S is currently residing. The S sits in the middle of the F-Type lineup, between the base car and the V-8 S. Under the bonnet sits a 3.0-liter supercharged V-6, rated at 380 horsepower, which Jaguar claims will propel the car from zero-to-60 in 4.8 seconds. It’s connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission which can also be manually run through the gears via the gear selector or the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. No manual transmission is yet offered, but there is one in the pipeline. The base car’s 3.0-liter engine is rated at 340 horsepower, while the 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 has a whopping 495 horsepower! The S is EPA rated at 19/27 miles per gallon city/highway.

You can’t talk about an F-Type without a discussion of its looks. Jaguar has brought back the sexy sports car to its fold, and from any angle it’ll have you drooling: the large grille opening which gives way to a gracefully sloping hood…er, bonnet; the sculpted sides, which are mostly devoid of ornamentation; and the rear with those two chrome pipes peeking out from under the uplifted valence. Nicely done, chaps! And there is a spoiler there—a real spoiler which actually has a function, this being a rear wheel-drive car. It automatically deploys at 60 miles per hour, or can be manually lifted via a switch on the console. This way it doesn’t “spoil” the car’s looks 24/7 like many fixed spoilers do.

Although the F-Type is a low-to-the-ground car, there’s not much of a problem getting in and out of it. It’s no slide in-and-out proposition mind you, but still very doable. And once you’re in there, you and your passenger are treated to a comfortable, roomy interior space. It’s definitely driver-oriented (as it should be), what with all of the controls mounted on the console, semi-separated from the passenger by an ingenious buttress which spans from the dash to the center of the console and also serves as a “hang-on” handle for the passenger.

I could go on and on about the features of the F-Type, but we’d probably run two or three pages over. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot going on for your money here. FYI, the orange S in the showroom has a starting price of $81,000—with extras it all added up to $93,970. The base car starts at just $69,000. But let’s go over a few neat things quickly anyway. The seats were black leather with a contrasting orange stitching. The wheels looked perfect for this car—20-inch black Tornado alloys set off nicely by the red brake calipers. The top goes up or down in 12 seconds—parked or at driving speeds up to 30 miles per hour.

I just might take sales manager Aaron Hill up on his offer to come back for a drive on a nicer day just to test the top while driving down the street. As if this car needs any help getting open-mouthed stares.

More info at: jaguarusa.com.

Read more of Jim Corbran's You Auto Know every other week in Artvoice, and more frequently on Artvoice Daily.

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