Bertone’s Baby Jaguar Sports Sedan: Not My Cup of Tea

In all honestly, I really struggle to see how the Bertone B99 fits into Jaguar’s past and current design lineage and line-up. The new generation of Jags – the XF and the XJ – are sleek, risqué and look like nothing else on the market. On the other hand, the B99 could just as easily be badged as a Lincoln, a Rolls-Royce or a Maserati. If you squint at the pictures you’ll see my point. It’s anonymously styled, as if Bertone used a book called, “Luxury Concept Cars 101” as a template. And that grille! It just screams, “Dodge Caliber!”
And apart from the taillights and the A-pillar, can you really see any of Jaguar’s past in the B99? I know I can’t. And isn’t the mere thought a compact Jaguar as bad as Aston Martin rebadging the Toyota iQ as the Cygnet or Porsche selling a SUV?
It devalues the brand, and in the luxury market that’s the worse crime a carmaker can make. Sure, it means more sales, but I’ve never been a fan of the, “profit uber alles!” the eighties left us with.
For me personally, Jaguars have always been either V8/V12-engined coupes and big sedans. The E-Type, the Mk II...even the much derided XJS and XJ6. As if it wasn’t bad enough that BMW’s sells a naturally aspirated (or naturally asthmatic) 4cyl 3-Series, now there’s this on the horizon all in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. To think we’ve gone from, “A Modern Day Successor to the E-Type” to yet another attempt for a “BMW 3-Series competitor” just breaks my heart.
By Tristan Hankins


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Geneva Preshow: New Hardcore Jaguar XKR-S with 550HP V8

Exactly one year after the introduction of the updated XKR, Jaguar is returning to the Geneva Motor Show with its most potent mass production car ever, the new XKR-S which comes with an uprated supercharged V8 engine, overhauled suspension and new aerodynamic enhancements. The XKR-S is fitted with modified version of Jahuar's 5.0-liter supercharged V8 producing 550-horses and 680Nm (501 lb-ft) of peak torque, an increase of 40HP and 70Nm over the standard car. That's enough power to offer the XKR-S a top speed of 186mph (300km/h) and a 0-60mph (96 km/h) sprint time of 4.2 seconds, with 0-100mph dismissed in just 8.6 seconds. According to Jaguar, the new XKR-S is also the only car in its class that emits less than 300g/km CO2. Alongside the engine upgrades, the British firm's engineers also made changes to the suspension and reprogrammed the Adaptive Dynamics system, while the XKR-S rides on a new set of lightweight alloy wheels shod in performance tires. As you can see from the pictures, the XKR-S is distinguished by a new aerodynamics package with a more aggressive looking front bumper, re-profiled side skirts, additional air vents on the hood and bumpers, a large rear wing and a redesigned rear bumper housing a diffuser and quad tail pipes. “The XKR-S is a bold and exciting new model for Jaguar,” said Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar’s new Global Brand Director. “We expect to attract both loyal and new Jaguar driving enthusiasts who still want the comfort, opulence and class only a Jaguar can offer, combined with inspirational performance.” Jaguar said it will release full details and images the XKR-S at the Geneva Show on March 1.
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