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A dearth of design.

Had DeLorean decided to build a sedan instead of the DMC, The Type 01 would've been the result. An ungainly clod that looks like a stretched Plymouth Horizon from the side, and having about as much interior space. Have we reached the point where nothing is really new, just rehashed forty-year-old designs? Are we so concerned with safety and ecology that Industrial Art has been sacrificed? Embarrassingly, I thought the photo below the red BMW was the silver one from the first photo until I read the credit. Automotive styling has become an oxymoron.

Chris Blanchard
Prescott, Wisconsin



Rare earth metal.

That price tag alone casts the new Jaguar into the category of rare earth "unobtanium" for me.

Eddy S.
Newcastle, Ontario, CANADA



Design smorgasbord.

Is it just me, or does the new Jaguar Type 01 look just like a Cadillac Celestiq from the side, and a bit like the 2003 Cadillac Sixteen concept from the front 3/4 view?

JGW
Green Leafy 'Burbs, Rural Michigan



Pig.

This century has been bombarded with "new" releases that only reinforce the belief that the captains of industry do not have a clue. Or class. Jaguar, as the case with so many formerly great brands go, has no clue how to bring back the "glory days." Obviously, introducing a design that closely resembles something that i worked on in 2002 is not the answer to JLR's problems and it really doesn't matter how much cash that you have and how much that you are willing to throw at the problem, as Ford and GM have experienced, putting lipstick on a pig doesn't remove the fact that it is still a pig.

Ptg0
Highland Park, Michigan



A missed opportunity.

Jaguar could have connected the 01 to Jaguar's past in the interior. Open the door of this techno brutalist block to be greeted by the finest woolen carpets, the aroma of the best leathers, polished woods, true chromes and alloys. It would be a most pleasant, unexpected surprise.

DG
Berwick, Maine



Crazy.

Peter, after our combined decades of watching the car business, I have a question for you. Why does every brand desire to be something it’s not — and specifically — to be completely different from anything that made it great? Jaguar is one clear example. The same might be said of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. Mercedes took itself from being the most aspirational brand in the car business and converted itself into a $399-a-month lease brand. Porsche has nearly killed itself by trying to become an electric truck manufacturer. Regarding the Jaguar 01, I have seen it in person and found it better than I expected. The rear three-quarter view is particularly appealing. The interior is a joke: tiny and cheap. No human being will fit in the rear seat. They had to leave so much room for the exaggerated hood, with nothing under it, and they clearly ran out of money before they got to the interior fittings. Not a single piece of elegant wood, and in the one I saw, nothing but varying shades of gray plastic and a little leather. Back to my serious question: you’ve been such a phenomenal brand builder. Is this the corporate version of a very human emotion—to always want what you don’t have? Crazy.

Joe Folz
Bonita Springs, Florida

Editor-in-Chief's Note: "Always wanting what you don't have" is a good way to frame what's happening to Jaguar. Another way to put it is a flat-out desperation play. Jaguar operatives had every opportunity to do something other than a giant EV, but that's exactly what they decided to do. And in an instant, they're asking all of us to forget Jaguar's once-proud legacy, like the brand never existed before now. The interior of the new Jaguar Type 01 is simply inexcusable and an insult to the Jaguar legacy. As I said in my column, it is simply disastrous how they botched the interior. The marketplace can be very cruel, and Jaguar operatives are about to find out. -PMD



Bleak and cheap.

My wife and I are in London this week for a family wedding. I have just returned to our hotel from Cafe 81, the new Jaguar showroom/cafe/brand experience facility in Knightsbridge. The Type 01 is prominently displayed. Thankfully you do not have to view it while dining, where you learn “the age-old question of jam or cream first is answered in every bite. Our distinctive oloid is precisely shaped to bring scone, jam and cream together in carefully balanced proportions, across four flavour combinations.”

Even the quintessential British scone demands reinvention and reinterpretation in this joint. Reinvent the scone? Talk about a metaphor.

The pluses? The staff is unfailingly polite, professional, enthusiastic and steeped in product knowledge. The drivetrain is impressive and who doesn’t like the notion of 1,000+ hp?

The minuses? Pretty much anything having to do with the looks of the car, particularly the interior.

As the brand pushes the ceiling of aspiration to compete with models that are in many instances chauffeur driven, nobody taller than Peter Dinklage will ever find the back seat comfortable. The spartan interior is not minimalistic, it comes off as bleak and cheap. Somebody in design must have just toured a model home where brass is the new chrome. I just hope the trim won’t pit like the plumbing fixtures that inspire the look.

I understand the motivation that required the team to throw out the legacy of failed attempts that preceded them. The S Type. The X Type. The XF. The list goes on. What they neglected to realize though is those vehicles ultimately bombed not because of failed heritage design but because of subpar product quality, deal-of-the-week discounting and an image tied to heritage the buyer had no appreciation for.

Grace, Pace and Space used to be the calling cards. Sadly, this thing misses on two out of three.

Eric Carlson
Retired Industry Executive
San Juan Capistrano, California



Victor Kiam called; he wants his razor back.

It’s a good thing Victor Kiam has passed on or Jaguar would get a cease-and-desist letter for copyright infringement. The new Jaaaag looks like a Remington electric razor from the 1980s. Has design been crippled by government regulations, or have the designers just become really lazy? Nothing on that car makes one say, yes, I need that in my life. Even the price tag, which many in that tax bracket like use to stroke their ego, doesn’t make me want to join that club. There are too many other options out there besides the Type 01.

JRR
Plymouth, Michigan



Design Reach and Longevity.

“I have often written about how difficult it is for designers to forge a completely new vision for a brand. It is the most daunting challenge a designer can face, in fact. It is a very fine line between not going far enough or going too far. Designers will tell you that playing the “design reach” game is not for the faint of heart.” -PMD

The last successful design reach for any solidly established brand was rendered by Wayne Cherry and his GM Design team with Cadillac’s new design language in the early 2000’s with its cues extended by Ed Welburn throughout the entire product line surviving to this day. The exterior of the Cadillac “16” is timeless and could have been rendered yesterday. Eric Clough’s interior is unequaled for taste, integration and function.

To my eyes there are only three recent distinctive design elements that successfully transferred through time across brands and models and were part of high-volume mass production product for at least a decade:

1. The wide “C” pillar first featured in the ‘58 Thunderbird
2. The mid body “Coke Bottle” bulge of the '60s and ‘70s with curved side glass
3. The forward angled “C” pillar and complementary rear side window shapes of the Cadillac “16”

A fourth one deserves honorable mention dating from the ‘66 Toronado: Half-moon cutouts in the lower bumper edge to accommodate dual chrome exhaust pipe tips. This feature seems to have eternal appeal and current Dodge Rams still use this exact same combo. Screw design reach. Maybe they’ll keep it on the new hybrid ER models.

I can’t imagine what Jaguar was reaching for. I hope they don’t get their hands chopped off.

Dr. John
Phoenix, AZ



The Band!

My new band name - Blunderbuss Dildo - will have the most epic t-shirts.

XOXO

Tony W. (formerly from the Unctuous Pricks)
Lanky Lank, Pennsylvania



We'd book that show!

"Blunderbuss Dildo From Outer Space" reminds me of my first impression of the Cyber Truck: a jail cell urinal. Somehow the idea of a couple of bands on tour, Blunderbuss Dildos and Jail Cell Urinals might be intriguing enough for a ticket. I'd sure pack a plastic poncho for that show!

Philip Hackett
Los Angeles, California



Cyber Jag.

Ah... the new Jag-u-ar. I read your description before looking at the pictures. It's worse than you described. Much worse! I've owned and loved (and cursed) Jaguar sedans with the old straight 6 engine. Magnificent driving machines when something was broken or leaking! That ain't no Jaguar!

What it looks like to me is a design exercise where one of the requirements was to remember that the manufacturer was really short on metal stamping equipment and expertise. As in "Whoa there! Keep those curved parts to a minimum. Try to use as many flat panels as possible!"

Rather than evoking thoughts of Jaguars of yore, to my eye it comes much closer to evoking thoughts of Cyber Truck.

DJV
Wilmington, North Carolina



They blew it.

It's odd how Jaguar had the I-Pace, which was a surprisingly good vehicle that captured the spirit of Jaguar in an electric form, to replace it with this, which at first glance appears to have less room than the I-Pace had.

A pity. They had the bones of a good start and blew it.

I'm still at a loss of what Jaguar stands for with this new look? Michael Keaton called and he wants his Batmobile back.

Paul G.
Silver Spring, Maryland



But this thing?

I know I'm late to the party on this subject, but I've been trying to be fair about it. I totally understand that Jaguar has been struggling. The sales numbers were plummeting. It was past time to do a reset. Part of the issue may be its reputation for unreliable vehicles, which is tough to live down. Yes, they have been beautifully crafted in a way that the Asian and Italian marques cannot duplicate. Elegant, understated, like no other. And yet, even when they were owned by Ford, their quality still disappointed. I myself owned a 1996 long wheelbase XJ12, with a SMOOTH V12 mill. It was a dream and a pain at the same time. In one instance, I took it upon myself to remove the driver's interior door panel to replace a faulty power lock switch. I was stunned to discover that the panel was mounted on pressed fiberboard! Cardboard.

The corporate mentality became clear. Jaguar would never match Lexus or even Cadillac because the management didn't think it was a priority. Ford quality back in the 90s was quite good, but I guess even they could not cajole their Jaguar managers to buy in. The new 001 jaguar (intentional spelling) will be the final death rattle of the brand. I thought they were headed in the right direction by shutting down the model and starting over with ONE fantastic vehicle. BUT THIS THING! Urf! However attractive, or misshapen it may appear to buyers, the sad truth is that it's doubtful anyone cares about the brand anymore. It's already off buyers' radar. Might as well sell it to BYD or Cherry and wave goodbye.

Your other thoughts about the business are spot on. The car companies, driven by activist investors and private equity, focus exclusively on the next two or three quarters of earnings. This is what will kill capitalism as we used to know it.

Jim Jones
Cole County, Missouri