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Forget the past with the F-Type

Sir William Lyons would be pleased, but likely perplexed at the same time with the arrival of the 2014 FType roadster.

Sir William Lyons would be pleased, but likely perplexed at the same time with the arrival of the 2014 FType roadster.

Under his reign, Jaguar's founder oversaw the creation of numerous sports machines, culminating with E-Type (marketed as the XKE on our shores), regarded as one of the most spectacularly gorgeous cars ever produced.

The two-place E-Type convertible and its hatchback sibling went on sale in 1961 and enjoyed a 10-year run.

Now, four decades later and 28 years since Sir William's death, the British automaker's current minder, India's Tata Group, has signed off on a fresh roadster.

Anyone expecting an EType renaissance might be disappointed, but Jaguar's stylists have configured a handsome piece that blends elements of BMW's Z4, Maserati Cabrio and Mercedes-Benz SL-class convertibles.

The result isn't E-Type sleek, but its shape is more purposeful, in a Teutonic sort of way. There's even a Euro-style active rear spoiler of a type pioneered by Porsche and Mercedes-Benz (and others) that deploys once the F-Type has reached 100 km/h, then retracts once the roadster's speed drops below 65 km/h. The only real excess is a pair of bulging rear fenders that taper into the rear deck fitted with eye-slit taillights.

When the weather turns bad, the F-Type's cloth top returns to its latched and locked position in 12 seconds while the vehicle is traveling up to 50 km/h, which of course means you don't have to completely come to a stop in the middle of traffic, in the middle of a downpour.

The F-Type's interior is also a clean-scape design dominated by highly legible speedometer/tachometer dials and a trio of rotary knobs that operates the climate control system. One neat trick is a set of air vents atop the multifunction touch-screen infotainment unit that pop up when manually activated or whenever the automatic climate system calls for additional heating or cooling. Finally, the shapely FType seats are based on those installed in the highperformance (and larger) Jaguar XKR-S model and actually don't require the car's occupants to be overly svelte to squeeze between the bolsters.

Pushing the start button fires up one of three engines. Base F-Types are fitted with a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 (a derivative of Jaguar's 5.0-litre V8 and an engine that's also used in the XJ and XF sedans) that makes a respectable 340 horsepower.

According to Jaguar, it will push the F-Type to 60 mph (96 km/h) in a quick 5.3 seconds.

The F-Type S gets a 380-horsepower version of 3.0 that cuts that time to 4.9 seconds. The real performance cat is the F-Type V8S with its supercharged 5.0-litre V8 that delivers 495 horsepower and can reel off zero-to-60-mph sprints in a mere 4.3 seconds.

Each powerplant is fitted with an eightspeed automatic transmission that operates with a stubby pistol-grip console-mounted shifter or by the steering-wheel-located paddles.

The transmission also signals the engine to "blip" the throttle (called rev matching) for smoother transitions between gears when downshifting. There are rumors that a sixspeed manual gearbox is not far off, but so far Jaguar is mum on the subject.

Jaguar has always declared war on powerrobbing weight and consequently makes extensive use of aluminum in the F-Type's construction, including the front and rear suspension. The basic body shell alone tips the scales at a mere 260 kilograms and the entire car has been kept to about 1,600 kilograms Knowing that sports car owners love those seductive under-hood sounds, Jaguar offers an optional active exhaust system that increases the volume as the revs increase. and directs the melody into the cabin for all to hear.

F-Type pricing starts at $78,300 for the base V6 and spikes into low-six-figure territory for the V8S. At that point, the roadster nearly trips over the base price of Jaguar's 385-horsepower XK convertible with its larger cockpit.

Ultimately it will be the F-Type's playful demeanor and exceptional performance that will win over sports car lovers, features that Sir William Lyons would likely have wholeheartedly endorsed.