Mission accomplished, Jaguar. You have our attention. Along with that of Stephen Colbert, the gay-panic shit-stirrers at Fox News, X-man Elon and every hot-take purveyor from London to Los Angeles.
I’m referring to the, um, “Exuberant” rebranding of this famed-yet-foundering British luxury automaker; complete with expressionless models whose ruched-and-ruffled attire and lunar-pink backdrop seemed equal parts Teletubbies and Dune. “Does Jaguar sell ketamine now?” Colbert quipped, noting the ad’s Infiniti-esque absence of cars.
Well, cue the EDM from Miami, because this brand isn’t through with provoking, or the color pink. Jaguar chose the city’s Art Week to unveil an actual car, the Type 00—a concept design statement that history may record as the inflection point for Jaguar’s EV renaissance. Or an epitaph.
The initial rebranding struck so many observers as Category 5 corporate wankery. But perspective, people: Almost nobody buys, or doesn’t buy, a car based on advertising. If they did, Volkswagen would rule America, and Lexus wouldn’t sell any cars until December. Tesla doesn’t even advertise, unless you consider Musk a walking advertisement. Which is certainly going well.
In the words of Gerry McGovern, JLR’s creative director, “Product is God.” And Jaguar does need a miracle. But it’s a long way between now and 2026 when the first of a planned three-car electric lineup goes on sale. Pouring a glass half-full, that’s bankrolled by Jaguar’s share of $19 billion from owner Tata Motors, in planned EV and autonomous investment in Jaguar and Land Rover over five years. With green capital drying up elsewhere, it’s the kind of money any EV start-up would kill for.
Jaguar says the Type 00 name alludes to zero emissions and a fresh start for an 89-year-old brand that once symbolized the best of British design. It’s a brawny two-seat fastback with faint echoes of those golden years, including a swept roofline, a boattail rear and a hood long enough to house a V-12, rather than a petite electric motor. As intended, this coupe appears carved from a single block of granite, albeit one with little room to spare for miniature windows. A freight-train front end recalls Audi’s original single-frame grilles, minus conventional openings.
The look is one part Streamline Moderne, one part armored vehicle. It's like a brutalist take on the Rolls-Royce Spectre, at barely one-quarter the price, minus the Rolls' traditional grille and graceful curvature. But the exterior also looks unfinished, like a rough design sketch that’s come to life. Dramatic butterfly doors and three brass rails inside—including a 10.5-footer that splits the cabin between floating seats—clearly aren’t meant for production.
Then again, the screens that rise theatrically from the dash appear doable. A new Leaper logo is laser-etched onto brass fender “ingots” that deploy to expose rear-facing cameras. Gorgeous travertine stone inlays might win over buyers all on their own. Too bad the natural stone appears unfeasible: It’s the kind of bravura element that could back up Jaguar’s “Copy Nothing” mantra that traces to founder William Lyons.
The Type 00 does take an opaque page from the Polestar 4: There’s no rear window, rather a “glassless tailgate” and a camera-based rearview mirror. That offputting gimmick—something nobody ever wanted—appears headed to the first production car inspired by this concept, a four-seat, roughly $120,000 GT. You’re not going to make this easy, are you Jaguar?
Under-the-skin details remain scarce for that production model, beyond an 800-volt architecture and what Jaguar claims will deliver 430 miles of range on the EPA testing cycle. Jaguar has said it will be its most powerful road car ever, so we’re expecting output to top 575 horsepower. That GT is to be followed by an SUV in some form because they actually need to make some sales here, plus an electric super sedan that sounds like a more affordable Bentley Flying Spur or Rolls-Royce Ghost.
To its credit, the Type 00 looks expensive, anchored by 23-inch wheels. But alluring roofline aside, it’s not traditionally “pretty,” lithe or elegant like Jags of old. And its blunt-force proportions and design pretensions will surely spark another round of handwringing from the easily outraged.
That includes the Type 00’s dusky shade of “Miami Pink” that I admired in November at JLR’s Gaydon, U.K. headquarters, during a hush-hush media showing prior to the official reveal. The rosy paint was a highlight for this careless coupe, seemingly designed for modern-day Daisy Buchanans to mow down peasants/pedestrians. In Miami’s Design District, Jaguar paired the pink car with a “London Blue” specimen.
A literal whiff of fashionista does follow the “Prism,” a kind of magic handbag that tucks into the bodyside, behind a powered door panel. The Prism contains three “totems”—wedges of Alabaster, Travertine and Brass—that slot into the console to summon various moods in ambient lighting, soundscapes or bespoke fragrances. Silly? A bit. But for decades, these kinds of playful flourishes have been par for the concept course.
Screen animations use chiaroscuro, mixing light and shadow to suggest three-dimensional objects. Jaguar’s new “strikethrough” design hallmark traces front and rear ends, and tops a striking peekaboo roof that appears solid at first glance. Think a Venetian blind with gracefully thin slats.
Even if the initial rebranding exercise was the equivalent of two torn hamstrings, Jaguar has captured its biggest mindshare in years. With all eyes on Jaguar, expect some auto writers and armchair critics to continue the gleeful pile-on, and declare the Type 00 more evidence of a brand and electric transformation gone awry.
But concept cars don’t work that way. So many concepts or design elements that were declared “radical” or ridiculed, from those Audi front ends to BMW’s X6 “SUV coupe”, were soon accepted or even beloved by actual buyers. They became commonplace or spawned myriad imitators. Looking back, you wonder what the original fuss was all about.
So if you were expecting a definitive answer as to whether Jaguar can design its way out of trouble, the Type 00 is not it. We’ll all need to wait until this polarizing concept and design language evolves into showroom form. Jaguar plans to reveal that GT late next year and build it in the UK sometime in 2026. Then wealthy EV prospects, not Jaguar’s critics, will have the final say.
Gallery: Jaguar Type 00 Concept
Lawrence Ulrich is an award-winning freelance automotive journalist. He's also the former chief auto critic of The New York Times and a contributing editor at Road & Track.
