Gaydon, Warwickshire. Junction 12 off the M40. Home to the British Motor Museum. It’s hardly a world-renowned global centre of art and design, yet one of the most talked about new cars of 2024 – no, possibly this century so far – comes from Gaydon.
The Jaguar Type 00 Design Vision, unveiled recently at Miami Art Week, was designed in Gaydon by mercurial Brummie Gerry McGovern and his design team who all let their creative juices flow in humble Gaydon.
To be fair, it should be more famous. A host of other stunning JLR models have been designed there, as have the latest, more beautiful, Aston Martins. The British sports car brand that Jaguar is taking aim at lives in a little cul-de-sac just off the road that goes to JLR’s Gaydon HQ. Aston folk will be peering over the fence a little more keenly in future.
I was invited up to Gaydon about a month ago to take a tour through the world of ‘new Jaguar’. What started as a thorough briefing for about twenty of us journalists, moved on to us being herded through a carefully curated tunnel, as though we were being led towards Santa’s grotto.
We finally reached a pair of gates – complete with Jaguar’s new strikethrough graphics and flashing lights – before they slid back and there he was: Gerry and his changemaker.
I’ve lost count of the times new cars have been unveiled in front of my eyes, some in equally dramatic fashion. And I’ve perfected the look of surprise and delight in front of designers who have occasionally produced something I instantly loathe.
Not this time.
Gerry immediately went into ‘designer speak’ talking about proportions. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Gerry in the past. He once took me on a tour of his favourite architecture in New York, ending up in the Four Seasons restaurant (incredibly with Henry Kissinger sitting on the next table) inside the fabulous Seagram building. He taught me about good car design and how you should be able to draw a line that follows the rake of the windscreen and goes straight through the centre of the front wheel. It does precisely that on Type 00.
Read more: Jaguar Type 01: Here’s what the first new Jaguar car could look like
I’ll admit there’s part of me that thinks that 00 could be a little more radical in its shape – after all, there’s just an EV’s skateboard platform underneath and no engine under that long bonnet.
But although the new Jaguar is supposed to be a copy of nothing, it is still a car. And cars have to do certain things, meet certain rules, and appeal to people who are used to cars looking like, well, cars.
But the beauty of the Type 00 isn’t only in the proportion, it’s in the detail. The way the ‘Gerry line’ flows through the windscreen directly through the wheel. The thoughtfulness of the parallel line in the strikethrough graphics used throughout the car. The delicacy of the brass interior. The clever use of innovative materials inside and out. And the nod to the past with the reinvention of the Jaguar leaper, set beautifully in brass on the side of the car.
The initial pictures really do not do the car justice. Don’t focus on the Miami Pink. Forget the slightly bonkers brand video. If you get a chance to see the car in person – it’s bound to go on tour – do so. Then judge.
Jaguar has two years before it’ll start selling the production version of Type 00 – maybe Jaguar Type 01? That’s plenty of time to refine the messaging, for us to forget about the words ‘live vivid’, ‘delete ordinary’ and ‘create exuberant’, and for Gerry and his team to deliver a luxury car that’s true to Type 00’s beautiful detailing and incredible proportions.
I’m excited for what comes next and as a proud Brit, I want Jaguar to do well. They’re on their way.
